Adding A/C to a standard 97 TJ 2.5

dannyemcclain said:
oh my bad, I assumed that all models without AC had a slider for the heater, and when you get AC you put in the knobs instead. Will the slider thats currently in the jeep not work?
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As stated only 97/98 had sliders and they are not directly interchangeable so you would be sticking to sliders for the installation. The 2.5's have a commanded idle increase feature off the power steering pressure unlike the 4'0's that Jeep deemed necessary so another thing to consider. Not sure if Jeep-air deals with that.
 
There are a lot more things to consider than the sliders for an A/C addition. The 97-98 uses a different condenser, compressor mount and hardlines to the 99 and different again to the 00 onwards. So if you are looking to add A/C either buy the kit from Jeepair or find a donor vehicle as few of the parts are interchangeable.

If you find a donor vehicle you will still want to put in a new condenser, orifice tube, evaporator and receiver/drier as a matter of course as none of these should really be re-used once the system has been opened to the air.

I would *strongly* recommend you buy the kit from Jeepair instead - will ultimately save you time and a lot of frustration with matching connectors etc. Thinking you have the correct PAD mount connectors for your compressor only to discover they changed the PAD spacing by 1.5mm half way through 1999 etc can be a soul-crushing experience!

Retrofitting A/C into the TJ is not a particularly difficult task - watching YT videos and reading Jeepairs instructions actually make it look harder than it really is. Finding the correct parts to retrofit is the tricky bit and for you lucky sods with access to cheap freight from Jeepair you should use it!
 
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TJ4Jim said:
My 2.5 w/ac is fine around town, rule one with the 2.5 is keep her basically stock and light. I think you will find the 1K for the Jeep Air is money well spent over trying to piece a system together, especially when it comes to refrigerant components.
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Yes, and here are some thoughts on keeping things light. Let us know if you have anything to add.
 
dannyemcclain said:
oh my bad, I assumed that all models without AC had a slider for the heater, and when you get AC you put in the knobs instead. Will the slider thats currently in the jeep not work?
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No, unfortunately the slider you have right will not include the AC settings, only the heat settings. If I think of it, I'll post a pic here of mine so you can see what you need. The sliders with AC settings are expensive on eBay, which is what we were referring to in earlier posts on this thread.

So you can either find sliders with AC settings or change to the knobs.

Edit: But this advice looks good, unless you find a 97 TJ with AC being parted out maybe.
 
dannyemcclain said:
I have a 97 TJ with the 2.5 engine, and I saw a thread already posted but it was an automatic. I saw a lot of people saying it was a bad idea but would it be too bad of an idea to add it to the standard version? I would also like to know where I could find all the individual parts because I saw the jeep-air one is around 1k. Its also not lifted and has the factory gear ratio.
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That 4 banger just not gutless enough for ya?
That'd be a big mistake, I have the same pansey in my Jeep and regeared and still wouldn't add air, unless I had tiny tires.
 
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