The pain of no A/C or the pain of the repair cost

[shueardm]

Well I'm all gassed up with R134a and enjoying the cold. How weird is that, it's June
Crossing my fingers it holds for a few days then I can celebrate a massive win, total cost $362 including Delphi V5 compressor ( used but latest model that retails for around $500) , TX valve and brand new drier and condenser.
If it starts to leak I'll be back and crying like a baby.
The mechanic said it was holding vacuum very well and thought it was looking very positive all round.

 

[losh1971]

Did he run the sniffer over it to check for leaks before you left?

 

[shueardm]

No he said he would if I had any problem though and I perhaps had a defeatist attitude ( in jest )

 

[losh1971]

You got out of that pretty good. It cost me double what you paid and I'm still nursing the 24 year old comp and TX.

 

[shueardm]

I got real lucky at upullit, $49 compressors and $8 TX
Almost every VT-VX had a dirty grubby compressor, would not touch, then I found this car, looked real clean, TX valve had a sticker on it that had zero dirt or grime haze on it, it looked like a recent AC spend to me. So removed the compressor and looked at the part number, this was not available at VX build so it must have been a replacement. The mech today said the compressor was running quiet which was a good sign too

 

[shueardm]

Upset. Oil leaked from condenser input onto ground. Reason. Faulty condenser manufactured to incorrect specification. The "heels" that go into the rubbers underneath were almost non existent on the one I received. This made it sit lower than original and the nut on top of the inlet pad needed washers that were not on the removed condenser. So as a first timer, I assumed the variance was acceptable for aftermarket, just the way it was and I needed to improvise with washers. This is where it leaked after some AC real world pressure testing.
Repco got another one into store at my request and when we opened it I said, yup, that's what the other one should have looked like with the correct "heels" , they said sorry we never had this problem before; I thought no worries, you just cost me $130 but I'll try to smile. We changed the condensers over in the Repco carpark, I did get 5 minutes of help from a staff member holding a torch mind you for supplying me with faulty part.
Now I need to gas up again.

 

[losh1971]

Unfortunately sometimes them's the breaks when you supply or supply and fit your own parts. I had a brand new centre bearing fail. I suppled the parts to the engineer and unfortunately had no recourse when less than three months later the bearing failed for a second time. I wasn't as lucky as you the bloke ignored my several requests for a refund on the part. Paypal said stiff sht. Wished I was able to post feedback but it was too late.

 

[shueardm]

Yes, you are never guaranteed a cheaper job but in the long run , DIY saves money.
So this blows out to around $500 for me, still good, just not as good.
Just hope I get it right this time, anyone know what to use to lubricate the seals , I have no left over oil from the old compressor dribbling out of it

 

[losh1971]

Burson's should have the seal lube.

 

[shueardm]

maybe, I'm more after an alternative to a $30 purchase for just 2 seals.