I found a great a/c discount parts house. Their prices are almost half of what autozone, advanced and other local outlets. They have free shipping for orders over $100. I replaced my wife's a/c last year on a 2001 Intrepid. I am getting ready to replace my 2001 Suburban also. the factory A/C compressors are not noted for longevity. I bought a new compressor, not a rebuilt at just a little more than the rebuilt OEM compressor. According to their Technician many of the OEM compressors have a defect in the compressor. The new unit is built with out the design flaw. I also replaced the drier, orifice and O rings. The compressor came with the lubrication. I have never worked on a car ac before. I bought a vacuum pump from Harbor Freight it was on sale and I had one of the 20% off coupons you can find in Popular Mechanics and other magazines. I bought the smaller vacuum pump for less than $70 with sales tax. I also got the a/c gauges that were on sale coupon for $39 and I had a 20% off coupon for the gauges. A man in front of me paid $49 plus tax. You can't use their Super Coupon with the 20% off coupon. Just sign up so you get the regular coupon and sales flyer they send out. The A/C parts house has a help number if you need advise. The installation in most cars and trucks is not very complicated. I did the Intrepid in less than 3 hours and 30 minutes of the time was waiting for the vacuum pump to pull the complete vacuum. Hope this helps someone. Corvette Forum members have been a great resource for keeping my 94 Vette in great condition. The original a/c in the Vette is still going strong. It looks like it would take between 2 1/2 to 3 hours to replace the unit in a c4. Make sure to replace the orifice and drier and draw a vacuum. The web site for the discount a/c parts ishttp://www.acpartshouse.comhttp://www.acpartshouse.com

David

 

Ibtl

 

Looks like some OEM stuff. I've bought "new" aftermarket from Autozone and it's been bad out of the box. The majority of GM (and the OEM) stuff lasts through the warranty. The Nippo in your Vette is a stout unit with most giving up a shaft seal (servicable as long as you catch it soon enough). For my personal cars, I let the vacuum sit overnight and then pump it back down the next day (any unit will lose a point as it boils off remaining moisture). The Factory sucks and dumps the charge in - no one stops the line to see if it holds anything; nor do they leak check per se - it's whatever the pressure sensor shows on the first start up. Amazingly, they last - again, at least through the warranty. I'd leave your Vette alone (keep an eye on the shaft seal) or you could check pressures which you can do with a Scanner and that way you don't squirt out a 1/8 of ounce when your hook up your gage set.