Yeah plastic epoxy will melt the plastic together, super glue does not.

In hindsight, had you known about the cracked cap and been able to skip the multiple removal/re-installs, would you still have gone the rebuild route or just gotten a new compressor?

 

If I had known about the cracked cap I would have just paid $30 for a new one from X8R and had it installed in 30 minutes without even taking the compressor off the car. That would have saved a lot of bloody knuckles. ;-)

Anyway, im glad I went through the hassle to learn how it works and where it fails. If it fails again its likely from the motor going bad and I cant do anything about that.

 

Thanks for posting this super helpful thread! The photos and lessons learned will be helpful to many of us!
-Captain Sygo

'05 LR3 SE

 

thanks! hopefully this chapter is closed for the time being. now im trying to track down a cold start noise from one of the pulleys. after that I need to decide if I am going to try to replace the controls arms myself. I think the answer is no...but im still researching.

 

I appreciate the time and energy that you have put into sharing this project. I have this on my 'do this at some point' preventative maintenance list. My advice on Control Arms - do them yourself. I will be doing mine within the next couple of weeks. I have all the parts, and have done as much research as I feel I need to. Feel free to send me a PM - will be happy to talk with you. Cheers, Simon in Wisconsin.

 

I opened the compressor case, started the engine and sprayed soapy water right at the dryer cap where the hoses go in. Foam appeared almost instantly. I will order up a compressor rebuild kit and dryer cap.
I'm very grateful for your post and the help it provided!

 

Awesome (well not awesome you have a broken compressor but im glad it helped!).

Im 2+ weeks in and working great after I installed the new metal dryer cap from X8R.

My recommendation would be to limit the variables to start with. Just replace the dryer desiccant since it will already be open, replace the end cap and inspect the o-rings for the air lines. Try that first. I created new problems during the rebuild so it was harder to isolate the problem.

You could even just try just replacing the end cap and not even take the compressor off the car. That would save you a couple hours and some bloody knuckles. You can probably get clearance with a stubby screw driver or right angled drill driver.

 

Thanks. I would love to see your writeup on the control arms. Do you have a lift or will you do on jack stands?

The first problem I need to solve is I live in SF and the garage is too small to get the LR in. I can likely get the front half of the car in but then my second problem is I likely need to buy a new jack and jack stands. I have a 1.5 ton low profile jack for my 997 and unsure if my jack stands are tall enough.

 

I purchased the rebuild kit in hopes of freshening the whole system. Problem was I COULD NOT remove the rear hoses from the system. I soaked them in PB Blaster first thing but they did not budge and I didn’t want to cut them so the pump rebuild will have to be another day. I managed to remove the dryer can (the O ring put up a good fight) and replaced filters, beads and cap.
When remounting the system it turned out that the three bracket mounting bolts and nuts were not going to hold anything in place. After calling two dealerships who didn’t have the parts I secured the bracket with zip ties until the parts come in.
Overall it took about 4.5 hours. A lot of that time was struggling with the air lines which I still don’t know how I’m going to address when the time comes. Maybe the corrosion solvent will have worked by the time the nuts and bolts some in and I’ll give it another shot. But for now the system works great with no lengthy pump operation or warning lights. Awesome!

 

Ouch. That sucks. You hit the two snags I had worried about on mine. Glad you were able to work around it. Im impressed you got that dryer can off/on with it still on the car. I had a really hard time getting the dryer can back on after I changed the o-ring. The seal was so tight I had to really put a lot of pressure on it.

Hopefully the PB Blaster will do its thing after a couple days. Did you try a 12mm open spanner to push down on the fitting while you pulled the hose? That gave me enough leverage.

I would try to find a hose splice connector, or just order new hoses, in case you cant get them off. I had seen some of these online.

Keep us posted.