looks too easy! what am I missing?

[sawood12]

Since I learned my A/C condenser had sprung a leak i've been collecting up the parts for its replacement. These include the condenser itself (£205), the filter (the cylindrical can down the front right hand side of the engine bay £97), and the O-rings and rubber mounts needed to replace the ones i'm removing/disturbing (a couple of quid) because after 21yrs some if not all are bound to be past their best.

Had a good scout at the job over the weekend and it looks pretty simple. The condenser is attached via 2 bolts that are easily accessible, the two pipes attached to the condenser are right at the bottom left of the condensor so again access is easy, and access isn't too bad for the filter.

The local A/C specialist said they would provide me with some of the special oil that you need to wet the seals with FOC (on the basis I use them to recharge, which I was going to). So all in all doesn't look too bad. Is the old girl lulling me into a false sense of security or might just this job turn out to be straight forward? Anyone done this job before?

 

[appletonn]

I only replaced the condensor on mine, but getting the pipe connections to loosen from the old condensor was, errm, challenging......[]

It sits just in the airflow so as to collect all of the crud over the years and then.....[8|]

In the end, having had to grind off most of the 'batwing' fixings to get that to release its hold and allow me access to the condensor, I waved a white flag (I was at serious risk of damaging the pipework, through trying to undo the connectors) and took it to John at Unit 11...

I know, bottled it![8|][]

 

[Fen]

I can only comment through the experience of a friend who has my first 944T now, and it was a nightmare.

Not only do you have to consider the possible corrosion and resulting damage when you unfasten things as well as any seals that you might have missed, but the whole fragile part of the job is the compressor which seems to be pretty unhappy changing from R12 to R134a. You also need to consider that the oil is different for different gasses and that the wrong combo destroys seals, plus that you will be unable to get the old R12 oil out of the system effectively.

You might get on better using one of what I assume to be "compatibility" refrigerants that I forget the name of now (R23?) and I wish you all the best, but I really think you might find this is the start of a frustrating period for you.

 

[944Turbo]

Well I changed my condensor and dryer, it was quite straightfoward my condensor had been changed to an aftermarket one so it wasn't original and had been out at least once. Condensor comes out through the bottom, seals were 'O'rings I think I used silicon grease on mine. Noel at Coolit http://www.coolitautomotive.com/contact%20us.htm identified the leak, supplied the parts (at a discount as I was doing the fitting myself ?!?!) then tested for leaks and refilled with an R12 replacement, warrantying it for a year despite me doing the fitting.
Tony