Compressor question.

[Dibly74]

Does anyone know a trick for getting the clutch seperated from the compressor on a 79 Continental. Finally decided to overhaul the AC system and resealing the shaft seals on the compressor is one of the problems. Also I've never had the AC working on this thing the whole time I've owned it, does R-12 work as good as it did in my 89 Towncar, cause thats whats going in.

[pro-five-oh]

Is it really worth saving that old compressor? A new one comes with a new clutch and they aren't that much more expensive.

FWIW, I think we're running R134a in our Mark V and it cools quite nicely. The A/Cs in these cars can cool off a van, so a small Lincoln interior is nothing.

[Dibly74]

I know I could have gotten a new one for a little more but I wanted to keep the car as original as possible. Thats why I hunted down nos motorcraft parts. I have a new used hose to replace the one that the car blew, a new POA valve, a new expansion valve, and drier. Also ordered a new "sniffer" for the climate control from Lincoln Land. It would not blend heat at all, so it sucked in the winter.

[Dibly74]

Heres an update. I rebuilt the compressor successfully, hooked it up and it held pressure just fine. Then i thoguht that it would be the only original part on it for the AC so I replaced it with a new one. So I have a new compressor, drier, expansion valve, throttleing valve, and lines. Pumped it down, threw in some R-12 and oil and it works awesomely. And the climate control actually works on it. It will adjust the air output with temperature.

[pro-five-oh]

Well done. :)

[Dibly74]

SCREW AUTOZONE. I never noticed till today that the new compressor they sold me had a different offset of the pully to my pullys. So driving today and I heard THUMP THUMP from under the hood. IT had torn the AC belt up and it jumped under the alternator belt when it went and tore that one up to. Then that killed the battery. And on top of that I saw a leak on the back of the compressor bubbling out of the high pressure block off valve. and the shaft had started to leak throwing oil all over the car from the clutch. So I evacuated all the freon and brought it back to autozone and they argued with me for a minute and then brought be a new compressor. So I check it out and the shaft was locked on it and it was leaking out of the same port in the back. It had been droped so hard the pully was bent. Then they brought me another new one and gave me my belts. I got home replaced everything and pumped it back down and went to put the belts on and HE GAVE ME THE WRONG ONES. I pissed him off so he got me back. They finally gave me the right belts and now its all back together but I have to wait a few days to get some more R-12. Auto Zone sucks.

[pro-five-oh]

Lincoln wrenching 101: only buy oil, filters, bottles of stuff and brand name stuff from their shelves.

Sorry to hear that, if I knew you were replacing it with autozone parts I woulda cautioned you from the beginning. :(

[Dibly74]

I guess thats what I get for being broke and trying to get off cheap.

[Dibly74]

Irony. An update a year later. I just came into a large quantity of R-12 and was doing a leak check on the car before I put it in and the NEW compressor from autozone, which is my third, is leaking from the snout and rear. Also the large manifold hose is leaking at three different locations where it goes from rubber to metal.

[LSRX101]

Wow Dilby, that's bad luck.
The quality of cheap reman A6 compressors often leaves much to be desired.
The ceramic shaft seals are known to sling oil, even when new. They can sling a lot of oil but still retain the refrigerant. This is made worse when the rebuilder doesn't replace the front bushing. Cheaper remans often don't get the bushing replaced. Many new A6 compressors come with a rubber seal.

There's a couple of things you can try if the compressor is otherwise working well.:
1. Try and source a new pressure relief valve. Check NAPA or email the folks at www.ackits.com (Arizona Mobile Air).
2 Go to www.autoacforum.com In the Tips and FAQ section are a couple of articles on replacing the ceramic seal with a double lip seal made for a newer compressor. It's a direct swap and easy to do if you source the correct tools.
3 Don't buy any more AC parts from Auto Zone. I'm sorry you learned this the hard way.:(