Removing Aircon And Refitting

[PM-R33]

If you remove the whole aircon assembly from the engine bay (condensor, compressor, heat exchanger, belt, lines, pulleys etc) can it be re-installed down the track fairly easily? Obviously it will have to be re-gassed which doesn't bother me, mainly can it be removed without damaging certain parts?

I wanna take it out with a few other things while i track it next year to save a bit of weight over the front (from my understanding over 20kg), get some more cold air to the radiator and take the marginal load off the crank. Currently its a tad under 1500kg going off the weigh bridge with a full tank and me in the car. I wanna get the car a bit under 1450kg (So say around 1360kg with half a tank and no driver).

However one day i might crack the shits and want aircon back so I want to make sure that when you remove it, there isn't certain parts that break and are expensive to replace (seals or something maybe? I dont know much about aircons.)

Thanks guys.

Edited September 5, 2009 by PM-R33

[GTR-32U]

i can imagine it would be a pain in the ass. Compressor would be quite simple, But then you need a smaller serpentine belt. Condensor would also be a pain- Not sure how hard they are to get off skylines. If you can do it without having to remove the front bar etc then thats a bonus.

[PM-R33]

They are all seperate belts so that wouldn't change anything luckily. Taking it off i don't really see a problem, i'm just not sure how refitting everything would go without having leaks or something.

[GTR-32U]

They really only have rubber O rings in between all the fittings. I have replaced Air con parts in a corrolla.Pain in the ass that was. Other than that its the oil in the system as well that may need to be replenished

[2LV8ETR]

It's very do-able man.

Lines, condenser, and compressor are all replaceable and serviceable items.

If you want it out without damaging anything, and then replace it down the track it's just another time consuming task.

As far as leaking is concerned, you'll just have to replace the o-rings.

[Moodles2]

Just make sure you get it properly de-gassed instead of venting it to the atmosphere. Personally I wouldn't mess about taking a working aircon apart, I believe compressor/condenser rebuild kits aren't readily available and I don't want to know how much a genuine replacement part costs (condenser, compressor, seals etc), I'd be most worried about the innards of the aircon bits being exposed to atmosphere and internally drying out... heck I remember being quoted over 1k to get the aircon working in my pulsar (previous owner was a hippie who never used the aircon, thus it never got a chance to self-lubricate itself)

[2LV8ETR]

Cap the ends of the connections and tape them up to prevent drying out and contamination.

[PM-R33]

Hmmm interesting. With the de-gassing, other then pollution wise does it really matter if you vent it to atmosphere? One of my mates does re-gassing and if some one wants a cheap cash job he'll just vent it to atmosphere and re-gas it instead of making them pay the fees for the gas removal and disposing.

I was thinking of properly sealing everything up and trying to store it in air tight bags or something. I dunno, i don't really use the aircon much and next year really want to have some fun in the car tracking it, with the aircon out it is all positives with just my time being used taking it out which i don't really care since the car takes up the majority of my time lol.

[Moodles2]

Hmmm interesting. With the de-gassing, other then pollution wise does it really matter if you vent it to atmosphere?

It's quite illegal to vent refrigeration gas to the atmosphere (can lose your refrigeration license if caught doing it), and does alot of damage when exposed to the atmosphere (depletes the ozone layer)..

[Birth]

I think that the gas is a carcenogen (causes cancer).

Anyhow, I just removed my air conditionining from my R32 GTS4. It is ver easy to remove and it looks pretty easy to get back in. You may bend the alloy hoses running to and from the compressor but in reality it should be fairly easy to get back in. I weighed my compressor and pulley when I got it out - it weighed 12kg. The rest of the stuff is very light; I'd say a saving of 16ish kg overall (though I didn't remove anything under the dash).

[PM-R33]

Surely the heat exchanger infront of the radiator, pulley, belt, thermo fan, condensor, lines and a couple of other little bits and pieces would weigh more than 4kg on top of the weight of the compressor?

Another main reason to take it out is i want to get more airflow to the radiator since it gets so hot up here and don't want the car over heating on the track.

I think i'll just take it out and deal with putting it back in down the track when i need it again.

Edited September 7, 2009 by PM-R33

[Birth]

There's also the electric thermo fan; so yeah I guess it would come up to 20'ish. I had the same idea - to put it back in later; but the compressors sell for $100 upward so I have now sold my bits and will deal with rebuying them if I want to put them back in - also the amount of space that is freed up is excellent - it makes moving around the engine bay heaps easier!

[gotRICE?]

It's quite illegal to vent refrigeration gas to the atmosphere (can lose your refrigeration license if caught doing it), and does alot of damage when exposed to the atmosphere (depletes the ozone layer)..

I think it depends on the type of air con refrigerant. The old stuff is bad, but im pretty sure the new stuff is ok for the environment.