Hello! I suffered a bird strike some three years ago which caused damage to the slats in the bumper aperture. I repaired the slats in the front bumper myself, which required taking the front end of the car off (see https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/...=231&t=1864471). About a year after that, I noticed that my air conditioning has been losing efficiency. Last summer it was barely working at all, so I had the system regassed. . During a recent service at a Porsche Service centre, they told me that one of the AC condensers (the one which was hit by the pheasant) was leaking and requires replacement. They offered to do it for me at a frankly ridiculous price. Since I've had the front end off the car previously, and all the refrigerant has leaved out, I figure that I may as well have a go at it myself. I'll make the repair myself and then have it vacuum checked and refilled by my local garage who has an AC machine.

I've bought two new condensers plus the desiccator, but I have a question about the lubricant. Will I need to add lubricant to the system, or does most of it stay in the compressor? Thanks for any advice!

 

The Porsche Workshop Manual has estimated oil content that resides in each major component of the A/C system. If you don't have access to the manual, a friendly Porsche service tech or service advisor should be able to give you the number for the amount of oil (cc) to add to the new parts to make up for the oil lost by removing the old desiccator and two old condensers. Don't bother trying to drain the old parts and measure the oil amount because the result will not be accurate (it won't all drain). I had the numbers for oil in each major component at my fingertips about a year ago when I replaced some parts of my A/C system, but I've forgotten them since.

 

From the service manual

 

There it is! Thanks @thecajunboy

 

Thank you very much - I do actually have a 218MB workshop manual in PDF form (don't remember where I got it) but for some reason I'd forgotten I had it. Thanks for reminding me, and thanks for the information!

I ordered the two condensers, the desiccator and the six required O-rings from a well-known Porsche parts supplier where I live in the UK. Sadly I wasn't able to open the packages to check the contents and it turns out that they've sent me only two of each type of o-ring, whereas I needed four of one type - two for each condenser. It's a bank holiday weekend here in the UK, so I'm off work tomorrow Can I replace the missing O-rings with a generic O-ring from an O-ring set that I have? Or do A/C systems need specific O-rings? If so, there's an auto factor near me which is open tomorrow and I might be able to get suitable parts. Thanks!

 

A/C systems need o-rings of a specific material due to the compressor oil chemistry. They are typically purple or green in color if I recall correctly. Also be sure to use the correct type of compressor oil (type ND-8) as listed in the post above from the workshop manual.

 

Hi all,

I'm currently doing the work of replacing the condensers and will leave the desiccator until the last minute before the mobile A/C guy arrives to evacuate and recharge the system. I have a question about the refrigerant oil. shown above from the workshop manual. It shows 2x 20cc and 40cc, so it seems clear that it's 20cc per condenser and 40cc total. I just want to make sure I'm reading it correctly. And then 20cc that would be in the desiccator. The desiccator will remain sealed until the last minute, so I assume I can add the 20cc for the desiccator to the condensers and it will all even out when the system is running? So I could add 30cc refrigerant oil to each condenser?

Thanks!

 

Yes, if you add no oil to the new desiccator you would add 30 cc to each new condenser, assuming no other oil is lost or removed from the system other than maybe a few drops dripping from lines during your work.

 

I have a 134A manifold/gauge set that I will sell cheap if any of you A/C guys needs one.