The lower part of my engine found some sea water, and now the bearing in the AC compressor sings the sad song of ancient Britons being clubbed and beaten by the Anglo and Saxon brutes.
The bearing makes noise with the HVAC turned on or off, so if this is a traditional AC compressor clutch, then it should be the bearing for the clutch. It should be removable. My hope is to replace the clutch or clutch bearing with the compressor left in place. This avoids messing with the factory charge of refrigerant.
I have not seen anything online about the clutch or the bearing, so if anyone is familiar, please share. I have seen the clutches listed for sale on German eBay and also the bearings for sale at Advance Auto, but it is hard to confirm these are correct without proper part numbers.
A new Denso compressor (Denso PN: DCP11010 & JAGUAR PART NUMBER: C2C39500) can be had for $500 and can be found for $100 used from various sources.


I brand new clutch is listed as on German eBay but it does not say it will fit the 4.2 in the X350 and uses a different Jaguar part number. Shipping is rather expensive to experiment. A/C Compressor Clutch for Jaguar XJ X350 2.7D XK 3.6 XKR 4.2 X150 C2C39502 | eBay

The listing for the bearing gives no critical information about the bearing (Factory Air part no. 25212) but it does look size appropriate. Factory Air Compressor Bearing 25212 - Advance Auto Parts


I will buy a used compressor and see if the clutch comes off easily. I will try and rebuild the old clutch with the goal of getting part numbers and dimensions. This should leave me with a good spare compressor and clutch. An excellent trip hazard to add to my garage.

 

it's a breakaway pulley not a clutch. yes it will fit, as long as its for a denso seu not the sanden that the 5l has. you can buy a valve for them too, usually sold as 09 xf

 

I was able to replace the bad AC compressor pulley with the used pulley. The bearing is an NSK bearing (Made in Japan) and part number 35BD5222. Do not buy junk Chinese bearings. You can find the NSK part on eBay but the local bearing supplier said it was unavailable as an automotive only part and they said eBay was likely selling surplus. I have known Volkswagen to limit sales for special transmission bearings, and you could not get them even if you worked for the bearing manufacturer. At least VW sold them at the dealership. I did not check with Jaguar.

To remove the pulley, remove the belt and radiator hose. Then remove the center bolt. Next pry up the squarish cover over the pulley. Lastly, there is a circlip under the cover that needs to be removed. You will need 90-degree circlip pliers that can open very wide.

 

Thanks for the information and very clear pics but I hope I won't need them! lol