Removing A/c Parts

[battery]

my Aircon doesn't work, the compressor has had it and i don't wanna waste any more money trying to fix it so im gonna get rid of the dead weight.

how do i get the gas out? do i have to take it to a pro?

i haven't looked very hard but what else can i take out apart from the compressor, hoses/pipes and the receiver dryer?

the heater should still work fine after i take this stuff out right?

[Duncan]

well its very illegal to release the aircon gas.

but if you did - the sutff you said, plus the fan on the front, some of the pipes are hard pipes and tricky to remove. and there is the aircon unit under the dash as well that can go, but you will have to support the side of the factory heater's fan somehow if you take that out as well.

[White GTS-T]

Legally you have to have the gas reclaimed by a refrigeration mechanic, as refrigerents contain CFC's that wreck the environment...but its up to you what you do with it

Most SP34E gas (as used in 32's) contains a fluroecent die that is used to detect leaks in the system. So if your not going to have it reclaimed be careful when venting the gas as it stains almost everything it touches. Also another thing to remember is that if your skin comes in contact with the gas you can get frost bite, so be careful!

If it is the compressor that has failed, there's a fair chance it could just be the front seal, if this is the case it will be very oily around the front of the compressor and most of the gas will have escaped through the front seal. Having said this, even new hoses leak around 6% of gas a year and with 32's getting on these days it doesn't take a geneius to figure out that it could just be low on charge. It cost around $130 to reclaim/vac out/ and top up the charge in the system. Your best bet is to go to your local refrigeration joint (just rock up) and get them to hook it up to some guages, that is the only way of knowing for sure.

But at the end of the day if you want to just save yourself time/money and about 12kg of weight simply loosen one of the fittings on the system and the gas will vent out. You can even control the amount of flow by how much you loosen the fitting. You can also remove the condensor, which is located infront of the radiator, which will increase airflow to the radiator significantly, and you can also remove the evaperator and the TX valve which are located under the glovebox/behind the dash but thats a pretty painful job. As is getting the compressor out of there, you will have to remove the front L/H castor rods, swaybar etc just to get to it.

Anyway that was a massive rant but i hope that helps. Let us know what you decide to do

[battery]

thanks for the help guys!

the system was re-gassed a year ago so im sure there is still plenty of gas in there...... im not to keen on paying someone to take the crap out....

from what you are saying i should remove the compressor from under the car?

[R338OY]

My A/C died and mechanic said i need to replaced seized compressor. Bought a 2nd hand one and need to get it installed and the system regassed.

Any advice on replacing the comp.? It looks a bitch to get to it. Will replacing it be on an average mechanically able person's list? I'm keen to do DIY if it's reasonable.

Or is it soo depressing i should just make a mechanic suffer the work?

[battery]

well i just spent the last 4 hours f**king with it and i have come to the conclusion that its a f**king bitch to remove....

i have removed every bolt that i can see but the thing won't budge i think i may have to remove the PS pump.... any tips on this?

bit off topic but i looked at the PS belt today and it has already been striped in 2 and its only been on the car 3000kms???

[jeffworld2]

there are a few options if you cant remove it.

1. hit it with a hammer, it may just be completely wedged in there. mine was.. if you can spin it the same as you would to adjust the belt tension, give it a good whack with a rubber mallet or wood and see what happens

2. you missed the bolt on the back of the top rotating axis thing, or one of the ones underneath. there were 4 on my r33.

3. just take the whole support bracket off the block if you can get to it, there asre four large bolts

i do not recomend cracking the gas at home. there is a HELLUVA LOT more than you think it is and it will make you sick as it is not good to breathe in the chlorine. i assumede when mine was dgassed by the importer it would have no gas in it... turns out all i ever needed to get it working in the last 3 years was to buy a belt

[battery]

tried the hammer, i did miss that bolt on the rotating thingy cause it is an absolute bitch to get to but i took all the bolts on the support out so i dont think it should matter.

yeh the gas was fun little hiss at first got bored opened up a little then WHAM the valve shoots off and out comes a stream like a meter high scared the crap outa me.... lasted 20 secs or so....

[R338OY]

tried the hammer, i did miss that bolt on the rotating thingy cause it is an absolute bitch to get to but i took all the bolts on the support out so i dont think it should matter.

yeh the gas was fun little hiss at first got bored opened up a little then WHAM the valve shoots off and out comes a stream like a meter high scared the crap outa me.... lasted 20 secs or so....

So its off? All the bolts + support bracket is what it needs?

And whats the PS? Does gas spray out when you take it off? Just wanna be prepared when the sh!t sprays at me

[battery]

naaa haven't got it off yet ill have another go tommorrow.

yeh its like an air jet i guess just do it where there is plenty of circulation.

i opened it at the valve by the passenger side of the radiator

PS = powersteering

Edited January 15, 2008 by battery

[White GTS-T]

Hey guys, i'm still in the process of pulling apart a 32 thats in the shop so i will try and help you out with what i did. To get the compressor off you need to get at it from the top and the bottom (obviously the hoist helps here). There are 4 bolts all up holding it on and the two hoses connecting to it, the suction and discharge hoses. There are two bolts on the bottom which to get off you need to remove the Front L/H castor rod, swaybar, and brace/arm (not sure of the name) that connects from the front of the radiator support to just under where the swaybar mounts, the brace that the castor rods is bolted through. To get the two bolts off the top you will need to remove the PS belt. It's very frustrating but after a while you will get it. You will need to take the air filter/airbox off aswell as the intake pipe and maybe the hotpipe and emissions canister just to make things reachable and easier. We have alot of specialist A/C tools in the shop which makes things easier but you should be able to get the job done with a generic tool set. But i was constantly raising and lowering the hoist so it would be pretty tough going without it.

The money that you save on the labour side of things would definatly warrent trying it for yourself as the bill would be quite substantial as you have to pull everything apart just to get to the parts you need to. The 32 thats in the shop at the moment has been there since Monday! They're hard to get parts for as none of the parts are listed in our books. Luckily the customer had a half cut sitting at home. But alas i will try and frequent this thread more often so i can try and answer some of your questions. Good luck guys.