Hello all. I have read many threads here on A/C and have done a ton of research. My 1999 has 51k miles and the A/C stopped working due to a compressor leak. Leak was confirmed several years ago when recharged and dye was added. I am in the process of doing a bunch of maintenance, including the harmonic balancer, so I am fixing the A/C at the same time. All A/C system components are currently out of the car except for the evaporator.

I purchased the Four Seasons A/C kit from Rock Auto which has all new seals, PAG oil, compressor, orifice tube and accumulator. I am currently working under the impression that the lines, evaporator and condenser can be flushed. Although I am not sure if that is a good decision for the condenser. More on that later.

A couple of days ago I attempted to flush the lines, evaporator and condenser using a flush gun kit (rented) and one quart of FJC 2032 A/C flush. This was done with a pancake compressor initially. I used about 5 oz on the evaporator and about 5 oz on the condenser. I flushed the evaporator through the lower line. I flushed the condenser through the lower line too. This was done with the condenser upside down so I could collect the fluid on the way out. I spent a considerable amount of time trying to blow out the flush with an air gun on the condenser and evaporator. It seemed like there is always some fluid surfacing around the top of the condenser when using air. No more dripping and no more misting was observed though. On the evaporator after flushing, I would get an occasional dripping of bright green fluid which also seems like the this must be a mixture of dye, oil and flush still.

A friend loaned me his 20 gallon compressor and I attempted to flush the condenser again yesterday. I used 4 ounces of flush on the second attempt. I also used an in line air filter to capture water. I am still seeing some surfacing of fluid around the top side when air put in the bottom port. It is very small amount but nonetheless some still surfaces. There is no bright green but it is slight green still. I also put some air into the evaporator lower port again and did get some bright green liquid to come out. This does not seem like just the FJC flush fluid and appears to be bright green.

I still have 10 oz of flush left. Btw, there was no black death observed either on the orifice tube or during all of the flushing so far. Fluid was not dirty at all but was more green in color when coming our but I am sure that was due to the dye put int a few years ago.

How do I proceed now?

1) I was planning to pick up a UV light to see if any of the stuff observed near the condenser or evaporator contains dye. If so, that is confirmation that I still need to flush or at least I think so.
2) I think I should flush the evaporator another time and was planing to start with 4oz of flush.
3) Should I even be flushing the condenser? I hear mixed things about doing so with parallel flow condensers. I know one of the threads here by RoccoC5 has done it.

Appreciate the help and suggestions. I have spent way too much time on this already.

 

No sure I understand the path here....but you are making a bunch of extra work for yourself here. I would have just replaced the compressor, accumulator, condenser, and orifice tube (with appropriate gaskets) added the recommended amount of oil for the components changed....and called it a day. Leave the evaporator alone.

 

I agree. I think I made something more complicated than it should’ve been.

At this point I’m going to flush the evaporator again to make sure I have all the oil out and then stop.

Any suggestions on what condenser to get? Seems like OEM is no longer available. I’m not even sure if I need that over an aftermarket one.

 

No suggestions, just get a good brand. If you have not used the parts from Amazon I would return and get from a different source. It's 50/50 whether you get good/non-counterfeit parts from Amazon these days. For the amount of work involved, I would never by parts off Amazon.
Good luck.

 

That's a good plan, I would choose the UAC CN4786PFC from RockAuto for $79.79 because of the ISO 9001 and TS16940 quality production systems.. Make sure everything has the correct 150 PAG oil too, not universal PAG oil.

 

I hear you. The only parts I got from Amazon for this project were Moog sway bar end links. All other parts were from Rock Auto.

I think I’m gonna go with that one. The Four Season kit does come with PAG 150 oil. It’s clearly labeled and it says it has 3 ounces of oil installed. I was gonna empty it out and confirm the amount stated, but I’m probably making more work for myself, and I should probably trust what they put in.

The only thing I’m concerned about would be putting the remaining amount of the PAG 150 oil in the system.

I have GM service manuals but even those seem vague about oil added. For a new compressor it says to add 1oz if 1oz or less is drained from it. If more than 1oz it says to add the same amount of oil back. In this case, the compressor comes prefilled with 3oz.

Any suggestions on how much to add to the remaining components, if starting with 3 ounces in the compressor?

 

Odd that you would say that, because that is one section of the service manual that is very specific regarding how much oil to add given what has been replaced, and the level of service.

 

Let me clarify, I am looking at the HVAC (auto section) "Refrigeration Oil Distribution Specification", and it specifies individual oil amounts but not a total system amount. In other words, depending on the amount in the compressor, the total amount appears to vary. I could be misunderstanding it I suppose.

 

I did this a few years ago, forget trying to clean that condenser, that's not happening.
Replace the parts, as Lucky mentioned, and also replace both high & low Schrader valves.
The evap should be flushed both directions, and when finished with the flush, run air for at least 15 minutes straight to get any remaining cleaning fluid out.
When I did this job, I used Nylog sealant on all threads & O rings
That system should have a total of 9 oz of oil in it.

