2001 Buick Regal Air Conditioning

[jjdublin]

I appreciate the time that folks take to share their problems on this forum, so I thought I would share mine.

I just recently replaced the condenser in my 2001 Buick Regal. I noticed a little over a year ago that the drivers side air wasn't as cold as the passenger's side air conditioning. I had recharged the refrigerant and both sides started to blow cold air. I thought I was good to go, but in a few days the same problem returned with the passengers side air not quite as cold. The first can of refrigerant did not have the dye detector in it. I then wised up and bought the can with the UV leak dye detector and could only find a faint leak on the front of the car by the condenser. I let the problem go over the winter but now that the temperatures were warming up I decided to tackle the problem since my daughter was complaining about her back sweating from lack of air conditioning.

The condenser sits in the very front of the car, directly in front of the radiator. In order to remove the condenser, I had to remove the air filter housing, the radiator (and fan), battery, front engine mounts, and the two side support bars. That all took about 3 hours from a novice. Removing the radiator was probably the trickiest since there is little or no access from the bottom to remove the transmission fluid line and bottom radiator hose. In order to accomplish that I had to basically loosen or remove everything from up above and then slightly lift the radiator up and out at an angle to get a wrench on the transmission line and pliers on the radiator hose clamp.

A new condenser was around $120 at Autozone. Make sure to keep the two rubber mounts that slide on the top of the old condenser. Pretty easy to replace with the radiator out. Apparently the old condenser had rubbed on the frame and over time developed a leak.

I had it all put back together and thought I was good to go but after starting the car, I had a transmission fluid leak. I had to undo most of what I had put back in and tried to tighten the transmission fluid fittings again. Same leak after putting it back together a second time. Now I was worried.

What I didn't realize was that the aluminum fittings for the transmission lines that tap into the radiator weren't really meant to be wrenched on. There is a clip on the outside rim of the connector that can be removed which allows the tube to pull out of the aluminum fitting. I think you may be OK if you removed the fitting with a wrench in order to get the transmission lines out, but I don't recommend leaving the fittings on the transmission line and wrenching them back on while installing the radiator. Ideally, remove the wire clip with a small pick type tool which should allow the fitting to slide right off. Unfortunately for me the bottom fitting would not come off like it was supposed to since I had wrenched it. I had to get the dremmel out and very carefully make small cuts around the top lip of the transmission line connector and then take a flat screwdriver and pry the lip off. I ended up having to replace the entire radiator since I had cross threaded the male/female fitting. I didn't have time or access to another solution. A new radiator was around $120 at Autozone also. So that was an expensive mistake. The new radiator came with new fittings that slid right over the transmission tube lines so I was good to go after putting that back together.

Note, I also replaced the accumulator (sometimes called the receiver/dryer). The guy at Autozone suggested that it should be replaced anytime the condenser is changed. From what I have read on the internet, seems like most would agree. That part is about $30 and relatively easy to remove and replace.

You will want to add some oil to the condenser prior to putting that in. There is special A/C oil that you can add.

After I had it all put back together, no leaks but I still needed to have the system evacuated and recharged. You would need a special vacuum pump (and manifold gauges too) that someone like Harbor Freight sells for around $100. I decided to take it somewhere to have it evacuated and recharged since the vacuum pump was going to be a one time use for me. I am not sure if you can skip the vacuum pump step and just recharge, but I didn't want to risk failure. Moisture left in the system can cause long term damage and also make the system less efficient and blow lukewarm air. A local shop charged $125 to vacuum the system and to recharge.

Without the radiator problem, I would have gotten it done for about $275.

It blows ice cold air now!

[brcidd]

95% of the leaks on your car are found at the V-5 compressor- shaft seal and belly leakers are number one location--so how does yors look- is the belly of compressor oily? is there noticeable slinging of oil from behind clutch on compressor? Condenser on a W car is easier than you describe...

[Jeff Collision]

Sometimes the thermostat and resistor may cause the problem in ac compressor. Moreover leaks are easy to spot but not easy to fix without pulling things apart.

[Tech II]

Sometimes the thermostat and resistor may cause the problem in ac compressor.

Care to expand on that?

JJdublin, there is a special tool that mounts on the tranny line...you rotate it into the fitting and it spreads the clip, and the tranny line comes right out of the radiator.....easy peasy lemon squeezy.....