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Wow, it took a lot longer than I expected. I will have a detailed writeup for anybody who wants it some time soon and depending on if the site wants to put it in the mod section, but here's the basic details of the removal:
1. Get the entire A/C system discharged!!! It's under a lot of pressure so don't touch it till you get this done. Cost me $25 at the middle of nowhere auto center (Rafael's Auto Care, :D )
2. Second on the list is to get the shorter serpentine belt you will need when the compressor is gone. 61 and 3/4 inches with 6 ribs is what worked nice and tight for me from NAPA. Best thing to do is to run the belt around all of the pulleys except the compressor pulley and the idler pulley above it (didnt use either of those) and not over the water pump pulley till last. It's much easier to get the belt on the water pump pulley last than the alternator pulley last, trust me! The tensioner should pull the belt plenty tight enough when you push it back up after the belt is on, mine actually whines a TINY bit but its more than tight enough for me to not be worried. OH, DISCONNECT THE BATTERY COMPLETELY!!! You gotta take off the engine ground wire from the block to get to the compressor rear bolts easily and you MUST DISCONNECT THE BATTERY FULLY!!!
3. Next for me was the condensor removal. Even after the discharge a nice puff of air came out of this when I pulled the hose off so watch out! There's a pipe bolted to the top left and bottom left that have to be disconnected and then it should pretty much just pull out.
4. Now, out comes the drier and pipes. These get disconnected from the A/C evaporator (big lines in the passenger side of the engine bay going to a black box near the fire wall) and you will need to cut the pipe going from the drier to the compressor to make life easier. Now pull out the drier and pipes connected to it. The bracket that held the drier is held there by a big torx bolt near the bottom, takes a little bit of effort to get it out.
5. Next is the pipe removal. The pipes run to the back of the compressor and it was too much of a pain in the *** to get to the mounting bolt behind the compressor with the pipes there so I dremel'd them off at the back of the compressor, sounds dumb but trust me it's seems impossible to get back there without doing this. I also disconnected the ground for the battery from the engine to make room to get the dremel down there without any serious accidents. The ground on the engine is right next to the closest spark plug boot.
6. After the pipes are gone (start to revel at the amount of space you're opening up!!!) the compressor is finally ready to come out. Unplug the connector on the front top of the compressor first. There are three bolts in the front and two in the back. Two of the front ones are 13mm and one is 10mm. The smallest one is almost beneath the compressor, one of the 13mm bolts is clearly in view and one is hidden beneath the idler pulley. Take these out last to save yourself the hassle of the compressor shifting around when you try to take out the back bolts. One bolt holds the plate on the compressor that the pipe stumps are on (stumps b/c you cut them off if you did) and if you cut the pipes short enough you can fit a normal ratchet with a 13mm socket down there to take it off. The last bolt to remove (other than the front ones) is the bracket that bolts the compressor to the engine. This bolt is 15mm and bolts to the engine perpendicular to the compressor, its big and easy to find. Ones those are gone, take out the fronts and pull that heavy sucker out!! If you want to, and I did, take out the bolts holding that pulley bracket there and pull the pulley bracket out too! Even more space!
7. There should be a giant space in the engine bay now for you to enjoy and clean! You can clearly see the right motor mount and part of the k-member as well as having an easy time with the passenger spark plugs from now on!!! Also room for a turbo and some piping maybe.............
8. Oh yeah, I put black caps on the pipes coming out of the evaporator and didnt mess with removing it as you gotta take out the heater core and all kinds of crazy stuff to take that out. Also, dont forget to reconnect the engine ground wire and I put the bolts for the pulley bracket back into the engine (screwed them back in tightly so I know where they are later on)
I will post pictures as soon as I can get them!
[ March 11, 2004, 04:20 PM: Message edited by: cboney2003 ]
1. Get the entire A/C system discharged!!! It's under a lot of pressure so don't touch it till you get this done. Cost me $25 at the middle of nowhere auto center (Rafael's Auto Care, :D )
2. Second on the list is to get the shorter serpentine belt you will need when the compressor is gone. 61 and 3/4 inches with 6 ribs is what worked nice and tight for me from NAPA. Best thing to do is to run the belt around all of the pulleys except the compressor pulley and the idler pulley above it (didnt use either of those) and not over the water pump pulley till last. It's much easier to get the belt on the water pump pulley last than the alternator pulley last, trust me! The tensioner should pull the belt plenty tight enough when you push it back up after the belt is on, mine actually whines a TINY bit but its more than tight enough for me to not be worried. OH, DISCONNECT THE BATTERY COMPLETELY!!! You gotta take off the engine ground wire from the block to get to the compressor rear bolts easily and you MUST DISCONNECT THE BATTERY FULLY!!!
3. Next for me was the condensor removal. Even after the discharge a nice puff of air came out of this when I pulled the hose off so watch out! There's a pipe bolted to the top left and bottom left that have to be disconnected and then it should pretty much just pull out.
4. Now, out comes the drier and pipes. These get disconnected from the A/C evaporator (big lines in the passenger side of the engine bay going to a black box near the fire wall) and you will need to cut the pipe going from the drier to the compressor to make life easier. Now pull out the drier and pipes connected to it. The bracket that held the drier is held there by a big torx bolt near the bottom, takes a little bit of effort to get it out.
5. Next is the pipe removal. The pipes run to the back of the compressor and it was too much of a pain in the *** to get to the mounting bolt behind the compressor with the pipes there so I dremel'd them off at the back of the compressor, sounds dumb but trust me it's seems impossible to get back there without doing this. I also disconnected the ground for the battery from the engine to make room to get the dremel down there without any serious accidents. The ground on the engine is right next to the closest spark plug boot.
6. After the pipes are gone (start to revel at the amount of space you're opening up!!!) the compressor is finally ready to come out. Unplug the connector on the front top of the compressor first. There are three bolts in the front and two in the back. Two of the front ones are 13mm and one is 10mm. The smallest one is almost beneath the compressor, one of the 13mm bolts is clearly in view and one is hidden beneath the idler pulley. Take these out last to save yourself the hassle of the compressor shifting around when you try to take out the back bolts. One bolt holds the plate on the compressor that the pipe stumps are on (stumps b/c you cut them off if you did) and if you cut the pipes short enough you can fit a normal ratchet with a 13mm socket down there to take it off. The last bolt to remove (other than the front ones) is the bracket that bolts the compressor to the engine. This bolt is 15mm and bolts to the engine perpendicular to the compressor, its big and easy to find. Ones those are gone, take out the fronts and pull that heavy sucker out!! If you want to, and I did, take out the bolts holding that pulley bracket there and pull the pulley bracket out too! Even more space!
7. There should be a giant space in the engine bay now for you to enjoy and clean! You can clearly see the right motor mount and part of the k-member as well as having an easy time with the passenger spark plugs from now on!!! Also room for a turbo and some piping maybe.............
8. Oh yeah, I put black caps on the pipes coming out of the evaporator and didnt mess with removing it as you gotta take out the heater core and all kinds of crazy stuff to take that out. Also, dont forget to reconnect the engine ground wire and I put the bolts for the pulley bracket back into the engine (screwed them back in tightly so I know where they are later on)
I will post pictures as soon as I can get them!
[ March 11, 2004, 04:20 PM: Message edited by: cboney2003 ]
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