A/C Compressor shaft seal replace advise

I have a 92 S-10 blazer that finally leaked the charge out of the air conditioner, it had an oily compressor pulley for several years. Since the thing was working and slowly lost its charge would I be ahead to replace the seal for around $10? It is a Harrison HR100T compressor. If there is still freon pressure would I need to replace the dryer? I think I should flush the system (if that will remove the oil) and/or take the compressor off and turn it upside down. So I would know how much oil to install. If anyone has done this I would appreciate any tips! It quit last summer when the pressure dropped enough so It would not start. As far as I know it has never had any freon added. It had 70K miles when I got it in 1998. I have over 200K on it now. It lived in Alaska till 2005 so the A/C was not used much until after '05. I wonder If I should replace all the o-rings and such that are replaceable? I still have some R-12 around so that is not a problem.

Technically/legally, you are suppose to recover any refrigerant in the system.....

If it's all gone, then nothing has to be taken apart.......the compressor is high up enough to remove the parts of the compressor to replace the seal(special tools will be needed for this)......replace seal....pull a vacuum on the system, and suck in at least two oz of mineral oil....then add the appropriate amount of R12(who has R12 these days?)....

We are talking about a 20 year old system....I wouldn't put too much into this, unless I was doing a conversion and intended to keep the vehicle for a long time....

I've done hundreds of R-4 (V-5, H-6) shaft seals- used to work for Harrison- when the compressors were made in the US. Replace it with a double lip seal- will last longer...

I have a 92 S-10 blazer that finally leaked the charge out of the air conditioner, it had an oily compressor pulley for several years. Since the thing was working and slowly lost its charge would I be ahead to replace the seal for around $10? It is a Harrison HR100T compressor. If there is still freon pressure would I need to replace the dryer? I think I should flush the system (if that will remove the oil) and/or take the compressor off and turn it upside down. So I would know how much oil to install. If anyone has done this I would appreciate any tips! It quit last summer when the pressure dropped enough so It would not start. As far as I know it has never had any freon added. It had 70K miles when I got it in 1998. I have over 200K on it now. It lived in Alaska till 2005 so the A/C was not used much until after '05. I wonder If I should replace all the o-rings and such that are replaceable? I still have some R-12 around so that is not a problem.

since you have R12 you must use mineral oil. not sure on how much to add. the filter dryer is normally replaced when the system is opened on a major component repair like the compressor removal. replacing seals is required you do not reuse seals. seals 20 years old you must be joking.

clean out the system use the cleaning chemical and with air compressor blow out the cleaner from the evap/condenser etc....add the new oil to the compressor about 3 OZ and the rest to the lines/filter/dryer receiver tank with the leak detector . vacuum the system down for an hour the see if the vacuum holds. then add a few OZ of the R12. see if the pressure holds and no leaks ... then add the rest of R12 when your sure its not leaking.

coat all O rings and seals with the mineral oil. good luck on the shaft seal R/R.

I have a 92 S-10 blazer that finally leaked the charge out of the air conditioner, it had an oily compressor pulley for several years. Since the thing was working and slowly lost its charge would I be ahead to replace the seal for around $10? It is a Harrison HR100T compressor. If there is still freon pressure would I need to replace the dryer? I think I should flush the system (if that will remove the oil) and/or take the compressor off and turn it upside down. So I would know how much oil to install. If anyone has done this I would appreciate any tips! It quit last summer when the pressure dropped enough so It would not start. As far as I know it has never had any freon added. It had 70K miles when I got it in 1998. I have over 200K on it now. It lived in Alaska till 2005 so the A/C was not used much until after '05. I wonder If I should replace all the o-rings and such that are replaceable? I still have some R-12 around so that is not a problem.

if you have some pressure you may not need a new seal. what happens is on low ac use the shaft seal drys out. then the oil will leak out . over time you have a low oil condition . especially if it has never been charged. if you add a few ounces of R12 with mineral oil in a can to be added to the system this may reduce /stop the shaft seal leak.

problem is I very much doubt you will find this product in todays world..

I had to go to a refrigeration supplier to get the mineral oil. as this is not in any auto store !

