Beat the Heat with A/C Compressor Kits!

RockAuto recently expanded coverage on A/C Compressor & Component Kits, just in time for summer! If you have been living with broken A/C and windblown hair, now is the time to replace your A/C Compressor. Save money and make sure you do not damage a new compressor or compromise the rest of the A/C system by buying a complete A/C Compressor & Component Kit, with parts by GPD and Four Seasons.

Kits typically include the Compressor, Expansion Valve, and Receiver Drier / Accumulator and sometimes also include the Orifice Tube, O-Rings, Seals and Gaskets, and/or Condenser. (Replacing most of these components is already required to validate the warranty on a new A/C compressor.)

In addition to the broad coverage RockAuto already had, we now offer A/C kits for:

2000-2006 Jeep Wrangler 2008-2014 Cadillac CTS 2000-2001 Audi A4 1994-1995 Mazda MX-3

2013-2014 Toyota Avalon 2015 BMW X3 2013-2016 Buick Enclave

Image of a typical kit; kit contents vary by application

See the kits we have for your specific vehicles under “A/C Compressor & Component Kit” in the "Heat & Air Conditioning" category of the RockAuto catalog.

Forum of the Month

A5OC.com is a forum for Audi A5 and S5 enthusiasts.The site is a great resource for technical articles, specifications, photo galleries and more dedicated to this Audi coupe. You will find basic topics and questions specific to the Audi A5 and S5 relating to performance, modifications, DIY projects, maintenance, regional A5 clubs, meets, discussions and more!

Registration is FREE, fast, simple and you can do much more, so join the A5OC.com community today!

If you are the administrator or member of a forum and you would like to see your website featured in an upcoming newsletter and receive a discount code to share with your members, contact marketing@rockauto.com.

Repair Mistakes & Blunders

Home from college for spring break, I knew the brakes on my ’54 Chevy pick-up needed work. Like with most college students, money was tight. I had helped my father do a brake job on a 1948 Ford pick-up a few years earlier, so “I knew the process.” I could do it myself.

Rain had been falling all week. There was no garage available big enough for the truck and space to work on it, but the neighbor said I could pull one corner at a time into his garage and try to work out of the weather.

I gathered all the parts, including wheel cylinder rebuild kits. Late the night before I had to go back to college, I braved the mist that blew into the garage and went to work. I started on the driver’s side rear axle. I got everything taken apart and started to put it all together, but the cups in the wheel cylinder seemed to fit more than a little snugly; they bulged. "Well," I thought, "Maybe they are supposed to do that." Brake shoes came next, and I hooked up the parking brake cable and put the wheel back on. Gingerly I turned the truck around (no brakes because it had no brake fluid, but it did have a working parking brake) and repeated the process on the passenger side. Again, the cups on the wheel cylinder bulged when installed. But, I completed that side and again delicately turned the truck around.

Now for the front brakes. All went well with the dismantle, but when I started to rebuild the first wheel cylinder, the new cups fell right out. There was a gap all around them! It then occurred to me that maybe, just maybe, there was a difference between front and rear wheel cylinders. So, I got to do the rear brakes again, installing the correct cups this time.

I finished the job in the wee hours of the morning. The brakes worked just fine, but I sure didn not look forward to the nine hour drive back to school the next day. Just because you go to college doesn not mean you know what you are doing!

This was in 1963 or 1964, and I can now laugh about it.

Dan in Washington

Cutaway view of wheel cylinder showing cups Dan was having trouble with

Tell us about your most infamous auto repair blunder or unconventional fix. Use your woe to help others avoid similar mistakes or share off-the-wall solutions that worked (at least for a while!). Please email your story to flamur@rockauto.com. Include your mailing address and if you would like a RockAuto T-Shirt (please let us know your shirt size) or Hat if we publish your story. See the T-Shirts and Hats under Tools & Universal Parts in the catalog. The story will be credited using only your first name and your vague geographic location (state, province, country, continent, etc.) so you can remain semi-anonymous!

Automotive Trivia

Variations of A/C system refrigerant R-134a have been used to...?

A. propel pellets out of airsoft guns
B. deliver bronchodilators to asthma sufferers
C. blow dust off of computer circuit boards
D. all the above

Answer below

Seeping A/C Hoses and Mystery Leaks

A friend feeling nostalgic about his time working at Chrysler in the 80s, just bought himself a 1985 Chrysler Town & Country station wagon. It is turbocharged and even has swaths of "wood" on the sides! The only thing that does not work on the car is the A/C, and I was asked for tips on switching the A/C system from R-12 to the newer R-134a refrigerant.

Specifically, my friend asked about A/C system hoses. There are discussions in car club forums about the potential for original hoses designed for R-12 to be porous to R-134a. Some people say old hoses leak R-134a and some say the inside of old hoses become coated with A/C lubricant which helps prevent leaks.

New car manufacturers switched to R-134a by 1994. It is hard to make sweeping statements about the decades of older R-12 cars that came equipped with different A/C system designs using hoses, lubricants, compressors and other parts from various manufacturers. There was a lot of unpredictability even when the cars were new. The R-12 filled A/C system in my '89 Ford Crown Victoria was plagued by mystery leaks. The original A/C system in my '86 Mustang still works fine. Is a leak of R-134a due to porous old hoses or is it due to other problems?

Last summer my brother bought a '79 Olds Delta 88, and we had a shop install a new RockAuto A/C Compressor and Component Kit. We retained the original hoses and charged the system with R-134a. That A/C system is still working great this summer. If the R-134a is seeping through the old R-12 hoses, then it is seeping very slowly!

The friend with the Chrysler station wagon does not need to fret about the potential for seeping hoses. RockAuto's A/C manufacturer, Four Seasons, makes new hoses for his wagon and many other old cars that use modern "OE-type barrier hoses to minimize refrigerant loss" and "meet tensile standards for R12 and/or R134a." New A/C hoses will also make the Chrysler's engine compartment look better. The aluminum fittings on its original hoses are corroded.

Four Seasons A/C Refrigerant Hose

Tom Taylor,
RockAuto.com

To read more of Tom's articles, click this link and choose from story titles on the Newsletter Archives page.

Mark's 1967 Ford Fairlane 500

Hi, I am from Australia and this is my 1967 ZA Ford Fairlane 500. This vehicle, whilst built in Australia, is the same family as the American 1966 Fairlane. Recently I have been restoring it and found parts very difficult to buy new here in Australia. I searched far and wide and then I found RockAuto. As your name suggests, you guys rock! I recently purchased a power steering pump from you guys amongst other parts. Your service was great and the parts arrived in record time.

I have restored my Fairlane to its original colour, panel beating and painting it myself in its original Polar White Acrylic paint.

The entire car is as original as it can be with matching engine, transmission and interior.

Mark in Australia

© 1999-2016 RockAuto, LLC - Madison, Wisconsin USA. RockAuto name, logo and ALL THE PARTS YOUR CAR WILL EVER NEED are registered trademarks of RockAuto, LLC. Manufacturer names and logos in the RockAuto catalog are trademarks of their respective companies and are used only to identify their products. All rights reserved.