A/C Compressor Replacement How-to ChrisFix

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rulXlnG2Unk

 

A/C System Recharge How-to ChrisFix

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pdq8JAlct6s

 

well done except for one mistake. His torque technique is wrong. You should never torque through a universal joint. Changing the angle changes the torque that is applied. Appears to be plenty of room there to get a torque wrench with a socket straight on the bolts. You don't need a lot of room or leverage to tighten them to that level.

Harbor freight has a great dual-stage vacuum pump that will consistently hit 30" and pretty quickly to boot. I think mine was in the $150 range. dual stage 3.0 cfm. Even has an R22 fitting as well if you want to use it on an R22 home A/C system (which are becoming scarce since R12 goes away in 2020).

One thing I have learned over many years of working on all sorts of vehicles... usually things are not as hard as they appear (ok, a northstar engine starter is a PITA, but in general..) It is more a matter of figuring out "OK, HOW did they intend for this to be removed without total disassembly of the front end?" Often there is a hole through a frame, or brace, or whatever, right at the spot where you can use it to access something that seems unreachable. Of course some don't... The original V6 front-drive buick (early 80's) had an impossible water pump. Had to disconnect motor mount and jack front of engine up to let the pump bolts clear the wheel well... I learned years ago to grab a service manual before touching anything. And nowadays it is worthwhile to use google as well. I owned a Dodge Dakota where the evap core started to leak. Dodge dealer wanted 1300 bucks. Said entire dash had to be removed (PITA). I found somewhere that if you removed the bolts that held the dash in, and pulled it away from the firewall about 2", you could get the heater box out without all the steering wheel removal and everything else that was recommended. I did the entire replacement in about 6 hours, which also included a trip back to the parts store and eventually a trip to the dealer parts department to find the right evap core, as in 1995 dodge changed evap core / heater box in mid year and I had the wrong one.

Another trick to save a little refrigerant. Once you get the system charged, shut the engine off and open BOTH manifold gauge valves. This will equalize pressure on both sides and greatly ease the removal of the high-side hose. If you want, install the high-side hose on the storage connector on the manifolds. Now crank and let low pressure drop. The high pressure line is normally full of liquid refrigerant. This will suck the high and low pressure lines down to 30 psig or so. At this point, open the schraeder valve connector (turn counter-clockwise) to close the schraeder and then remove this hose as well. Now you have very little refrigerant in the hoses and when you crack the valves to release the pressure, no big cloud of refrigerant will spray out.