condenser desiccant

I have a 97 2rz Tacoma. I am replacing the condenser because the line on the lower drivers side was damaged. I have a new denso 477-0565 condenser I ordered. I am replacing all o rings and the receiver/dryer. My question is, what is in the condenser? This is the first condenser I have replaced in my years of wrenching.

When I go to unscrew the cap to connect the driver side line on the bottom right, I hear something escaping into the air. The instructions say some condensers may come with desiccant. Do I let this escape and is this just for transport purposes to eliminate moisture? My Tacoma still has the receiver/dryer to the right of the condenser.

 

The desiccant is in the receiver dryer... I'm not sure what ur hearing escaping did u get ur A/C system discharged before doing this?

Also, are you hearing something from the old condenser or the new one?

 

The noise I am hearing is from the new condenser. When I go to unscrew the cap, something is in it and I hear is being released.

 

they come filled with nitrogen to keep them free from dust and moisture, its only a few pounds and its gone quickly. the desiccant they speak of is from the old days when they had loose packets inside the bag when then come unpressurised and sealed in plastic to keep moisture out. its the same stuff you see in medicine bottles and vitamins, they rarely if ever come unpressurized anymore, all the ones today are nitrogen filled.

you don't want the drier exposed to moisture long so make that the absolute very last thing you open, unseal, and install, so you can put the system on a vacuum pump within minutes of installing it for best results.

if you think anything is in your way remove it (grille, headlights, radiator) because you might have room to get things in and out but you need room to access the fasteners and fittings with wrenches so there are no shortcuts with this job, get it all out of your way and use good wrenches on everything, preferably fitting wrenches so nothing gets stripped.

when you are done pull a good vacuum for a solid 30 minutes and don't rush it, a good vacuum is the most important thing to make it cool the best.

I never replaced one on our tacomas but if the plastic end pieces on the sides with the attachment mounting points looks like it can be removed I would like to get them from you, my condenser is fine but two of the bottom plastic tabs that hold it in place are broken so after you get yours replaced, if you think its something I can swap out with mine I would be greatfull. right now mine is held in place with plastic tie straps lol.

 

Thanks for the info about the nitrogen. I figured it related to protecting the condenser. The pieces you are referring to are the mounts at the bottom of the condenser that have rubber pieces inside them, correct? The denso condenser has plastic mounts, but the old condenser has them as metal pieces.

 

ok well yes my 99 has the denso condenser and those plastic pieces are broken.

I never looked too closely if they could somehow be replaced, I just assumed they couldn't since the PO had it held with tie straps so I left it be.

as you can imagine, its not worth buying a new condenser because those tabs are broken

 

I saw how flimsy the denso brackets are, it's too bad. As far as the metal brackets, I am going to recycle my busted condenser. The metal brackets are spot welded? in 2 or 3 spots. If you want them, I can cut them off along the side frame of the condenser. I'll post some pics in a few minutes.

 

I think it would be too risky to try and drill holes and pop rivet them on so just toss it.

did you find any with the metal brackets? or was it something you didn't think to ask about?

it would be worth it in my opinion to pay $20 more for one with metal brackets instead of plastic so I might just try to source a condenser from the salvage yard from a 96-98 taco rather then buy one made of plastic because I can imagine there is always the chance that the top ones will break from the bottom not doing anything to support it

 

Some condenser come with a dryer pack in them. And you leave it in when you install the new condenser.With out seeing what's going on I can't see what you're working with. ..


Also make sure to add oil for the new part and I'd put in some dye. The machine I have at work is nice because it does all that for me depending on what button I push

 

I didn't know there were some with metal or plastic brackets. The old one I had was installed after a minor accident I had. The brand was TYC. Maybe you could rig something for the bottom. How about a small block of wood or rubber that has a channel for the condenser to fit in and a slit on the bottom to fit in the edge of metal?

 

well I could be wrong but yours "looks" like the metal end caps can unscrew from the condenser coil itself and if so its most likely going to have the same attachment screw locations or be able to drill new holes for them to swap it to a condenser with plastic ends because mine also looks like the plastic end caps are screwed on (and likely snaps on somewhere as well) so im thinking the brackets might be interchangeable and that perhaps you can reuse your metal end caps by swapping them with the plastic ones it came with if you wished to do so.

in my opinion oem metal brackets are always 1000% better then anything plastic.

anyway when you get it out take a look at how both end caps connect to the condenser itself and see if it looks like the screw holes line up, if they do I would like the ones you don't use if you haven't already tossed it.

as to fixing mine it looks to be the plastic cups that holds it in place are able to be unscrewed on the plastic one I have but no way to know if they are all like that. you cant buy the little cups that screw in on mine so the only way to source them is if someone has a bad plastic ended condenser and you can get them to give you it for parts.

 

I sent you a pm.