I got my whole A/C system changed out last weekend using all UAC parts from RockAuto, aside from the evaporator in the dash. In the end I got it done, but I would recommend trying one of the other brands to someone else. Just about every part had an issue with it.
- Condenser was made with 40 rows of fins instead of the 41 rows the factory unit had, so the mounting holes were about 3/4" off. This was a total pain and I ended up just mounting it with zip ties at the bottom. Not ideal.
- High pressure line needed to be bent away from the compressor so it wouldn't contact, and the mounting bracket was installed on it backwards.
- Low pressure line was too short, bends needed to be flattened a bit so it would connect on both ends
- Lines coming out the top of the accumulator were too tall/out of spec and got in the way of the line connecting to the evaporator
- The compressor itself did seem fine, though time will tell.
I didn't want to take my dash apart, but I wanted to clean my evaporator. I stuck a plug in one end with a hole drilled through it and used a syringe to fill it with acetone. It took quite a bit, close to a quart I think.
View attachment 560230
I blasted it out as well as I could with high pressure compressed air, this is what it looked like:
View attachment 560232
Then I stuck the air hose in one end, set the regulator to about 35psi and blew air through it for about 40 minutes. Hopefully this was enough to evaporate any remaining acetone in there.
View attachment 560231
To get the condenser out without removing the radiator, I replaced the radiator mounting bolts one at a time with longer ones, that way I could slide it back enough to get the condenser in and out. That worked pretty great, but I'd be extra careful not to put too much torque on those bolts given they just screw into those body clip things.
View attachment 560233
I forgot to grab a picture of the new condenser, but you get the idea.
Here is all of the oil that came out of my old compressor. Barely a few drops. I'm not sure if that's normal or not, there seemed to be a lot of oil everywhere else in the system. It definitely looks old and smells weird, but I'm thinking it was just a clutch failure.
View attachment 560234
While I'm not impressed with the components, it is still blowing ice cold after a week, so no major leaks or malfunctions yet.