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1979-1993 & 94 Conv [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
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Well, it took a week, but I got it done!
Several weeks ago I did some troubleshooting on my air conditioner, and discovered that the clutch on the compressor was bad. Rebuilding the clutch is a tough job, and though some people told me it could be done with the compressor still connected to the car, it didn't look like something I wanted to try. My shop manual shows the clutch rebuild done with the compressor held in a bench vise.
Taking the compressor out to repair the clutch would mean getting a shop to recover the R-12 freon. I asked around at several local shops, and none would pump out my R-12 and give it back to me later. They all said they took recovered R-12 and sent it away to be filtered and processed, and were only allowed to put in R-12 from an approved source. Oh, yes... and they don't pay you for the R-12 they remove from your car, but YOU pay upwards of $4 or $5 per ounce to buy it back... close to $200 for a complete recharge when you add in the labor.
The more I thought about this, the more I decided it was time to get away from R-12 and convert over to R-134a, which I can buy at K-Mart for six bucks a can.
I'd read a lot here on the Saabnet about converting to R-134a, and I decided that if I was going to do this, I'd do it right. I live in Florida, after all, so I want this thing to work as well as it can.
I ordered a new (actually, a remanufactured) compressor from Sobstory. I also ordered a new filter/drier, which I was told should be replaced when doing this. Jim at Sobstory told me that I might as well replace the expansion valve while I was at it. They're prone to failure after awhile, only cost around $16, and I could replace it while I had the system opened up. So I ordered that, too. The compressor was $322, the filter/drier was about $27, new O-rings were $15, and with shipping, the total came to just under $400.
The first thing I did once the parts arrived was take the Beastie down to an auto A/C shop and have the R-12 pumped out. Since they get to keep the R-12 (and don't pay you for it) they did this for me for free. (I think that was because they were expecting to sell it back to me later for some outrageous price!)
Next I went about taking out my old compressor. The first step is removing the belt, and after changing my water pump a couple of years ago, this wasn't too hard. I found the adjuster bolt on the tensioner, used my handy Squeeze Wrench (as seen on TV) to loosen it, loosened the other tensioner bolts so that it would pivot, and then removed the belt.
Next I decided to take the hoses off the compressor. The tech at the A/C shop had warned me that a bit of residual freon would still be in the system after they pumped it out, and sure enough, when I loosened the 14mm bolt on the hose block, a brief hiss of escaping gas came from the compressor as the seal was opened. I moved the hoses over to the side, and also disconnected the electrical plug on the top of the unit.
Now came the tricky part. Mounting bolts. As is typical with everything on this car, things are mounted in such a way that there's no possibility of using normal tools to remove them. The four mounting bolts were large Torx head (#50? I don't know... didn't have one that size!) bolts with 19mm nuts on them. I used a hex-head key to hold the bolt steady while flipping a box-end 19mm wrench around on the nuts to remove them. It isn't easy, even if you've done it before.
I finally got the old compressor off, and went to install the new one. There's a hose holder that's bolted to the top of the compressor, so I had to remove this from the old one and mount it on the new one. There was also a little clip that holds the electrical wire on the top, and I moved that to the new unit. Once this was ready, I wrestled the compressor back into position, and installed the mounting bolts as they were before. The new compressor came with a plate bolted over the inlet and outlet ports. When I removed this to put the hoses on, a bit of clear oil dripped out. I quickly pressed the hoses into position. Fortunately, the O-rings on the compressor were already installed.
As I started to tighten the hoses onto the compressor with that 14mm hex bolt, something snapped. In disbelief, I thought I'd broken the bolt off in the hole and couldn't believe it had snapped when I'd hardly put any torque on it. I was using a 3/8" drive ratchet and was holding it by the head, not pushing on the end of the handle! But now the bolt was spinning with almost no resistance.
I was puzzled when I removed it and the whole bolt came out. On examining the threads, I saw what had happened -- the threads inside the compressor had stripped out! I immediately posted here on TSN asking for opinions from the experts, and we talked about helicoil kits. (See my posts from last weekend.) I put in a call to Jim at Sobstory, and he insisted on sending me another compressor.
So I removed compressor number two, packed it up, and sent it back to Sobstory. For grins, I also sent him my original compressor, the one with the broken clutch. Maybe the remanufacturer can rebuild it for someone. Jim shipped another compressor to me on Monday and I got it Wednesday! He said there's no way the threads should have stripped, even under some very heavy torque, and he took care of the problem quickly. For what it's worth, Sobstory is a class outfit; I have no hesitation recommending them to anyone who wants parts for a Saab.
Installing compressor number three wasn't as difficult as number two had been. I installed the hose holding clamp on the top, transfered the wire clip, and hoisted it into the engine compartment. By this time, I'd figured out how to manipulate those mounting bolts and tighten them up. It didn't take long. When I went to connect the hoses, I used my torque wrench, and very gingerly approached the minimum torque spec given in my manual. I figured if it leaked I could squeak a little more torque on it later, but I wasn't going to take any chances!
Lastly, I made the electrical connection and installed the belt, adjusting the belt tensioner back the way it had been before.
This post is getting a little long; I'll continue on another one.
- = M = -
posted by 208.63.21...
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