Foreign ERS Good day to you! Welcome back! Glad you guys are here! I know I'm super glad to be here. Check this thing out. It's a vintage 2002 Pontiac Firebird And wouldn't you know it? it's hot outside and oh no, not another air conditioning video. Yep, that's right.

it's weird I can't get in customer States AC does not blow cold and at a hundred billion thousand degrees here in sunny Florida I Can understand that. See, we got going on here. Stockings the engine. oh no that's not the V8 pop in Z hood and see what we got going on.

Look at that there 155 417 miles on the odometer with a security light and a break warning indicator. Actually, that's only indicating because the parking brakes on. Let's see what's under the Bonnet mirror latch. All right.

So I went want because it's not a V8 powered Pontiac Firebird However, it does have a 3800 Series 2 Best engine ever created. Ever. Ever. No seriously not kidding.

Those things will last and run and run and last. and they never fail. Ever. No matter what, you can put a hole through the side of the block of that thing, drain the oil out, fill it full of glass and sand, and it will still run.

Not kidding. Anyway, it's hot as the Mojave out here. so I'm getting out of the sun. We're gonna swing this thing out into the shop, get the AC machine connected, power the system on, and uh, we're gonna see if this thing is good.

Oh my. God Turn that back off. Okay I Found a problem. Okay, well since we have no climate control windows down and you get some air in here, it's like 140 degrees inside of this cabin.

too hot. too hot to tolerate. All right, we're backing it in. backing it up, circumnavigating the door of death here in the corner.

we'll get past the fans we're gonna get past Troy We're gonna get past this. Jeep it's in the shop there and I'm gonna back this into my big rack on the corner. Ah nice. We're in view of the fan now.

All right. see you guys later in the video. We're all good. Say we're good.

Yeah, it's good to me powering down. how low can you go all right back under? This Hood Again, not in direct sunlight. It appears we've got an issue with that compressor down there. Let's go ahead, uh, get this thing restarted and turn that system back on I Want to see what it, uh, what it's going to do and I want to make sure that it is in fact that compressor that was making the noise restarting is the engine and maximum cool fan on high.

Man, that's wild noises. Okay, so when it's cycling, oh, look at this compressor issue here. I'm certain of it. Let's go fetch the machine and connect it and see what.

uh, see if it's making any pressure or anything like that. Look at that needle jumping everywhere. it's making pressure and there's a definitely a compressor issue here. Low side is way way too low.

Let's go ahead and recover this system. We'll see what's inside of it, begin recovering now. Okay, let's go ahead and shut this thing down before that compressor turns into a grenade and puts a hole in the side of the engine block and then improves my theory. Correct about that.

3.8 Just because it will run with a hole in the side of the block doesn't mean I want to be the Catalyst that causes that to happen. Well, that can't be right. Look what we recovered out of here: 2.057 pounds refrigerant. Uh, I Think that's probably a little bit overcharged.

Let's go look up the spec real quick and make sure that that is. Uh, that's over. If this is overcharged, I'm gonna have to put in the correct charge before I do anything there I'll pull out the specifications, fluid types, capacities. We're going to scroll it down to uh, Refrigerant: where are you refrigerant this refrigerant right here.

What is my specified amount? 1.5 pounds is what we're supposed to have and we pulled out two pounds. So having excessive refrigerant uh May cause a compressor issue. So let's put in the correct amount real quick. Uh, charge this I'm pretty sure it's going to have a noise, but I just need to be thorough and make sure I don't want to sell a compressor just because it has an overcharged situation.

So let's do zero 1.5 pounds high side. I'll be right back when this thing's done. Beginning charging system sequence now. All right.

we beeped. We're charged. It's got 1.5 pounds in it, not 2.0 and some change pounds. Let's just see if this compressor is going to make that clanky Clank noise and then I guess we'll go from there.

Yeah, that's still not okay. How about our pressure 30 100 and well, yeah, we're dropping now. 175. Yeah, that compressor is on the fritz, that's for sure.

