Remove A/C Compressor - 87 Fifth Avenue

[Justwondering]

Alright, after 2 hours I'm am going to have to say uncle and ask for help.

The a/c compressor came in. Per the directions I removed the shipping oil out of the new compressor (about 5 1/2 ounces). I removed the shrader valve. Moved the conversion fitting over (which has a shrader valve in it). Tightened it down. Added new ester oil back in.

Problem 1:
One of the bolts holding the suction side covering on is stripped out. Its smooth round on the outside and has an allen's head shape on the inside. Three of them came out fine. The fourth one stripped. I can't back it out.

I was able to loosen the alternator and get slack in the belts to move them out of the way. The compressor is held on by 4 bolts on the bottom. Two in the front and two in the rear.

I got the front two bolts out. The back two bolts-- jeeze. Who in their infinite wisdom decided they needed to be 6 times as big as the front ones AND why in the world would you have them thread from back to front if you are going to run 9 hoses in front, behind, and over them.

I was able to back the to nuts off the bolts. The bolt heads are facing towards the firewall.

Problem 2:
What else do I need to remove to get the two back bolts off?
I removed the front bracket from the alternator that braced the compressor.
I loosened the top radiator hose thinking that would help. Nope.
I tried loosening the radiator hose above the thermostat, it won't budge.
Even if I can get those out of the way, I can't get the smaller hose directly behind the compressor loose.

I can't seem to push the bolts out. Apparently they need to unthread going towards the firewall.

Problem 3:
Its still 90 degrees out there and high humidity. How do you keep the sweat from dripping on your glasses, on your face, off your chin while you are working?

So, I need some guidance.

 

[BudW]

The A/C compressor is held on by 5 bolts. One on top, two on bottom front and two on bottom rear.
The trick is NOT to remove the two bottom rear bolts - until you get the compressor off of the car.
The rear bottom of compressor has a aluminum “T” shaped bracket that has a downward facing bolt to remove. I took two pictures, One of my ‘86 5th Ave - without taking everything out of the way - but you can see the bolt head. The other is my ‘77 Volare. This intake will look different than yours but the picture is trying to show you where the bolt location is on engine.

You need to remove the three front bolts and the rear single downward facing bolt. Once compressor is off, you then remove the “T” shaped bracket and transfer it to new compressor.

I’m not sure what you are referring to as to striped bolt. Can you take picture and describe location?

Sweat - use slave labor, err, correction, use cheap south of the boarder labor to fan you.

 

[MiradaMegacab]

Tip, Use a coating of White Lithium Grease on lug nuts, hose barbs, thermostat housing, radiator hose fittings....... it makes for an easy assembly and an easier hose removal......

 

[MiradaMegacab]

As far as the stripped Allen Head Bolt, are you referring to the Expansion Valve? That's the aluminum block mounted by the firewall....
Those Allen head bolts do have ThreadLock on them from the factory and do require some effort to remove.....

 

[Justwondering]

There's one more bolt I didn't know to back out.
And of course, I'm trying to remove it the hardway without removing the bracket.
Timing was part of my problem.
Lighting when I started:

Lighting when I gave up for the evening:

I'll go take a picture of the stripped bolt.
BIG thank you for the 5th bolt tip.

 

[Justwondering]

Stripped bolt. The bottom left bolt on the top is stripped on the inside.

 

[Darth-Car]

Just look at that pretty machine waiting to be installed.

 

[Justwondering]

That compressor is in!

Daylight makes it much easier to work. Its cooler and there was a slight breeze.
BudW was a lifesaver (frustration reduction) by telling me about leaving the bracket on and removing the whole thing.

So I'm down to 3 problems. I'm going to take it in to the mechanic and see what he suggests.

Problem 1:
Stripped bolt (shipping bolt) on the compressor. There are no popeye arms in this house, so I need a smarter way to get the thing off. (see picture above).

Problem 2:
Brace no longer fits. The legs (standoffs?) at the bottom of the new compressor are 1/4 inch taller than the old compressor. So the single bar brace that is attached to the alternator holder and crosses at the 1 o'clock position to be bolted into the top of the compressor.. it hits the casing and doesn't have enough curve to reach the hole for the top of the compressor.

Problem 3:
The bottom right bolt (short one) that holds the bottom front bracket won't thread. I can put the bolt in and bottom it out by hand without turning and then just pull it back out. I'm guessing some type of thread or nut is now gone/compromised/pushed too far back?

 

[BudW]

That is an odd looking compressor, and is not a C-171 !
It appears to be “something else made to fit” your application.

First of all, if that bolt is stripped, the first thing I would do is call the part supplier and they “should” get you a replacement (compressor) faster than you describe the problem to them.

Now it might be fixable - but if it doesn’t want to fit your application, then that is another issue the part supplier needs to know about. It reminds me of a kid trying to insert a round peg into a square hole.

You might want to take a side by side picture of both compressors to show them, before calling (or emailing).

