Air Conditioner Compressor Replacement

[mskrotzki]

My air conditioning compressor is getting noisy, and a local shop recommends replacing the compressor at $585.00 plus another $700.00 for a drier, receiver, installation, purge, leak test, etc, etc

Looking at the Web I came upon these folks. http://www.blendair.net/index.html, in Irving Texas.

The third link on their website shows a Nippon Denso 10PA15C Compressor. While they don't list the NSX in models this compressor fits, would I not be able to use the clutch and manifold from my old compressor and make this work?

Other questions: Has anyone had experience with these rebuilders?

Does anyone have a good idea of a reasonable price to install this compressor and receiver, purge the system, leak test and charge the system and get it ready to go? Seven hundred seems a tad high to me.

I'm reasonably handy with tools. Coiuld I do the installation and then take it to a shop for the purge, leak test and charge? What would a reasonable price be for just that?

Thanks in advance. Luckly this is a very mild summer (so far) and once up in the mountain twisties, It is very cool with the windows open. I am not running the AC system -- I know that a blown compressor is a total disaster!

 

[D'Ecosse]

I did something similar with my NSX with an alternative rebuilder. This vendor however said it WAS for the NSX application - it wasn't, it had the Integra pulley on it and I didn't discover till after it was installed.

See references here -
http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showpost.php?p=346964&postcount=4
http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showpost.php?p=298439&postcount=5

You have to drop the front engine cross-member to remove the compressor unfortunately.
I ended up keeping the pulley that came with the rebuild unit to avoid hassle of removing it all again to replace the pulley (yes, itwas all completely back together & we were wondering why the belt would not adjust in!)
So we went down to the local parts shop & bought a belt a size smaller & it has been working fine ever since with no issues. Knowing this in advance however, you can swap out the pulleys between removing the old unit & re-installing the replacement.

If you DIY, then you should first go an AC shop to evacuate, then go home & replace your compressor & dryer at minimum (this was all I replaced), then return to shop for pump & replenish the coolant.

p.s. If you go the same shop for extract & refill, they really shouldn't charge you the full price for a full re- charge, since effectively they are already charging you to remove it & they get to keep the freon! Especially if they're removing R12, they make out like a bandit already anyway! If you're extracting & replacing the same type, you're probably just putting your own old coolant (suitably filtered of course!) back in, so whyt should you pay for your own stuff!
I think I paid $50 (cash

) total for both ends of the freon exchange. The rest you can do yourself - you could do it on jack stands but if you have access to a lift that would make it much easier!

http://www.nsxprime.com/FAQ/Reference/1991_svcman/1991servman.pdf
See page 965 (go to that page directly by entering 965 "enter" in the field that say 1 of 1420 at the bottom) to start:
Prior to the actual compressor removal however, you need to remove the front beam assembly and all the associated ancillary bits to get access to that (hey - great opportunity to install headers while you're this far in!)

 

[ffffanman]

Why is it noisey?
Perhaps you are just low on Freon!
Is your compressor kicking out after a few minutes of use and then your getting warm air for awhile until it later kicks in for a few seconds?
This low freon situation will make your compressor work extremely hard and make more noise.

I seem to be down a little Freon myself, oh oh, and my compressor is a little noisier. Will add a little R12 tonite. Also will use the Freon detector and snoop around alittle. Its a closed system so there is no reason for me to loose any freon unless I have a small leak!

Good luck to you.

tRev