So here's what we're gonna do. We're shutting her down I Know it needs a compressor because that's uh, not a normal noise. but I also need to check this system and make sure that compressor didn't send debris throughout the the rest of the system. So let's get this thing.

uh, evacuated one more time and we're going to crack this open. I'm going to I'm probably going to break it open right here because I think that the orifice tube is right here inside of that piece of the pipe. So I'm going to crack it open right here and we're going to see if the orifices there. If there is debris in this system, then the orifice tube would have caught it.

and if there's no debris, uh, we'll put a compressor on there and then recheck. All right, let's crack into this system real quick. I Want to inspect the orifice tube for debris? I Believe it's in this little manifold area assembly right here. I Don't know if it's in this line or the one below it.

I Think it's the one below it. So let's get this disconnected here and see if we can't recover that tube. I Could be wrong. It may not be in here, but it might be I think it is.

Let's find out. and I can't see. Hey, let's just use a mirror to help. And yeah, yeah, I See something down in that hole? Okay, all right, let's pull that thing out of there.

We get in there with some needle nose action, get a hold of that orifice and remove the unit. There we go. Oh My. God Look at that.

Oh that is bad. Holy smokes. Look at this star here. Look at that that is completely clogged with aluminum and like other compressor debris, that's that's nasty.

Hang on here. let's put that down. Wow. Yeah, that thing has been has been eating itself alive for quite some time now.

That compressor is junk. now. the problem that we have here is all of this material has passed through the condenser at some point, which leads me to believe that there is more of this, uh, type of contaminant inside of that condenser. So I think we're gonna have to go full monty on this repair.

We're going to need the compressor condenser, another orifice. I'm going to change the receiver dryer and we're probably also going to uh, well. we're going to have to do a flush on the entire system. so we will.

We'll back flush the evaporator. I'm not going to remove that, but we can back flush it through the suction side right here. I Don't think much debris has entered that because most of it is going to get caught up in the screen. Okay, there you go.

I can see in the screen that's part of this orifice assembly. So okay. I Need to go and order a compressor kit. Alrighty then.

Estimate has been completed. Submitted approved parts ordered. We're gonna go for the Full Monty on this. Uh Firebird Here compressors coming out.

Uh, the receiver dryer is coming out. We're going to put a new orifice tube in it. I'm going to back flush the system and we're also going to replace that condenser because I know it's full of aluminum compressor metal shaving. So let's go ahead and start getting this thing pulled apart.

I'm going to start with the stuff that's right in front of us. I'll pull this receiver dryer out. Unclick that. Come here, You stuck.

We'll pull the receiver dryer out of it I'll get the belt removed and then we can get that compressor disconnected and begin removing that unit once that guy is out. I'll probably start pulling this intake stuff off and we can see if we can't slip that condenser out from in front of the radiator. There we go. Okay, we've got one more 10 mil bolt on the line here.

Let's see what's in here. Yeah, let's jump. Okay, that's our receiver dryer with hose. Get rid of that and I can go ahead and pull this line off right now.

Bolts on here to the top of the condenser. I'll reuse this hard metal line here. This thing is okay. I'll just have to flush that out with some AC fish.

All right. Next up, let's go ahead and get this belt off so it's on tension or tensioner. that guy out of there and we will pull the belt. This belt's in good shape I Didn't see any cracks on the grooves or anything like that, so we're going to reuse it.

So I'll just set this thing aside for now. All right. So there's going to be some order of operations that have to come into play here: I need to figure out whether I want to take this compressor loose and Pull It Forward to reach back and get a hold of the bolt that holds the manifold on or do I want to try to reach down in there and get that manifold bolt off I Don't think I'm going to be able to get that out. So I'm gonna go with option A and we're gonna unbolt this compressor, try to move the thing forward, and then uh, then on both the hoses F manifold.

