AC Compressor, Rebuilt vs. New Denso Unit - UPDATE 4/11
 

Hi Everyone,

Still working out the AC on my car. I had the shop re-O-ring the whole system (rear AC, too) and they replaced the two expansion valves. I've had the car back a week or so and, starting yesterday, everytime the compressor cuts on, it makes a racket.

So, in preparation for having to buy a new compressor, I have done some research online for a replacement. From all the data I have found, for my 1988 928 S4, a Nippon Denso model 6E171 A/C Compressor, will do the trick.

New Unit: I have found one new Denso unit on Pelican for $451, no core charge.

Rebuilt: I have found a lot of rebuilt units for a wide range of costs starting out at about $224 to up over $500, some with and without core charges.

The least expensive rebuilt unit is from TechChoiceParts.com for only $224 and it looks like no core charge (have to call and check that). Here is the link:

http://www.techchoiceparts.com/showi...C%20Compressor

Has anyone had any experiance with TechChoiceParts.com?

Any other recommendations for the AC compressor replacement are welcome.

VTY,
Joe

That's the right Nippondenso unit. New for $451 is a deal, relatively speaking. From Porsche it's 2-3X more, although I see Pelican has new genuine Porsche for $491. Odd. That's the usual Porsche rebuilt cost.

Just FYI, there are "rebuilt/remanufactured" units on eBay for about $190 from several sellers, no core. I've actually bought several of them but never had them last more than a couple of years.

Noisy compressor could be low on oil.

Hi Bill,

My thoughts are the same as yours, that the oil is low.

The sequence of envents is this.

1) I bought the car in June '09, PO kept the car up very well and AC worked fine. Its just that the PO is a dentist and only put about 4-500 miles a year on the car.

2) AC lost its charge a few months later in August and I bought R-12 from Roger and had the system recharged locally. By November the charge leaked out again.

3) Put the car in the shop in Feb/Mar and the shop replaced all the o-rings and expansion valves. AC worked ok at shop, but it was still cool out and I didnt use it for a couple of weeks. When I did use the AC in late March, the charge had leaked out.

4) In April, I took the car back to the shop, this time they added the dye and checked for leaks and fixed the leaks. Some of the o-rings didnt seal correctly is what I was told.

5) Yesterday, less than 2 weeks from picking up the car, I hear the clattering racket from the compressor. My thoughts are the same as yours, where is the oil?

I have only tried the AC for a few moments, just to hear the noise and to look under the hood.

Bill, do you think just having the shop adding new oil to the compressor will fix it? Or has any damage been done to the compressor? When the AC is turned on, even with the noise, it cools ok.

Thanks,
Joe

best to use only genuine nippondenso rebuilt
 

If you are not buying brand new, then the best choice is to use genuine
Nippondenso rebuilts done by Nippondenso they have a very low failure rate.
They come in a gold/ blue Nippondenso box. Don't go for the white box
rebuilts- what actually got replaced? Nippondenso has the parts and
resources to do it right.
Something else to consider- if you still use r12 , it's a big expense to recharge
the system if you have to warranty a cheap rebuilt compressor.

Hi Jim,

Thats a great idea.

No one says who does the rebuild on the compressors they sale.

The only one I saw that did was the TechChoice Parts - who say they do their own rebuilts. Plus, I checked out their Ebay ratings and they are very high, 99.7%. Very few complains.

More disclosure on web sites on who's rebuilding the compressor would be useful.

VTY,
Joe

I thought R12 was totally off the market for years now? Is it still available somehow, somewhere, aside from private caches that some people tucked away? Well, I guess including those, should someone want to get rid of some...

I'd really look in to adding oil to the compressor before forking over $$$ for a new one. Mine did the same thing, it worked fine but was noisy. It just needed to be properly filled with ester oil.

Joe.............talk with roger at 928sRus. He supplied me with a Porsche a/c compressor last year for a great price.

It comes prepped for a R12 system (I had to change the oil for my R134a system).

Hi nsantolick,

Every shop I have gone to here in Jacksonville that services Porsche/BMW cars, all have R-12 to charge up older cars, so I guess its not such a problem.

Also, they are still making R-12 by the boat load in Mexico. So I guess the freon ban is only in 1st world countries...

VTY,
Joe

Hi Malcolm,

I was hoping Roger would chime in on the topic. He always has something interesting to say.

VTY,
Joe

Jeannie quoted me a comparable price for a new Porsche unit.
Call her for a price.

We sell the complete Kuehl/Griffiths kit (compressor, correct bracket, correct barrier hoses, clutch, correct receiver/dryer, O-rings, instructions, etc.) for $600, with no exchange/core deposit.

Call Jeannie at (828) 766-9280 if we can help you...

Wally - what are the advantages of the Kuel compressor over the Porsche unit? Does it Kuel better? If so that would be Kuel. Despite the weak humor I am serious abou tinvestigating better cooling options as we are contemplating moving to a much warmer locale (Phoenix, Albuquerque, Florida, etc.).

Thanks,
Dan

The Kuehl compressor is just a Sanden clone, so it's not going to cool better. However there is an advantage to installing a new compressor and new hoses.

Dan
'91 928GT S/C :eek: 475hp/460lb.ft

My brother used to be a VP for a Toyota owned automotive AC compressor rebuilding facility near Ft. Worth. I toured the plant and it was an impressive high-end operation using all the Toyota manfacturing methodologies (this was back when that counted for something). They rebuild the Denso compressors and Porsche was one of their customers as I remember, but I don't know who else sells the compressors the rebuild.

The most interesting thing I learned was that 50% of the compressors that go out the door are actually new, not rebuilt. The reason is they often don't have enough cores to meet demand, so they keep new cores on hand.