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Got the sucker out!! Posted by JerseySaab [Email]  (#666) [Profile/Gallery]
(more from JerseySaab) on Fri, 1 Jul 2011 09:38:50
In Reply to: This is probably a silly question, but..., Noel, Fri, 1 Jul 2011 06:34:40 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
Of course I still have the "fun" job ahead of installing the new parts!
OK, here's the deal on doing this job. First of all the best piece of advice I can give is - DON'T! - if you can at all get a mechanic do this that will be the best way. If like me you are too cheap/stupid/stubborn, or if you just can't afford to have someone else do the work, here is what I found...
General stuff, there is very little room to work and there is a lot in the way. You will be getting arms deep in grease, grit, and dirt. I wear nitrile gloves but they were not much help here, you are going to get very dirty doing this job. Be sure to wear eye protection, as you will have dirt and debris falling down on your face.
There is no need to remove the fender, I don't think it would even help to do so. You do need to jack the car up in front and remove the underside of the air dam on the right side, underneath the drier's location. (Be sure to chock the rear wheels and use good jack stands, don't trust a jack to hold the car up while working under there!)
Working with an empty system the first task was to remove the fitting from the top of the drier. This is the small diameter pipe that goes to the evaporator. There is not much room to work, I used a 3/4" crow's foot with a long extension to loosen and remove.
The other fitting is on the side of the drier and is pretty much inaccessible. There are different approaches you can probably take here depending on whether or not you are saving that hose (goes between drier and condenser). If replacing the hose you could just cut the old one. Or you could elect to disconnect the hose at the condenser and pull it through.
I'm replacing the hose but didn't want to destroy the old one "just in case." To access that side fitting with the hose still connected the best way appeared to be to drop down the drier a bit, fortunately there is enough slack in the hose to permit this. However, before doing this I "cracked" it loose a bit using that 3/4" crow's foot again. (Positioning was too awkward and difficult to fully remove the fitting this way.)
In order to drop down the drier you need to undo the pressure switch connector, unbolt the drier, and move the washer bottle off to the side a few inches. (No need to remove the bottle. Since I'm replacing the pressure switch I got in with a small diagonal cutter and cut the wires.)
I found out the hard way that the drier actually bolts to the ends of the metal rods that anchor the washer bottle in place. My first attempt at loosening one of the nuts spun the rod around and created a leak that needs to be fixed. You can avoid this by using a vice grip on the metal rods to prevent them from turning.
After doing all this you can work the drier out between the frame rail and the washer bottle, exposing the side fitting so you can now get a wrench on it. (Or if you've cut the hose just drop the drier to the ground.)
A note on the pressure switch connector, you need to use a screwdriver to pop the latch up to separate the two halves. On my car the connector was wire-tied in place and very difficult to reach, I got in there with a small diagonal cutter and very carefully (don't cut the wrong thing!) cut it loose. That let the connector come down a bit and it was easier to work with.
As the saying goes, installation is the reverse of removal. :-(
Since you don't want the new drier exposed to atmosphere for any longer than necessary be sure to have all your ducks lined up in a row to assemble the parts and pull vacuum as quickly as possible in one fell swoop.
posted by 68.39.165...
, Wed, 29 Jun 2011 11:59:51, Wed, 29 Jun 2011 19:08:03, Thu, 30 Jun 2011 16:05:03, Wed, 29 Jun 2011 19:22:38
, Thu, 30 Jun 2011 04:01:33, Thu, 30 Jun 2011 16:11:00, Fri, 1 Jul 2011 09:38:50 <-- Viewing This Message
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