Aircon refresh

Discussion and technical advice the SW20 MR2. 3S-GTE, 3S-GE, 3S-FE etc
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Race Idiot
Posts: 2589
Joined: Wed Jan 25, 2006 10:48 pm
Location: Hertfordshire

Aircon refresh

Post by Race Idiot »

So after driving my car on the weekend and roasting with both windows down at 70mph I felt like it might be time to fix the aircon.

First thing i've ordered is this as my aircon rad is pretty shitty looking.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/A-C-Condenser ... SwYvFZMdT-

Then next on the list is the compressor and drier? Does anyone know the best place to get these? Is it possible to get my compressor refurbed, if so where is good?

Edit: ordered This Drier
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000I ... UTF8&psc=1

And this expansion valve
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000C ... UTF8&psc=1

Coming from this thread
http://www.mr2oc.com/6-mkii-90-99-na-tu ... 3-jdm.html


So the last step should be the compressor, I don't really want to rely on ordering it from america so it would be nice if I could get one from the uk or get mine refurbed.
CalMac
Posts: 1747
Joined: Mon Jan 14, 2013 7:08 pm
Location: Northampton

Re: Aircon refresh

Post by CalMac »

May be worth speaking to Craig, IIRC he had Pete rebuild his AC system from scratch about 2 years ago so will probably have a rough idea of costs and parts needed :thumleft:
Race Idiot
Posts: 2589
Joined: Wed Jan 25, 2006 10:48 pm
Location: Hertfordshire

Re: Aircon refresh

Post by Race Idiot »

Yeah i'd like to know where he got his compressor refurbished. I can see refurbished ones available from the us for about $200 but I'd rather not have to rely on getting everything shipped over.
craig
Posts: 43936
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2004 3:44 am

Re: Aircon refresh

Post by craig »

Race Idiot wrote:Yeah i'd like to know where he got his compressor refurbished. I can see refurbished ones available from the us for about $200 but I'd rather not have to rely on getting everything shipped over.


I've just had a look through my invoices.

Refurbishing of a/c compressor was done by Compressor tech, at a cost of £235+vat with 2 year warranty in May 2015. Plus obviously the cost of sending it to them via courier.

Hope that helps :thumleft:
Race Idiot
Posts: 2589
Joined: Wed Jan 25, 2006 10:48 pm
Location: Hertfordshire

Re: Aircon refresh

Post by Race Idiot »

Cool! Well thats what I hope the interior of my car will be when its sorted haha.

Did you change anything else apart from the condenser and the dryer?
craig
Posts: 43936
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2004 3:44 am

Re: Aircon refresh

Post by craig »

Race Idiot wrote:Cool! Well thats what I hope the interior of my car will be when its sorted haha.

Did you change anything else apart from the condenser and the dryer?


Ice pun! (see what I did there? :mrgreen:)

From memory (2 years ago!), I bought a new a/c radiator and dryer from Toyota, then the compressor refurbished by compressor tech.

I also needed a few missing a/c pipes which were sourced from a breaker.
Race Idiot
Posts: 2589
Joined: Wed Jan 25, 2006 10:48 pm
Location: Hertfordshire

Re: Aircon refresh

Post by Race Idiot »

Kinda wish I'd bought your aircon stuff when it went for sale, but it's one of the things I kept putting off fixing until last weekend lol.

Dunno wtf is wrong with mine, apparently the system held pressure when hooked up to a machine but the compressor just wouldn't kick itself on.

Hopefully replacing all the main components should short it.
craig
Posts: 43936
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2004 3:44 am

Re: Aircon refresh

Post by craig »

Race Idiot wrote:Kinda wish I'd bought your aircon stuff when it went for sale, but it's one of the things I kept putting off fixing until last weekend lol.

Dunno wtf is wrong with mine, apparently the system held pressure when hooked up to a machine but the compressor just wouldn't kick itself on.

Hopefully replacing all the main components should short it.


