A/C O Rings
 

My air conditioner is blowing warm. I had it pressure tested and there is n pressure at all. The mechanic said that the "O" rings on the lines were leaking and it is a complicated job to get to them to replace them. He thinks a lot of labor will be involved. Is this true? Is this something I could do myself? Are there are "how-to's" on this?

getting mine fixed today $248 at subaru dealership, so....

The O-rings are about $10 for a multi-pack. They don't make a specific kit for the SVX so you have to get the multi-pack which contains about 12 different sizes.

There are two on the compressor, two on the dryer (replace that while you are in there if the AC has been dead for a while) and two at the passenger side firewall. It is at most a 30 minute job.

AC repair is one of those "every customer is afraid, so we can charge more" kind of repairs.

If it is R-12 expect about $100 in Freon and if it is R-134, it should be about $25 for the freon.

Depending on what state you live in, you can get everything at your local parts store. I know for sure you can buy it in North Carolina, but not in Wisconsin, so I stocked up on O-rings and freon while I was down there a few years ago.

Automotive AC systems leak. No matter how well they are designed, you will lose freon over time. Imagine designing a joint seal that must go from below zero weather to engine operating temperature in a few minutes. Over the years, the pressure in the AC system leaks out slowly. There may or may not be something wrong with the system or it may be so low that the low pressure switch isn't letting the AC kick in. A lot of shops insist if the system is low, there must be a problem and will scare you into having part after part replaced. Most times, a 10 year old car just needs a recharge to replace the freon lost naturally over time.

Doug

So there's only 6 o-rings in the entire A/C system?

the only difficult part of a/c repair/replacement is under-dash work. that being said, if you have guages, a vacume pump, and a mechanical intelligence replacing the rings can be done in about 1 hour or so.

So when installing a retrofit kit you just change the o-rings, dryer, fittings and the oil in the compresser then?

for a lasting system, yes. also use "pag" oil and blow EVERYTHING out of the lines that you possibly can. when you've re-assembled the system, draw vacume and charge with the proper amount of refrigerant (can't remember the capacity). make sure you use nitrile o-rings and overfilling can quickly burn out your compressor.

Here's a link to Subaru's kits for converting A/C's from R12 to R134:
http://www.ravensblade-impreza.com/t...vent/retro.pdf

Here's a link to Subaru's procedures for doing the conversion:
http://www.ravensblade-impreza.com/t...nt/acretro.pdf

I had my '92 converted by our local shop yesterday and they did it for $235, parts and labor. It now blows nice and cool.

- Jim

Thanks for the info. I'll make a version of the procedure for the SVXipedia.

Thanks for all of the suggestions. Is there a diagram anywhere that shows exactly where the "O" rings are located? What are NITRILE O rings as com[pared to just regular O rings?

Ask google. :)

(seems to be a lot of info on Nitrile gloves.

any fitting comming from, going to , connected to, or connected to something that's connected to the a/c compressor has an o-ring.