So first off, what I'm going to do is get this: uh, this. either pulley off of here because it's kind of in the way and I could use that extra space right there here. We'll speed this up some with the wrong socket trying again with the right socket. I Probably don't need to remove this, but I just really can't see so we're just going to move that out of the way.

All right here. There's one Bolt number two right next to it, and then there's a third one down under that compressor or under the uh, the pulley rather, at the bottom I don't know if there's one at the back on a bracket or not. I Guess I'll figure that out once. Uh, I get these first three bolts removed I Think it's just the three, but you never know.

There could always be a sneaky hidden bracket somewhere. In which case, I'll have to probably put this on the rack and get it from the bottom. There's our connector. Stick that thing aside there.

Let's get down in there and get the ones out that I can't see I can barely feel it over here. Oh, the hose is kind of in the way. Yeah, look at that catch 22. here.

let's try. get that on there. I Need a shorter extension? wait I know how to make this work. Watch this.

We'll take the Deep socket off, put the super shallow socket on and that's going to be perfect clearance. I Think for that ratchet to reach down inside that hole and get a hold of the extension. Get on there. now.

with this. Uh, ratchet here. Get on that extension. Get that bottom one off.

That's the hardest one. I Think But my guesstimation. Oh, it's tight too. Wow.

and I Gotta brace myself here. Oh on clicks there we go. Come on out. Okay, that's fastenero Uno got that one out good.

Let's get the next one. the one on the side. I Think there's just the three on ratcheting clip there. that's sloppy.

Okay, that's two. second one and we'll get that top one right here. You should see this compressor move. If it doesn't move, then, uh, there might be another one in the back somewhere.

like on a bracket. I'm hoping there's not enough. Let's see what we've got. Are you free? Uh, negative.

Kind of. yeah. There's a bracket somewhere in the back. Okay, let's see.

I think looking back behind this compressor. I Think we can see it. See the spark plug wire right there. See that little bolt right behind it flashlight? I Believe that that is the the bolting question.

and if so, I can probably get that from up here on the top. Pull this plug wire out without breaking it I Don't want to break a plug wire? Come on. come on there. we go.

Cool. Did not break good. Yeah, right there she is right there. That's a that's the one we need to get and I can't get that out without getting that manifold off.

Okay, it really is a catch-22 No worries. I'll reach down there. we'll get it I Need a 13 mil ratcheting wrench? Let's see and it's not there. Okay, found it was right where I uh where I left it.

So changing plans again. I'm gonna try to get that manifold off I'm just gonna have to reach down in there and get a little dirty I have no, uh, no real leather option here. Let's get this guy on. Hopefully that'll just unthread by hand once.

I Crack it. Loose That's tight. Oh there we go. Now it's less tight.

Yeah, that suction line is in the way and there's no way I'm getting a tool on that. this. uh, this hose on on here. Yeah, yeah, that's loose enough.

Let me get my stubby ratcheting wrenches. I think it's gonna be right there going back in. Close Quarters Combat down in that hole. There we go.

I'll just fingertip this thing out and pull that manifold off. So now I wanted to do this because this is very awkward. I'm like leaned over, my feet are slipping and I still have some back pain from the from earlier long story I Slept on my couch last night. Okay, here it comes.

Got it. There we go. That's the one that's the back of the compressor so that should get this manifold to come out of here. Let's wiggle that guy out.

Beautiful. All right. We'll just set this thing aside right here and now. I can go back in and get that 15 off the back of the engine block right there.

I'm gonna applying the same method as the brackets super shallow socket with the extension that should. Oh, look at that cool that came out very nice. These retrieved that Fastener here and our compressor should come out very freely at this point. Let's see.

let's get these hoses tucked out of the way. you go back back over there. This one's attached to a tapping condenser at the bottom. Okay, let's dig that out later.

Come on compressor. We don't want you in here anymore. Come on out. A big old unit too.

