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lw300 rear strut

Replaced the rear struts on the '01 lw300 this weekend. One shock was leaking oil and completely dead. Got the new parts through Autozone and got the strut mount kits in addition to the struts. Good thing as in order to remove the old strut from the bracket, some flame wrenching was needed and things got a bit toasted.

Found the source of the klunk. Wasn't the bad shock as I thought but rather a worn sway bar anchor bushing. I had ordered the bushings but wound up getting the end bushings rather than the ones I needed. Strange that Autozone only had the end bushings. I'll look around to see who has the right ones. In the mean time, shimmed the worn bushing with a piece of garden hose. Very quiet now and good ride.

Next project is to replace the A/C compressor. The clutch had died and was just going to change out the clutch. Couldn't get it loose so will go for the whole compressor. Probably just as good, this weekend, the A/C clutch bearing started making bad noises. I may just take the car to a shop to have this done. (Man's got to know his limitations)

Reply to
Oppie
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Ordered the new A/C compressor on Thursday through my friend's shop. Was sort of hard to find but got it. Seems the OEM style was replaced by a new scroll type of compressor. Comes with a whole kit to adapt the hoses and includes seals, receiver-dryer and oil. Should be fun trying to shoehorn it into the motor. Nothing on that engine is easy to get to.

Reply to
Oppie

Hi Oppie

I did this job > Ordered the new A/C compressor on Thursday through my friend's shop. Was

Reply to
Fred

I used to do quite a bit of work with R22 (old school) systems. Changing out the receiver, adding the correct amount and type of oil (mineral) and then properly evacuating the system down to better than 29" Hg is necessary to pull out all the water vapor. It will freeze up the expansion valve otherwise. Lots of folks make the mistake of adding liquid refrigerant to a running compressor. Yes, it gets the stuff into the system fast but will kill the compressor either through hydro-locking or by washing the oil from the piston/cylinder and causing scoring. Always best to introduce only refrigerant vapor to the low side. Put the cans in a pot of hot water to keep it flowing.

Never really got the tools for R134a. R22 was dumb easy to remember pressure/temperature. The suction side pressure in psi was very close to the boiling temperature in degrees F (40psi=40 degrees F).

R134a has a more obscure pressure/temperature correspondence. Last time I did anything with it, I needed a lookup chart. Then there are the EPA laws and licenses now.

Compressor came in to my friend's shop on Friday. It was supposed to arrive today so I didn't bother calling him (nor did he call me...). If I would have had it earlier, I would have at least installed the new compressor over the weekend. Now I have time constraints and will probably have his shop do the whole job.

Interesting development though- Kit was ordered through

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and came with new compressor/clutch/pulley, new receiver/dryer, new manifold/hoses, gaskets and a bottle of PAG oil. Nice thorough instructions but in bold letters, was a note to use the belt included with the kit. No belt was in the kit so we called and found that the new compressor pulley was slightly undersize so have to find a serpentine belt 1/4" shorter than stock. (for correct tensioning)

OEM belt is 79.53" six rib (Dayco 5060795 or equivalent) Now will have to look up in the belt reference for something similar but with effective length of 79.28". Next smallest belt though is 79.0" so may take some experimentation...

Reply to
Oppie

brain cramp... make that R12. R22 was used in residential air conditioners and refrigerators.

Reply to
Oppie

Job's all done. Runs nice and quiet with good cold air. Actually, at low blower, evaporator must have frosted up with fresh air and at highway speed. Airflow from the discharge vents started to diminish. Shut down the A/C and within a few minutes, airflow returned to normal. A few minutes after that the discharge temperature started to rise (as all the ice melted). Simple solution is to add another 5psi of refrigerant.

The Scroll compressors are supposed to have less losses and should give better mpg when A/C is used. Time will tell.

Reply to
Oppie

Good job the AC! Hot weather is coming. At least in Connecticut. Old 94 Saturn still running well here.

Reply to
Fred

It was very nice to drive in the cool rain today with the windows closed and not have the windshield fog up. For the last few months, I would dread damp weather that would cause fogging problems. At one point I kept a bathroom mirror squeegee on hand to clear enough of the windshield that I could see...

Remember

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for air conditioning supplies. In all my web searches, this did not come up at all.

I completed the suspension repairs this past weekend. Had done the rear struts the week before but still needed the rear sway bar to frame bushings. Got those through CarQuest (nobody else had them) along with new front sway bar end links. All installed now. Sort of funny how one gets accustomed to slow changes in ride as parts wear. Replace them, and suddenly get back a good ride and think "how did I not see this before?" This summer we'll be cruising the back roads of Vermont. Between the A/C and suspension fixes, will make it much more enjoyable.

Oppie White Plains, NY

Reply to
Oppie

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