 

Thanks. The kit does come with new Schrader valves. I flushed the evaporator twice but only in one direction from the orifice tube side. I don't think I was able to get the flush tool gun / nozzle into the top port which connects to the accumulator. I did pick up some Nylog to be used on compressor seals and all o-rings.

If there is 3 oz of oil prefilled in the compressor, 3 oz in evaporator and 1 oz in the condenser, does the remaining 2 oz go in the accumulator then?

 

PAG 150 was used by the compressors in the older C5, Use the correct PAG oil that the new compressor calls for, most likely PAG 46, the only thing in the AC system that uses oil is the compressor.

 

Yes, add the rest to the accumulator.
I also remember that the high side valve was not as common to get, it is larger than the low side schrader .

 

Here is a great video on "Compressor Lubrication Tips" by Four Seasons. Anyone that works on their AC should watch it.

 

I will double check. If not, I believe I had them replaced a few years ago when I had the system recharged.

Thanks, I watched it.

It appears that Four Seasons is aware of that in their lubrication spec. They list the older oil type for 97-04 cars and it looks like they stuck with it based on what oil type is in the compressor and the extra bottle provided.

 

Hit a bit of a snag today. I am almost ready to pull a vacuum but it looks like the Four Season kit (10770NK) comes with a high side valve that appears to be the wrong part. The included part has an aluminum body with an oring as opposed to a larger schrader type valve that my car has. Also, it looks like I will need a special tool to reach the larger schrader valve. Any info on part or tool is appreciated. Thanks.





Part of Four Seasons Kit

I need something like this.

 

For cores you want ACDelco 15-5528 for the large high pressure side and 15-1119 for the low. For tools it’s a bit of a shitshow out there. The high side Schrader is larger, wider, and deeper than the low pressure. Many tools are too short to reach the core, or the slot too shallow or narrow to properly seat. And cheesy steel is everywhere. I bought a couple of tools on Amazon, and do not recommend either. Your local Advance Auto should have what appears to be an appropriate tool — but like everyone else, they list no specifications. Their part number T59302.

 

Damn, I didn't check Advance. I only checked Autozone and Oreilly's. I saw that Rock Auto had a high side GM core and an appropriate tool by Four Seasons but those would not arrive until late next week. I did find a Santech high side core at Autozone but I did not buy it since I would not have had the ability to get the original one out.

I was starting to get a bit nervous as I installed all of the A/C parts two days ago and did not want to leave the ambient air in the newly closed system so I pulled a 90 minute vacuum last night and then let it sit overnight. I just checked and it is holding vacuum. I am banking on the original high side core holding at this point as I do not know any other way to change the core without letting a bunch of moisture back in.

Should I be putting some dye back into the system at this point or would you only do that later if problems are encountered? If doing that now, would I simply use a full can of r-134 with dye? I was only planning to use pure r-134 at this point.

 

I got the system charged earlier. I got the 1.5 lbs of r-134 in per fender label. A/C is blowing cold. I will check the actual vent temperature later.

However there seems to be a problem with the new compressor. When the clutch is engaged everything seems normal but when I turn off the A/C from the HVAC controls, there is noise coming from the compressor. Almost like a clutch noise. If you look at the front of the compressor, you can see the clutch or the front spin a bit and then stop and then repeat. This is happening every second or so. It's consistent. If I turn the A/C on it goes away. I pulled the micro relay (#34) and it still does the same thing so I don't believe it has anything to do with it electronically.

Kind of bummed actually. I took my time doing this installation and followed the service manual.

Thoughts? Suggestions? I'll grab a video shortly.

 

It sounds like the clutch face is not parallel with the pulley face and has a location of zero air gap between the two. There should be an air gap between the two of about 0.020” to 0.040 “. You can take a set of feeler gages and check it.

The OEM compressor is a press fit of the clutch to the compressor shaft. There is a Kent Moore tool (and probably some knock offs) that is used to remove and install the clutch. If the 4 seasons is a copy of the OEM, and your clutch is not too far out of whack, you can use this tool to back off the clutch until you get to a minimum of about 0.020” gap.

 

I think this is the route I am going to go. In hindsight, it was red flag when I took the compressor out of the box and the pulley wasn't free spinning. Lesson learned. I am going to see if I can rent the tool locally before buying one.

I assume I will need straight line access to the center of the clutch or pulley with the tool but unfortunately the steering rack is now in the way. I need to figure out the which is the easiest way to get a straight shot onto the pulley so I can use the puller. Worst case scenario is I have to evacuate the A/C system and remove the water pump so I could take the compressor out. I would like to avoid this route as it would introduce moisture back into the system. I wonder if I lower the subframe, if I will have enough clearance to get to the bolt? Or I if remove the four bolts on the compressor with the lines attached, would I be able to slightly angle it up. Just thinking about loud. Guess I will have to figure it out.