Thanks Everyone for all the information! I do know about the legal stuff. Even though it is based on a lie. !! The Ozone layer was going and coming before humans even produced Freon..... but that is a different story! I can only do the part replacement, I will take it to a shop for the vacuum and freon install. I have 6 cans of R12 (I think) left, in the old days anyone could put the stuff in! The compressor on the label says it wants 8 Oz. of oil. Yep, it sure is old! So am I so it don't seem so bad to me... unfortunately due to circumstances beyond my control (my former mate mostly) and Umm, a couple failed new business starts. I'm financially embarrassed so I will keep the old junk running or walk! ;-) The last thing I bought new was in 1995! Still got the GMC diesel (AC still works).... I don't want to put any more $$ in than I have to - hence the seal replacement. In my travels looking for seal kits, there are at least two I have found but none say they are for the Harrison HR100T compressor, it may be that the same seal is in a different unit but as I am not familiar with them I don't know it will fit unless it has the exact model and make listed.... All that said it does not seem to be that much of a job to replace from what I have seen online. I will replace all the O-rings and such, I found a gasket kit for ALL systems on this model and year it says, that was cheap too! I already have quite a few tools that I may never use again, but I have 'em just in case! I will use a double lip seal If I can get one for this compressor. I guess I could just recharge the system, but due to the age and all it seems like it might last longer if I replace the gaskets! I have been using it quite a bit since I moved back to Missouri, it gets hot here in the summer! It sounds like I will need a new dryer if I open the system and given the way I have to work, I'll probably get interrupted and it will take a few days to get back together. Geezz looks like I wrote a book! :-)

Shaft seals for R-4, V-5, H-6, HT-6 are all the same basically- there are a couple exceptions on units built after MY2002...

Thanks Everyone for all the information! I do know about the legal stuff. Even though it is based on a lie. !! The Ozone layer was going and coming before humans even produced Freon..... but that is a different story! I can only do the part replacement, I will take it to a shop for the vacuum and freon

you attitude about this refrigerant , and its effects on the ozone layer that protects life on this planet from UV is why this R12 and other refrigerants that contain the ozone killing materials have been banned all over the planet.

countries like Australia had many get skin cancer due to the huge holes that where created by the use of these refrigerants. since the ban on these chemicals the hole has closed up for countries close to the polar regions and the amount of UV damage is reduced greatly.

the other reason to obey the law is it is a $10,000 fine .

Have a question for you...how much oil do you think should be added to the system, after the seal is replaced?

Replacing o-rings and gaskets? Why?

Hey TechII. As for the oil the compressor label says 8 ounces - perhaps there is a different amount if it is covered in the manual. I have not checked to see if it is covered yet. I am presuming the flush will remove all the oil and I will be starting with an empty system. If that is not the case I don't have much of an Idea on how to tell... As for the o-rings and gaskets - If there is no possibility they are leaking due to age and exposure to the high and low temperatures of normal operation I guess they don't need to be replaced. I just want it to have the best chance it can of leaking as little as possible when put back together. Due to the availability of the freon mostly. All that said, I don't want to do any work I don't have to as I'm basically pretty lazy...

Hey brcidd : Good to know about the seals - Thanks!

I thought you wanted to do this as cheaply as possible...taking the system apart(creating possible leaks), and flushing the system, is not what I would do.....

If the system was working, and you were losing oil at the seal, I would just replace the seal, pull a vacuum, suck in 1-2 oz of mineral oil, and add the R-12, and see what happens....

That is definitely the cheapest. If the chances are good the old seals won't leak soon that would be the best. A new gasket set is $12 or so.... But I may already have other issues. I notice over the last couple days a noise from under the hood, like a dry bearing sound. Listening with a broom handle it sounds loudest on the belt tensioner pulley and the compressor. I took the belt off. Both the tension pulley and compressor pulley were smooth rolling but sounded dry when spun by hand. I could not wiggle the tension pulley side to side. There was a slight side to side I could feel on the A/C compressor. I don't know if that is normal or what... I was thinking of taking it to the shop and have them take a look. They probably know what is acceptable. If its the compressor then I have bearing issues. Drat! ;-] This is one time when the old v-belts were good, you could just remove the suspect and see if the noise stopped!