Reminds me of the old uh R12 Compressors Got it? Okay, Looks like I'm gonna have to reuse this bracket so let's get this unbolted right now. Looks like it's just 213 mils. Pop this guy out and I'll keep these bolts with the bracket so we know that that's where they go. Set that aside.

Oh, look in there. There's even debris inside of this. Uh, the screen on the suction tube. Yeah, this thing's wasted.

She done. I Don't want to take this apart and I'll talk to you later here. Leave that there okey-dokes Next up, let's go ahead and get uh, this intake tubing off our decorative cover and get some access to the radiator core support and we'll see how this, uh, condenser comes out. It's I'm sure it's bolted to the front of the radiator somehow some way.

So uh, let's get some access to the area. We'll go from there. We'll take our air box loose, pop the cover, pull our snorkel out, set that aside, engineer, filtration element. It's brand new, nice, and we got some uh, 10 mil Fasteners here.

pull these guys off. I think there's just the floor? Yeah, well, that's like the whole rear support look at that. the whole thing kind of flopped back. All right.

How about that? Here's our condenser. I don't know what? uh, what makes it attach here? Okay, so from what I'm gathering, this thing's not bolted on, but it does rest with some little tabs uh into some slots in front of the radiator. The issue is is that that hose that uh is connected to the bottom of the condenser? I need to reach down in there and get a hold of that hose. There's no way I'm taking you guys with me because you're not going to be able to see what I'm up to.

So I'm just going into this with Solo here. I believe it's a 13 mil nut and like a manifold type of a fitting. It Bolts it onto the condenser with a stud. so I need to get back there way down there.

we'll get that guy unbolted. Yeah, there we go. All right. Nuts loose.

I dropped the nut. Let's find out. I can retrieve it once we get all these parts out of the way. Oh I See it here.

We go for the hoses rather. I'll pull these all the way out that way I can flush them with some solution here and some brake clean. Set that aside. those hoses are still good.

And where's that nut? Yeah, there's our nut right there. Okay, so this condenser should be free. It's disconnected from the other side. Just give it a tug and here it comes.

there. she goes. Got it? That's our condenser. It looks good, but it's full of metal.

So uh, we'll put a new one in it. Set that down right there and stay okay. See what we've got in here? Anything got a little bit of dirt? It's leaves that's looking good. Okay, yeah, see, there's there's one of the brackets one down below it, and then two more brackets on that side that hold on to the condenser.

All right here. Let's dig out loud noises back there. Let's dig out the AC flush kit and then we will. Uh, we'll fill this guy up and then flush out those lines in preparation for the new parts to arrive.

What we're gonna do, We will just fill this vessel with some AC flush material. We'll pressurize it and then, uh, run, run the fluid through the lines using this nozzle right here here. Let me clear some space here. Do that stuff out of the way.

Get out of here. track this guy. open. Here we go and oh that's on there.

It's very on there that's very very stockish. Come on there we go. That was nice and tight. Okay, let's give her a fill.

Ah Village Oh, this is not the proper sound effect for pouring fluids. Troy's back there grinding on his Jeep again he's cutting out the front fender Wells Pull that stuff stinks. He's cutting out the front fender Wells to accommodate his giant Toyo Tires There we go. Let's go see.

let's see what he's doing. All right. We can see you Jeep people doing Jeep things I Don't know. Nobody understands.

Let's go back to our AC unit. All right so we're full. Let's connect our little hose here. This is the Uh output hose and we just connect stop air to that end right there.

We can pump that into the evaporator. We'll do that first and then we'll go out and do the lines now. All right. we got shop air coming in.

let's connect it to our flushing vessel and we're going to open up the valve and Supply some pressure. What I'm going to do here is we're going to back flush this. So this is the in intake uh tube right Here this is the output suction tube we're Going to go up backwards through the Uh through the evaporator and reverse flush this. We're going to see how much nasty stuff wants to come out on the other side here.

Back flushing, back flushing. Ooh nasty. it's gonna make a mess. but whatever.

