Ok - well I was driving home yesterday, and I could hear one of my belts starting to sqeal a-bit. It's been doing this every now and then lately. Well, all of a sudden I heard a something hit my firewall and/or hood, and heard some stuff falling out of the engine compartment. I figured I'd thrown/shredded a belt since my A/C went warm. I hurried home cuz I figured I may have lost an alternator and/or water pump belt (never looked to see how the accessories were configured). When I got home, I looked under the hood and saw a bunch of chunks of aluminum under my A/C Compressor - along with plenty of loose A/C system oil. So, basically my compressor exploded. It appears as if the bottom blew out. I've never heard of this, but after searching online, I guess it's relatively common.

So, I guess I'm wondering what exactly I need to replace here. I'm shooting for just the compressor, as I'm pretty short on cash. I'm asking because some folks on some other websites have had similar problems, only to have the dealer/mechanic replace the entire A/C system. This seems quite excessive to me... I know contamination is a concern, but is it really a $2500+ concern? I'm a seasoned mechanic, but rarely have I dealt with A/C systems. Does anyone see a problem with me simply replacing the compressor?

 

psh.
where do you live?
you dont need ac. hahaha

 

Phoenix - so yeah, when it's 118 deg out, A/C is pretty much mandatory...

 

just replace the a/c compressor and check all your lines.. refill new compressor with 1 6oz pag oil then turn off engine let sit for 30mins and then refill with r134a use a guage and dont over charge.

 

hmmm hopefully ronj will chime in, but i have an ac condensor from my 97 civic

 

Cool, thats what I was thinking...

 

Replace the condenser. When the belt started squealing, that's because the compressor was tearing itself apart inside. Most of those bits are now in your condenser, and they are almost impossible to remove from the small passages. Also the receiver-drier must be replaced with any major service, it is an expendable part like an oil filter.

Oil capacity of most Civic A/C is 4 oz -- too much oil is bad. Also you must evacuate the air from the lines with a vacuum pump before recharging.

Edit: Also the compressor is the most expensive part; it costs less to replace everything once than to replace the compressor twice. Especially if you have a pre-2002 model it does not cost anywhere near $2500 to replace everything.