I don’t think I said anything you wanted to hear. For the most part, the C-171 A/C compressor is a decent part. I think they sold you a round peg, hoping you wouldn’t see you currently have a square hole

BudW

 

[BudW]

For a while, Ford used the same compressor manufacture for A/C compressors.

The Ford version looks almost the same but has a few differences:
- The A/C lines connect at same location, but attachment screws into side of lines instead of ends of line.
- The Ford version stands a bit taller (hopefully the pictures will reflect that).
- The clutch and pulley is different.

A Chrysler C-171 compressor, that our cars use.

A Ford/Chrysler dual bolt pattern line attachmnent.

A Ford compressor - taller lower attachment.
You can also see the line attachment difference.

The weird thing, that was shipped to you.

 

[Justwondering]

Back from today's doctor visit.
I'll go back out and check this again.
While I was driving husband to the doctor, I got to thinking, maybe I need to take a deep breath and look at that brace again.

What if I had a dumb blonde moment and inadvertantly flipped it front to back and up/down. Then it would look okay but the inner/outer curvature would be wrong and the symptom would be hitting on the casing too early.

If I can't get the brace lined up, its going back. If I can get the brace lined up both hoses marry up fine. I just need to check on that strange bolt that's stripped. Hopefully, the old bolts will fit the new body.

 

[Justwondering]

Continuing saga...
Tomorrow morning I remove the new compressor and send it back for a refund.
This was from rockauto. The picture of the one I selected does not match what they sent, even though the part number matches. The description did say C171 with clutch.

Does anyone have recommendations of some other provider they've had good luck ordering parts from? or should I go have the old one serviced by a local shop?

 

[Darth-Car]

All of the big boys will ship to your door from their web site. So you can order from Advance Auto Parts, O'Riley, or Auto Zone.

 

[Justwondering]

Brian ..
I just want someone to get this right. I'm waiting til tomorrow morning to pull the a/c compressor from the car. Heat index is over 100 right now.

I thought I had this okay with rockauto, but nope.

 

[Aspen500]

It doesn't happen often but it does happen where the wrong part gets put in the "right" box. It's mostly with parts that are very similar in appearance. My guess on what happened (I could be wrong).

 

[Justwondering]

Aspen500..
could be just simple mistake.
Just a rough 2 weeks and this is on my husband's bucket list-- rolling down the highway in the Chrysler with a/c .. Just disappointed I couldn't make it happen for him.
But enough whining.
I've got a game plan for tomorrow morning of removing and shipping the compressor. I'll check local prices tonight and might be able to get a replacement ordered by next week.

 

[Justwondering]

This morning at 6:30 I started the swap of the compressors. I was finished by 8 am.
I took the new compressor out of the car.
I put the old compressor back in the car.
Now I'll ship the new compressor back.

That means I've now completed two compressor installs and two compressor removals in the past 5 days. It certainly goes much faster now.

What I learned:
1. Be much more critical about reviewing parts and comparing with old parts before you start wrenching. Sitting side by side, it is obvious that the new compressor was 2 inches shorter, 1 inch taller and had the discharge port in a different location.

2. As exciting as it is to repair this car, as exciting as it is to complete the challenge of safely fixing a broken part and still having the car start and run when finished... none of that makes up for the time sink and disappointment of failure- especially when just a few minutes up front would have been enough to prevent all the agony.

3. Just because a part is labeled with the proper part number does not mean it is the correct part.

My deep thanks to BudW for taking time to educate me on the basics. I should have paid more attention upfront. Lesson learned.

I'll be boxing up this compressor and returning it. Once I get my credit back on the card, I'll have decided my next move and it will be a local yokel.

And a little bonus.
The mysterious engine block bolt that no longer fit can be attributed to working in the dark. I dropped a nut when I was putting the car back together. After everything was as complete as could be, I backed up the car.

Did not find the nut.
Did fine another, longer bolt that 'surprise, surprise' is the correct length to fit in the engine block. Apparently, I dropped the bolt when I was putting it in my ziploc bag and didnt realize it hit the ground and rolled. So there is no longer a bolt issue.

 

[BudW]

I’ve heard - The day we stop learning, is the day we start dying.

If true, I’m going to go the library more often when I get older.


BTW, Ziploc bags have a great big hole in them.
Sometimes they have two holes in them.

 

[Justwondering]

Apparently mine had a big hole in it. I think I 'put' it in the bag and completely missed it. It went through the engine bay and landed on the ground. I must have been tired and didn't notice.

I've been trying some of the online free classes. Some are good, some are worse than I remember in high school. But the nice thing is they cost nothing if you just want to audit.

 

[Aspen500]

I've found that sometimes, even if you eye up both the old and the new before starting the job, the new part may not be correct. There are times when you just can't tell until the old part is off and you put them side by each.
Worse is when they look different but the new part is just a different design and will bolt right up and function like it's supposed to. Those are the times when you have a "wrong part" moment when in reality it's the right part. Ahhhhh, the joys of being an auto tech!