I am buying a rebuilt A/C Compressor off ebay for my 1999 corvette. The manufacturer says and I quote:

"CONDENSER - This vehicle is equipped with a parallel flow design condenser. This type of condenser can not be properly flushed and needs to be replaced. Failure to replace the condenser when replacing this compressor will void the warranty. Most mechanics are not up to date on their A/C training and will not know this condenser can not be properly flushed.

I have also read through the forums and the corvette "Bible" and have found nothing that says i have to replace the condenser. Help Please.

 

If your compressor did not come apart internally and was only leaking then just replace the drier and orfice tube. Make sure you check the new compressor for oil, some say they come with PAG oil and some say to add. I believe its two ounces of PAG oil.

 

Thanks for the feed back. The compressor makes a horrible metal on metal rubbing noise when the a/c is turned on, there are no leaks and it blows cold air. I took it to the shop that installed it when it started making the noise, they said it was the compressor but of course there is no more warranty left.

 

ttt

 

It could be the clutch or the pulley on the compressor. I'm not sure if you can replace just the clutch or not, but it's worth a shot before you go cracking into the refrigerant system.

 

Sounds good i will have to check and see if you can do just a clutch replacement if that fixes the issue. Thanks for the feed back.

 

Be careful on what some shops say when the say "the compressor". That's the easy (and very profitable) way for THEM. There are shops that ONLY want to replace entire assemblies even though the clutch assembly may be the actual problem.

HTH

 

IF you are blowing cold air the compressor is working then the system is relatively clean. You are right in your checking of the clutch. My guess is the clutch bearing or possibly but rarely the flex plate has failed. I have changed them on cadillacs without letting the freon out. You must have a clutch puller tool to pull the clutch face plate off. IF the seals are in good shape it is a non issue. If you are not confortable with this find a shop that will just change the clutch. You can check the bearing with the belt off. The pulley should spin free and no noise.

I am ultra conservative when changing a compressor and had too many rebuilts fail. I only buy NEW compressors. Granted they cause a bit more but I really get tired of having to replace a "warranty for life rebuild" when I have to do the work. This doesn't mean there aren't good rebuilds but I haven't managed to buy one yet.

I would not expect having to replace the condenser at this time given yours still cools. If you pull the compressor now you probably only need the compressor, orifice tube and dryer.

Many new compressors require installation of a pre-filter to prevent contamination that may be in the system from damaging the new compressor. This prefilter is required for warranty.

best of luck

 

Thanks for the reply. Lots of good stuff !