Last night I was sitting in the driveway and heard a hissing sound from under the hood of my then cold 2000 Disco II. I opened the hood and found it was coming from my AC compressor line at the top/front of the compressor, which then blew off before my eyes and sprayed freon everywhere. How disappointing.

Apparently, the bolt that holds that line on did not get galvanized, and had corroded. I spend some time trying to get the remainder of the bolt out, but it is well and truly frozen in place and I might have even messed up the mating surface a bit with my many wrenches, drill bits, etc. that I employed. I evern tried penetrating oil, a torch.... all to no avail. So I got on ebay and ordered a used one that should be here in a week.

First, has anyone had occasion to make a quick fix to the lines where they meet the compressor? I thought about running a hose clamp around it but it probably wouldn't stay and I would deride myself for such poor engineering. Any other ideas?

Second, the hoses attach at a block that appears to come off the side of the compressor with some allen bolts. When the new/used one arrives (it was so cheap I really don't believe that it works as claimed), should I be able to just remove that block and replace it with the block from the new/used one? Are there any crazy gaskets or o-rings that I need to worry about?

Finally, the new/used compressor doesn't come with the bolts to attach the lines. Is there an alternative? Or where could I find those bolts?

Any help would be appreciated. It is HOT in Texas right now.

Best,

 

harbor fright had a nice little assortment box of HVAC O-rings that the sell for a few bucks. There will be O-rings were the block bolts onto the compressor.
A hose clamp will not hold back 180-200 psi that you will see on the high side of your compressor.

 

I figured that and I don't want to waste freon. Is the line closest to the radiator (front) the high pressure line?

 

you are going to loose the charge no way around that, you will need to have a vacuum pulled and the system recharge after you install the new compressor.
Some may say you should change out the drier at the same time, but unless the system have been open for a while your should be alright.

 

Your will also need a new receivor dryer along with a/c oil and replacement 134A. You must pump the system before attempting to recharge the system or it will not cool to it's maximum.

 

When you are putting together again, you first need to pull a vacuum of 20 bar.
Then put all the oil and freon in.

Pros will do this for you if you go to a good shop.

 

Fixed. You really don't want to pull 590 in/hg on your a/c system.

First, recover any refrigerant left in the system. Replace the compressor if needed. Pull 20-30 in/hg vacuum for a few minutes and pause to see if it holds vacuum - If it holds, continue to pull vacuum for 15-20 minutes. This boils off any moisture inside the system as well as creates negative pressure to pull in the charge. Before charging, inject in any oil that was lost during recovery. Now charge the system according to the label under the hood.

 

I've never done this before so please be patient. I do have a vacuum setup (manual) with lots of connections. Once I have reassembled everything what port or location do I use to pull the vacuum?

 

Mike,

Just being sure I understand. Regarding the AC oil, is it not included in the refrigerant can? Is that something I need to get separately?

 

You can't pull a vacuum, without a vacuum pump and a set of gauges and honestly you should be reclaiming the refrigerate and not just let it escape. So mount your compressor and have a shop finish it up, probably cost you $100.00 which you already save replacing your own compressor. And a lot cheaper than buy a set of gauges and a vacuum pump for a one time use.