From memory, there was a problem with mine. It would kick out ice cold air, then the compressor would cut out.

Apparently this was due to a small orifice in the a/c unit behind the dash that had become blocked.
mrfil13
Posts: 1102
Joined: Fri Jun 23, 2006 7:18 pm
Location: Cambridge (ish)

Re: Aircon refresh

Post by mrfil13 »

I replaced my AC rad, its a Denso from RockAuto and the Drier which i purchased from Ebay.

I bought a box of green rubber washers from Amazon and renewed them as i went along.

With the drier check the hole alignment once you remove the old one, the pipe and bolt location was fine but i found the one i was sold the guides were different.

I removed the radiator before removing the AC rad although i found the awkward bolt in the top/middle left side was not too bad to get at from underneath using the gap in the grill get at it and the gap under the bumper to help see the bolt and guide. Although removing might be a different matter, i just did that at a later date to make sure it was tight.

Getting it vacuumed and filled on Friday. Fingers crossed.
Race Idiot
Posts: 2589
Joined: Wed Jan 25, 2006 10:48 pm
Location: Hertfordshire

Re: Aircon refresh

Post by Race Idiot »

Ahhh, crap amazon suggested I buy those washers.

Did you get them from the uk or us amazon?
mrfil13
Posts: 1102
Joined: Fri Jun 23, 2006 7:18 pm
Location: Cambridge (ish)

Re: Aircon refresh

Post by mrfil13 »

Sorry i meant i bought the newer washers from Amazon and swapped out the older ones from the rad and drier.

The green ones i was lead to believe are for the newer gas, red for r12.
Race Idiot
Posts: 2589
Joined: Wed Jan 25, 2006 10:48 pm
Location: Hertfordshire

Re: Aircon refresh

Post by Race Idiot »

Oh wait yeah you've got a rev2. I just wonder if any of that stuff would need to be replaced anyway.
mrfil13
Posts: 1102
Joined: Fri Jun 23, 2006 7:18 pm
Location: Cambridge (ish)

Re: Aircon refresh

Post by mrfil13 »

Yup rev2 so the drier was slightly different to the one most people sell for the MR2.

Think its worth changing the rubber washers while you replace everything.
Race Idiot
Posts: 2589
Joined: Wed Jan 25, 2006 10:48 pm
Location: Hertfordshire

Re: Aircon refresh

Post by Race Idiot »

Did you get the washers from the uk or the us? Edit: never mind it looks like you can get them from halfords and that.

http://www.halfords.com/motoring/engine ... on-o-rings
mrfil13
Posts: 1102
Joined: Fri Jun 23, 2006 7:18 pm
Location: Cambridge (ish)

Re: Aircon refresh

Post by mrfil13 »

Sorry for the delay, I could not login on my phone.

I bought a box from Amazon UK as it had a good selection and a fair few of each size. It was around £10.

I got a some black mesh from eBay as well and put that in front of the aircon rad and tied it in place.

Had my aircon filled on Friday and all working.
mrfil13
Posts: 1102
Joined: Fri Jun 23, 2006 7:18 pm
Location: Cambridge (ish)

Re: Aircon refresh

Post by mrfil13 »

How did you get on with the ac refresh?

I need to top mine up, need to know which is the low side charge port, I'm assuming it's the one on the pipe above the looking glass.

I've been all the way around the car with a lamp to try and find the leak but even with the special lamp/glasses I couldn't see anything.
Race Idiot
Posts: 2589
Joined: Wed Jan 25, 2006 10:48 pm
Location: Hertfordshire

Re: Aircon refresh

Post by Race Idiot »

Bumping this because I do now have working AC!

In the end all we changed was the Drier and the Condenser, had someone fill it up and the compressor kicked on and I had ac!

Honestly can't believe how much nicer it is to have it working especially now the weather has taken a turn for the warmer. Without it the car just turns into a furnace, funny I never found my old uk sunroof car that bad.
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