A/C compressor leak on my '86 Coupe.

[limomanb]

Took my 86 to the shop the other day to have the A/C looked at....turns out that there is a "significant" leak from the compressor. The cost of the new compressor installed is +- $1000...I live in San Diego very close to the water....so I rarely use the A/C but it would be nice to have once in a while. Is this an easy fix if I wanted to install the unit myself? Any way to patch it temporarliy? I'm in no hurry if I have to hunt for a compressor.
Car has 84k on it. Thoughts?

 

[The Car Whisperer]

I replaced my entire AC system, except for the evaporator, last winter. I replaced all hoses, switches, compressor, condenser and accumuilator for less than $600. I used all new GM parts and Orings that are made for R134a. It works perfectly and best of all I did it myself and saved a bundle. All of the parts are available from the Corvette parts sources ot direct from your local dealer. I got almost everything except the compressor from "The Last Detail", I got the compressor on Ebay, brand new GM part in the box. This is not that difficult of a job and you can get plenty of help on this forum.

 

[Moonunit 451]

I agree. It is a little difficult changing out the compressor, there is one bolt that is not obvious initially, I think it can be removed with a torx or a socket. this bolt has a flat spot on it that you must line up correctly to clear the bracket.

Perhaps you have a friend in a parts store or a repair shop that can help you find a compressor at a reasonable price. Then you need a good A/C guy that won't rip you to refill and check the system. There are direct replacement coolants such as freeze12 that are "drop in" repacements for R12 are much cheaper and don't require flushing the system and changing fittings.

 

[tyrel]

Took my 86 to the shop the other day to have the A/C looked at....turns out that there is a "significant" leak from the compressor. The cost of the new compressor installed is +- $1000...I live in San Diego very close to the water....so I rarely use the A/C but it would be nice to have once in a while. Is this an easy fix if I wanted to install the unit myself? Any way to patch it temporarliy? I'm in no hurry if I have to hunt for a compressor.
Car has 84k on it. Thoughts?

I think $1,000 is pretty good for a new a/c system, if it includes the compressor, compressor clutch, dryer, flushing the system, and re-charging the system, and all the labor. Your mechanic may recommend that you retrofit to the new 134a refrigerant (if it hasn't been already) which will also require all new o-rings.

I think you could probably do this repair yourself, I found this site some time ago:

http://www.diynet.com/diy/ab_auto_air_conditioning/article/0,2021,DIY_13674_2276708,00.html

Among other things, you'll need flare nut wrenches (you DO NOT want to kink the a/c lines) and a set of manifold pressure gauges that will allow you to charge the system back to the correct pressures. This is the basic procedure:

1) Find out where the leaks are (an a/c shop can do this in ten seconds).
2) Depressurize system (I usually take my car to an a/c place and have them depressurize and flush the system).
3) Replace the faulty components.
4) Put the correct amounts of oil in each part: accumulator, compressor, condenser, evaporator
5) Pull a vacuum (In the past, at this point I took the car back to the a/c shop to have them pull a vacuum). Check the vacuum after a couple of hours, if it holds then you're ready to recharge
6) Recharge the system

No. 6 you can easily do at home only if you have the manifold pressure gauges, and NEVER EVER OPEN THE HIGH SIDE WHEN YOU'RE CHARGING.

Here is another site that will provide a lot of information, the guys here are a/c experts:

http://www.aircondition.com/wwwboard/

 

[The Car Whisperer]

You may find this website very helpful, I know I did.

http://www.corvettemagazine.com/2000/July/ac/airpg1.asp

The only thing I did different was that I did not have to disconnect the fuel lines or remove the compressor bracket from the car. Just remove all of the bracket and compressor mounting bolts and you will be able to manipulate the compressor out of the bracket without any problem.

 

[tyrel]

Forgot to add one more thing: I'd say the most difficult part about a/c is seating the o-rings when you remove/reinstall parts. You can't torque it, you pretty much have to do it by feel. On the accumulator, for example, you need two really big offset wrenches, I wound up using two big crescent wrenches in opposing directions, one on the accumulator housing, one on the line. You pretty much have to tighten them up as hard as you can, until you feel the parts seat against each other. If you don't do it far enough, it will leak. Any place you have a connection, you need to do this two-wrench thing because the a/c lines are very delicate and easily kink or bend out of shape. Also, it would be really handy to have an electronic sniffer, but its cheaper cousin will also work really well: a bucket of soapy water. After the system is charged a little, put soap bubbles on all the joints and watch for bubbles coming through the joints. If you see them, you haven't tighted the fittings enough.

 

[The Car Whisperer]

It's also a good idea to put some leak detection dye in the system when you charge it. The dye can detect leaks that a sniffer can't find and all you need is a UV light to check for leaks. As TYREL said above, you have to seat and carefully tighten all of the Oring sealed joints or you will have a leak. Make sure to lube all of the Orings before assembly so they slide into the joints without tearing, also make certain you are using the correct orings for the refrigerent you are using, this is very important. Once you have your system re-assembled, pull a double vacuum on it, then check the vacuum gage over a period of time, this will give you a pretty good idea of weather or not you have a major leak. When I rebuilt my AC system I kept it under vacuum for over a week and the gage did not move at all. You need to pull a double vacuum because the first time you pull the system down you may have some moisture in it, this will cause the vacuum gage to drop over time as the moisture in the system is vaporized by the vacuum. You could even put in a small charge of refrigerent to help absorb some of the moisture in the system before you draw it down a second time.

 

[jsinga]

Add me to the list, totally doable all you need are gauges and a vacuum pump and advice you can get here!

Put the dye in it, they also make an o-ring sealant-lube called nylog and some mosture cure sealant to stop future leaks you just have to decide if you want to go that far.

The GM R-4 compressor is one of the most widely use compressors in the world, they are aftermarket made ones, and real GM. If you are real cheap you can probably get one off a Caviler in the junkyard that's an exact fit. Brand new ones are less than rebuilts for most everything else. Do your homework and you can find a compressor that will last as long or longer than the one on the car now.

I would go with a drop in mixture, Freeze12, Envirosafe, whatever. You can even use ronson lighter butane and coleman lantern propane and get the thing to cool like crazy! With a drop in you won't have to completely flush the system and change out the oil. R134a won't cool as good as a R-12 or a drop in but that doesn't seem to be a big issuse for you.

You have to change the accumulator to get a warranty on a compressor and a lot of places will want you to buy them both from them so there aren't any questions about if the accumulator was changed with the compressor.

If you have time take the evaporator box apart and clean the coil. Take look at some of the pictures. Trash in there is a big reason for poor AC performance.

my .02

JS

 

[jmccloud]

Don't forget to change the expansion orifice. It's cheap, easy to replace and crucial to good cooling.
I had a car's compressor replaced a few years ago (maybe a decade+) and paid $600. It included flushing, coolant (probably R12 back then), compressor, clutch, dryer, expansion valve and a reflush/recharge after a month's use to make sure the system was clean. That reflush/recharge came in the bill and was required for the 1 year guarantee.