I am contemplating removing my AC system. are there things i should be aware of? i am pretty good at just looking at stuff and taking it apart...but, will i get a face full of freon if i don't know specifics? thanks.

You WILL get a face full of R12 if the system is still charged and you are not careful. Crack a fitting carefully and see if there is much discharge. Other than that it's pretty straight forward.

ken

What is it about these cars that no one wants A/C? I wish I had mine, now I have to go buy the whole set-up.

i tried to fix it and it just broke again two days later i give up and plus it takes up a ton of space in my center console personally i prefere to ride around with the windows down in the nice california weather

i have taken my a/c out never worked that well anyway, cleaned up my engine bay and gave me a lot more space insiside the car
i will make a new centre console one with three gauges and i will be able to fit my cd player on a better angle.
i had a bit of trouble pulling the inside apart but it just a matter of removing all the screws and pulling the hoses thru the fire wall without damaging other wires and then just easing out the fan and its housing, was not as difficult as i expected, just take care.

my ac was working realy good if the car still running. lol

started pulling the ac yesterday. no charge, so it has been pretty straight forward...except i guess it is the compressor. i removed 2 obvious bolts and one nut on a support bracket to remove it, but it is still stuck. any advice? thanks.

THere are about six bolts holding the bracket. Two under the manifold, two shared with the water pump, one at the bottom and one at the rear connected to the block.

Oh yeah, and one long one behind the tension pulley. I hate removing that thing!

You have to take the compressor off the bracket, then the bracket off the engine. Some of the bolts are hidden under there.

You have to take the compressor off the bracket, then the bracket off the engine. Some of the bolts are hidden under there.
Correct, I guess I should have clarified that you have to take the bracket off first. The german engineers are still laughing at us :evil2

Edit: I just re-read your post, I think it is the other way around. The rear mounting bolts to the compressor are hidden between the bracket and the block. I am assuming we are talking about a York compressor.

I was thinking about a sanden, where the bolts for the bracket are hidden behind the compressor. Either way...it's a pain.

so if it is pressurized with freon, then how do you take it off?

It has a very slim chance of holding pressure for 10+ years. The service valves on the compressor are just like a tire valve, poke them with something pointed and see if any pressure is inside. If there is take it to some place that recovers freon and have them remove it, or remove it any other way you see fit. ;-)

I should add some safety info. You won't get frozen by the freon. Only the liquid can do that and it has to evaporate to gas before it can get out. The gas is not flammable, but exposing it to a flame converts it to a deadly poison (phosgene gas). So no flames and especially no smoking. The pressure is at most ~100psi with the car not running, but keep your eyes away from the valves etc. The oil is just mineral oil, so no danger there. Use your head.

And letting out the freon from 1 car won't destroy the ozone layer, right? (I'm asking seriously - my assumption is that whatever gets out from 1 car is insignificant and won't cause any noticeable change to the environment). I'm asking because there are strict laws about this... so there must be a reason why they're so strict.

an other question, I remember reading that when you remove it you have to get some bolts that are shorter for some of it, is that right?

Yup you need some shorter bolts for the water pump. I don't know the exact length though. One car load of freon is very insignificant to the ozone.

alrighty- i have it all out. are the only bolts i have to put back in are the 2 on the waterpump? why do i have to get shorter ones? the ones that came out went right back in. thanks.

The laws are strict because if everyone's "just 1 car" did it the effect would be significant...

ken

alrighty- i have it all out. are the only bolts i have to put back in are the 2 on the waterpump? why do i have to get shorter ones? the ones that came out went right back in. thanks.

Hmmmm, that's interesting about the bolt lengths. I just got up to speed on this thread.

I removed my lovely compressor about 2 weeks ago. The two bolts you speak of are the bolts that hold the side of the pump and the iron plate bracket for the compressor. Mine were 100mm and needed to be replaced with 90mm. It's curious that you were able to use the same bolts if you took the bracket out.