Oh, there we go. There's some dirty nasty coming out. Send it. The entire contents of that bottle has been push into the evaporator.

You know we can keep blowing it out. Oh I Found stuff. No worries. Power down picking valves are not okay.

Okay, let's go outside to the trash cans and we can flush the line. Okay, this line looks like it's the worst of it. I've got some black stuff. You can see it inside right there.

so let's go ahead and spray this one out. first. an eye on the uh, a piece of cardboard there, just gonna spray all over that. send it.

Look at all that black stuff. that's all compressor material. Nasty. Okay, next one running out.

All right. those are clean. There we go. Actually I'm not so sure about that.

So I'm gonna give this one more flush with some brake clean and then uh, I'll get another can of actual break or uh, actual AC flush and we'll try it again later on with that when that arrives. I won't get it today because it's uh, it's after delivery hours. Still throw some brake Lane in there. Clean out the rest of this business.

Yeah, that's nasty. Okay, one more squirt in these other lines here. Oh ah, that came off. There we go.

Hey I got break clean on me and I just found another cut that I didn't know that I had that hurts. It stings okay I think we're all about set here. Let's throw that other one out. All right.

Apple's good to go. Both lines have been flushed out now we're kind of on the parts hold. Okay, let's get this stuff back inside and I need to go wash my hands because I'm suffering chemical burn on the ends of my fingers like it's like right here on these two hurts. it stings.

That's not okay. I don't like stinging pain here. We'll set these hoses down and I can change out the gaskets on them next. All right, gasket kit coming in.

Let's get these guys swapped out and then we'll set these aside. Uh, of course. pending delivery of the replacement components, we got that guy there. looks like that's a 24 404.

Good, Well what's uh, what's on this one here? How about a 24 402.? Yeah, fur all right. Those two are done on the manifold side. these are uh, this is where the compressor is bolted on or where the line is bolted onto the compressor. There's two more and I think we're looking for.

Or those 24 354s? Sure, they fit all right. That line is re-gasketed. Let's set that aside and I need one more? I think for the end of this line right here. How about the little guy? 24 401.

Awesome! I'm not gonna run out of gaskets. Beautiful. Okay, let's set this guy aside and we're on a parts hold on. All right? No, no.

here's 50 Tools switch. Hang on. Switching Tools Hold this. Hold this.

Hold this right there. Yeah, when you go to do this. Reversible? No. Nope.

Don't do the edge like that. Do it like that. Do that right there. See it on an angle.

Horrible. anything. Yeah, yeah, if you do it like that, it'll be inconsistent and wavy and not okay. But if you can get it, you can get it at that kind of angle where you got the flat part on it.

It'll help you make it smooth and always keep your tool moving. You don't want to leave it in just the same spot. Make sense. Yeah, you're welcome.

Yeah, keep at it. Remember High speed light pressure? Okay, Okay, got it. and I'm glad to see he's got his protection on good. Yeah this is our before where the tires were hitting the fenders and install the actors.

Now get out of here. Okay. Autopsy at the end. Let's uh.

let's take this destroyed compressor opponent and fair witness to the destruction. Within We may need a puller to pull this off. Yes. I will.

Fortunately, I Happen to have some old school GM AC Compressor Pulley Puller pullers. There we go. Think that's the one it's going to screw in and then it's got the shaft in the middle. You, uh, you thread that thing down and it will push and pull and remove the uh clutch from the compressor.

Let's go ahead and get this thing threaded on and then we'll pull the pulley off, pull the bolts out, and then separate the compressor body and see what type of Carnage and destruction lies within. I Think we're reverse threaded? No, we're not. It's regular threads. Screw that down.

it's going to meet the shaft and we continue. So that thing's on there. Yeah, you're not getting this off without a puller? No way. All right, let's just do this.

the expedited way. Impact. Well, there's half a clutch. How about the other piece? Oh, Snap ring.

