A/C compressor and condenser...

[Chad of Metal]

So, I had a previous post about my A/C problems that I'm having.

Well, I took it to a local shop and they checked out.

They said I needed to replace both the condenser and the compressor for the air conditioner. They said it would be $950 as well.

Which I looked it up online and the parts together would be roughly $500, which still is a lot of money.

My question is, is this a tough repair to do at your house?

[denisond3]

Though I imagine folks do it often, its a sort of tricky repair, since you have to do it -fast- or else buy a new "receiver drier" also (to capture the humidity that got into the opened system), you have to have the right rubber O rings at each connection, have to have the right amount of lubricant to put in (too little is bad, too much is bad), have the gauges and fittings to do the adding. The good thing about it is that if you do it wrong - its only the a.c. system that wont work; the rest of the car will still be okay.

I presume they were replacing the condenser due to corrosion on its outside? Or signs of physical damage to it?

I would expect their doing the work would involve pulling a vacuum on the system for an hour or so, to get out as much moisture and dirty lubricant as possible. While this isnt always a vital step - its a normally a step needed to ensure the system will continue working for longer periods of time. So anyone who is giving you a guarantee will certainly do it.

I think if you do it yourself, and dont have all the equipment needed to 'capture' the old refrigerant, you are violating some of the convoluted language of later versions of the clean air act.....doing which is against federal law. If you have a business license it is definitely against federal law, and often against state laws that 'enact' and 'adopt' the Clean Air Act.
(However: when I bought a used engine head at a nearby junkyard, they got the a.c. system out of the way using bolt cutters to chop the refrigerant lines in two. A big chilly 'whoooosh' resulted!! They arent allowed to use cutting torches in that junkyard anymore because they are within the city limits, or they would have torched things out of the way.)

[RC1488]

+1. What I have done is paid for them to remove the refrigerant. Then done the work that was needed, then had them charge the system. Saves a good amount of $$$