Removed, cleaned, and fixed the entire cab AC system in my Escaper.

[Odyssey 4x4]

When I bought my Escaper the roof air worked great, but the cab air did not work. The ac compressor turned on but made a bad sound and there was no cold air. I'm about to go on a travel for a while and definitely wanted my cab air working!

I started out by ordering a new compressor for an 87 Toyota truck. When the compressor arrived it was immediately apparent that the compressor was the wrong style mounting and everything.

Here is the stock A/C compressor in place before any work.

Here is the first compressor I ordered, which was the wrong style since it was for a factory installed A/C system. This is when I figured out that the truck had a dealer installed A/C system. Notice the mounting style is completely different.

I returned that compressor and was able to locate the compressor I needed on Ebay. This was the only place I was able to locate the exact style of mine and I got it brand new in an auction for $117!

Old vs. new

Here is the engine bay with the ac compressor removed, also the air intake is removed as well.

For those interested, here are the sensors used for the cold start injector. They are located directly underneath the air intake. I removed both and cleaned them due to my truck having a cold start issue. It ended up being a missing screw in the throttle positioning sensor and the idle was off.

All lines were removed. The evaporation coil was also removed from under the dash. I have a feeling this may be one of the reasons the ac system did not work!

Here is the coil after a good cleaning. Also is the chemical I used to flush all of the lines to get rid of old oil residue.

Putting it back into the box.

Removing the expansion valve from the line.

Once I saw the compressor lines on the new compressor, I noticed it was a different style mount. It was an oring type of connection when what it needed to be was a flare style connection. A day later I had the adapters I needed, obtained from a local A/C shop.

New compressor in place.

The easiest way to get the evaporation coil in place was to put it in, put the expansion valve in place, and then put the top of the case on. Then the thermostat was slid into place from the top. This was kind of a pain in the butt.

Lines connected.

[Odyssey 4x4]

Expansion valve and new drier in place.

All lines are now connected.

The system was then vacuumed down and tested for leaks. It had a few leaks that were only a result of the line connections needing more tightening.

Vacuumed down.

New belt put into place, filled with the required 5.9 ounces of oil, and then started and charged with r132.

And just like that, we had nice, beautiful, wonderful cold air. A requirement in Florida. Notice the last pic was taken while it was dark out! This took about two days worth of work mostly due to taking a day to get the adapters required.

[Odyssey 4x4]

All went pretty swell. The best feeling is hearing what the quotes are to have this labor done at a garage. The only problems were locating the correct compressor, and having to acquire those adapters to make it a flange connection. Also I installed the compressor and then realized I didn't check to see if it came pre-filled with oil and it was in an inaccessible location without removing everything again. I eventually got to the drain bolt and pulled it out to find that it did NOT come with oil from factory. Only a small amount of oil was in it. I drained it completely and then added the exact 5.9 ounces of oil.

Everything was good from there. It was indeed a lot of work and my first complete vehicular a/c rebuild. In the past I had only done compressors and driers. It was well worth the work.

[Maineah]

Good job looks so familiar I put a lot of those things in when the trucks were new! It's nice that the old HVAC stuff used to be modular complete with the factory unused wiring.

[Odyssey 4x4]

yup good system, it was originally installed by Acme along with the cruise control system (which does not work).

[Sunrading Arkansas]

This is awesome! Thanks for posting! I removed my compressor (during this project: http://toyotamotorhome.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=4500) as it had a leak in the shaft seal - spraying oil on the hood, etc. Pretty much wrote the A/C off as overtly expensive to fix, but after seeing this it doesn't look too bad. I found my direct replacement on Ebay (http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-8390-SANDEN-STYLE-COMPRESSOR-W-CLUTCH-R12-SD508-/400274000304?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item5d323089b0&vxp=mtr) for $114 and a drier for $15. The rest of my system is clean so should be a lot simpler then your entire removal/cleaning. So for about $200-250 (once I get oil, recharge kit, flush kit, etc.), I can get this thing cool again...Love it.

[Odyssey 4x4]

Yes sir! One of the most expensive things for this is having a vacuum pump which I have because I also do residential HVAC. I would also replace the expansion valve while you're at it since its just as cheap as the drier and will take care of that "just in case".