Okay, need a snap ring pliers to remove the snap ring? I Must confess it has been a very long time since I've replaced a clutch or even remove the clutch for that matter. Usually you just change out the entire compressor gonna come off. Is there another snap ring in there? Sure is. There's another little one way down inside.

It's kind of going to be tough to see, but I'll do my best interior snap ring. Oh I can't even see I can kind of feel it though. I Guess that's gonna have to work all right. I'm on it squeezing it I lost it I'm back on it I lost it.

Come on Snap ring, it's in there I wonder if I break it. Looks like the seal was leaking on this thing too I see a bunch of uh, oil and whatnot inside of there. Got it Here it comes. that's the snap ring inside and this should come off hammer.

Let's see here come off in this chunk anyway so no worries. Do I need another puller I have to pull her pull on it again I don't think so good. Slide off the shaft now. let's get another puller bigger one.

crankshaft pulling here. Let's try the tie rod puller first. Seems to be the easiest. The other ones are three jaw and they've got a pointed end on them and this one has like a flat end.

Try it out there we go. it's coming off two. Okay, that's our clutch. Here's our electromagnet device that engages our clutch.

Uh, that thing should also be coming off. I'll pull it with the puller. Why not? It's not like I Don't care if I break it or if I do care. Insane as I don't care There it goes.

Nice! So we're looking at a couple 13 mil bolts here. Pull these guys out nasty and that's going to split this case in half. Then we can see what the internals look like. They look like they're leaking onto my uh, my desk here there.

Okay, Hammer Time Again You're gonna come apart I Think so. Maybe the smaller Hammer would be a better choice here. Impact: Actually real quick before I get too violent. I've got an idea.

we'll thread in one of these bolts. Hit that with a hammer. Maybe it'll drive the case apart and it will. Nice.

That was actually effective. Yep, the case started to separate right here. Let's try one more time. On this other side, it kind of came off a little sideways.

Now there it goes. Now we're cooking. Let's see what's inside of. Here 's our, uh.

there's our valves. Look at all that metal stuff in there floating around. Metal chunks everywhere. Peel away the O-ring seals the two halves.

All right. let's try to tap the shaft out. Maybe the rest of the internals will pop out of there. Is it moving? Negative here.

Hang on. There's a there's a bolt right here. That thing might be holding up the internals of this compressor. Else it can do, maybe a drain.

I Don't know. Come apart compressor. It's not coming apart. Oh I Hear chunkies in there? How about that? Not okay here? I've got an idea.

Two blocks of wood and a hammer there. Now it's a part. Ooh, there's our case housing. Here's all the internal working action here.

What's his problem? Yeah, there's metal chunks in this. It's a Thrust bearing. Let's see, that's our little swash plate. That's what gets the Pistons to rock up and down.

see how that works, turn the shaft. Splash plate moves up and down, runs each each individual piston and then they are valved from this little back plate over. Here 's the valves. one-way valves.

Air can flow through. they can't go back the other way and down. inside. Look at that.

There's chunks of metal in there. but this thing was disintegrating. That's all the noise. We heard.

metal pieces. There's one, there's another piece, another piece. Oh yeah, they're everywhere. Okay, okay ladies and gentlemen, it is.

end of day. We have concluded the operation. Thus far, there's nothing more that I can do. We have no parts.

Uh, I've got a condenser, I've got a compressor, I've got a receiver dryer I've got an orifice tube I've got some more gaskets and whatnot to replace the stock. Order that I just used up. all that stuff's on the way, but it will not be here until uh, probably tomorrow afternoon. So I have nothing more to do on this car except for uh, powering down the lights and closing out this video because this operation as far as today goes, is complete.

That being said, as always, like thank you guys for watching this video. Hope you enjoyed this video. If you did enjoy this video, you know the drill. Please feel free to let me know about that by tapping that like button down below.

Drop me a comment or two while you're down there. And most importantly, don't forget to have yourselves a great day! See you guys later into Pontiac End of AC Repair in catastrophic cooling system failure into video into transmission.