Hey Guys-
My mom's AC compressor locked up about a month ago & my POS mechanic step-dad thinks it's hilarious she doesn't have AC right now.... so, I'm trying to figure this out on my own since moparnum5 is currently hanging out with Marines drill sergeants in Quantico.

From what I can tell, her compressor locked up & she needs a new compressor and dryer/filter. Installing all of that shouldn't be a problem, but I'm afraid that due to the compressor locking up there might be metal shavings in the lines & it needs to be flushed.

So- my question is... do any of you guys have any AC experience? Or access to a flushing kit?
Or suggestions/links to how I could do it myself? I'm not afraid of attempting to tackle it-- I just don't want to blow a couple hundred on a new compressor for her & it lock up again in a month b/c I didn't clean it properly.

Thanks.

6/10/2008 5:12:53 PM

ive got plenty of AC experience, as do several others on here. there are fancy ways to do it but to flush the system all you really need is brake wash and compressed air. you seriously arent gonna do this yourself are you? arent you still on light duty with the liver?

6/10/2008 6:16:49 PM

Compressed air & break wash sounds pretty easy & good enough for a 95 Regal that's going to die soon enough anyway. (as for break wash-- you mean break cleaner?? or something different)

As for the liver-- it's not giving me any problems. They've said there's only one small area that's even potentially not fully healed-- and that was weeks ago. They said I'm hella lucky i'm a youngin'

But I'd surely throw some dollar bucks your way if you wanted to lend me a hand when you have time & make sure I don't fuck something up (ok, not like it can get any worse than no AC )


[Edited on June 10, 2008 at 6:35 PM. Reason : ]

6/10/2008 6:33:30 PM

this is what you need to do:

6/11/2008 9:45:30 AM

putting your mouth on the end of something that has grease a freon in it sounds stellar. just use a water hose, clean and compressed air

6/11/2008 9:51:21 AM

yeah, cause water will get oily metal shavings off the walls of a tube, and it great on the new system to have all that moisture in there

6/11/2008 10:19:55 AM

so, i picked up some stuff today that's supposed to work pretty well.
thought about just doing break cleaner, but apparently it's not too friendly with the o-rings & such.

Any thoughts on the worth of adding an inline filter? I've found a few for like $30 online... advanced auto looked at me like I was from Mars when I asked if they had one. Fuckhead was looking under factory parts, though -- so he was absolutely useless.

6/11/2008 2:54:46 PM

for that thing, not worth the effort

6/11/2008 3:20:20 PM

yeah. well, I say it's not worth fixing the AC at all-- it's so close to gone it's not funny-- right at 250k on the original engine & tranny. Nothing major has ever been done to this car. Infact, it's the car I learned to drive in But it was my grandma's car, so it has sentimental value to my mom I guess.

6/11/2008 3:38:39 PM

wtf. brake wash does not hurt o-rings, not the kind i use. then again i buy it by the barrel, not exactly what you get in the store.

6/11/2008 5:47:17 PM

card cleaner will, brake cleaner wont

6/11/2008 6:01:30 PM

Ok- well, I've seen on about 20 different websites & forums, and heard from bfe family friend mechanics it's just not a good idea to risk it for that reason (reaction w/ rubber). That doesn't mean it's right--- other forums suggest air line antifreeze, too-- but who knows. I'll just tackle it this weekend & see what happens.

6/12/2008 11:30:03 AM

I should have that compressor and filter on saturday for you.

6/12/2008 11:45:16 AM

Thank you so much!

6/12/2008 11:54:57 AM