Replaced ac condenser, no what?

I rear ended another car and had to replace my ac condenser and radiator. I am going to look for Dex Cool or G-12 fluid for my radiator as i have learned on this forum that this is the best fluid for my 2002 Jetta tdi. However, what do i need to do for the ac condenser? When i removed the one from the junkyard, it made a hissing noise as it degassed. So apparently I need to re-pressure it. Does anyone know if I need to do this or how to do this?

Thanks!

What year Jetta? What I am going to tell you will work for a MK4. It would be good to have a set of AC gauges, but probably you can get away without it. You will need a scale that can measure in grams - a kitchen scale will do. You also should know the techniques to avoid getting air in the lines. Again, having the AC gauges will help this immensely. You will need an AC vacuum pump.

1) You should change out the dryer, which is attached to the condenser. It's probably $15-20.
2) You will need to connect an AC vacuum pump and let it run for about 30 minutes. This will extract the moisture from the system. It should pull a deep vacuum. If not, you have a leak. Hopefully you used new o-rings when connecting your condensor.
3) With the scale you will need to add 750g of the correct freon into the system while the engine is off. Don't add more than that or less than that to the "high" side of the system. You will want to add liquid so the bottle should be upside down when filling.
4) Once you have added the freon, disconnect the hoses and run the AC. It should get nice and cold.

My steps are a general guide on how to do this.

First thing first always used Vw approved coolant, stay away from Dex cool. Mk4 heater cores are very sensitive and using other fluids will be risky and possibly costly in future. Mk4 and newer VAG products usually don't require a receiver drier, providing the system hasn't be open for long time.


Bajan

red16vdub said:

First thing first always used Vw approved coolant, stay away from Dex cool. Mk4 heater cores are very sensitive and using other fluids will be risky and possibly costly in future. Mk4 and newer VAG products usually don't require a receiver drier, providing the system hasn't be open for long time.


Bajan

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Mk4's heater cores blow out regardless what coolant you use.

turbocharged798 said:

Mk4's heater cores blow out regardless what coolant you use.

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Maybe yours, but I own 2 of the 4 mk4 in the family and all still have oem heater cores . 2 diesels and 2 Glx vr6's .
BTW I have own water cool VWs and Audi for 34 years and never ever had to replace a heater core for what it's worth.


Bajan

OH LORD. so you dont know anything about AC. my advice is that if your good with tools and know how to work on cars, you can do this job but to PROPERLY do this you need about $300 in tools that you dont have. in a very VERY nut shell of a explanation. you need to do many things in the right order and replace and clean the right parts with proper ones and not be stingy with them. you need a REAL set of gauges not the ones from autozone on the can a vacuum pump, PAG oil, leak tester, cans of 134a (NO ADDITIVES) and lots of time and a warm garage to do this in or you need to calculate your supper cool supper heat values for cold weather.

my advice, pay someone $$$ to do the job. You can but the parts if you want, but you need to CLEAN and purge the parts you get from the junk yard 100% with the right chemicals. if your interested in taking this project on, take it from me, i used to do HVAC for 3 years and now i do it on the side. You can go elcheep'o now and just slam part on it, vac it down and dump some bs can from autozone in it but you will have just destroyed your system in less than 1 years time of use.
AC is only done one way, the right way. any other way is wrong.

Technically you need to hook up a recovery tank and pump to whatever parts you are taking off, its a federal law that you broke but you will be ok, we wont tell!

Wow, I did not know it was so involved, i’m Trying to fill the radiator right now and I only got 5.8 liters and am trying to bleed off air. Can I Drive the car without the ac properly serviced? Maybe I should consider a pro on this one.

Oh nooz i use non vw coolant. Yet my heater still works great. You guys keep spreading lies. i've even mixed vw with non vw. Still heat, go figure. For the last 200k miles.

I put dexCool in

narongc73 said:

Oh nooz i use non vw coolant. Yet my heater still works great. You guys keep spreading lies. i've even mixed vw with non vw. Still heat, go figure. For the last 200k miles.

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If you had to go buy coolant, just buy the correct type in the first place. Pentosin brand is easily available from the local parts counter. I have to assume you buy alternatives because you believe you are saving money somehow.

Where is the savings when you have to top up every 100K miles when the timing belt is done? A $15 bottle divided over 100k miles is so negligible versus using some other brand. You can't even divide out the cost savings of using non G12 compatible coolant because the savings are so small.

For those that want to stay out of the risk of mixing kinds of coolant it's just not worth any effort to try something different.

Once you introduce air into your ac system you need to do a few things to make sure your goo to reuse it. its not a difficult job, just a lot of steps. 4/10 difficulty if you have the tools.

I can walk you though a ste by step if your interested.

You can drive it no issue. i would cap off any connections so road salt and water cant get into the opend system. if your condenser is fubar, i highly suggest that you take off the connections to it and put a 6mm plastic or rubber balloons over the hoses with zipties for now. this will keep the system a bit cleaner. Unplug the compressor but you dont have to as it cant fire unless there is enough PIS on the sensor.

Thanks for all the responses, as it turns out, the ac condenser is the least of my problems. I have a power steering issue and a transmission problem. I have been told over and over that my car is totaled but i just can't give up. I think if i can fix the steering issue, i can probably drive it because the transmission issue seems minor (rattling at low rpms in 1st and 2nd but at higher rpms and higher gears it runs just fine). I need to replace the out-going line from the power steering pump and i can't figure out how to disconnect it. I got a quote for $500 just to replace the tube and they said it was 1.5 hrs labor. I'll go to the junkyard to see what is involved and if i can get the line out. I wish there was an easy alternative because if i could stop the leak or at least limit the leak, the car is fine for a commuter car.

automatic trans right? thats your torque converter eating ist self. had this issue myself. trans is 100% going to die very soon and needs to be rebuilt or replaced. PS line is just a compression fitting that should come off easily with a crows foot wrench

useing anything else will probably strip it.

Got picture of the car?

you could try using some steel weld in a stick. JB weld makes a putty stick that you nead together quickly and put on whatever you want, it will weld to just about anything. i fixed a high side on a refrigerator line, thats about 240PSI for you folks. I have never used it to patch a high side of a hydrolic line but its cheep and worth a shot. make sure you CLEAN the crap out of it, no oil can be present AT ALL so if its always weeping, its going to be hard to fix. otherwise it might work

This is a 5 speed 2002 Jetta. Yes, the leak is always weeping. I like the suggestion for pulling it with a Crows foot wrench (I am not familiar with this) but I think I can see the connection underneath the car. I would rather replace the part than weld it, but that would be my last resort.

I tried pasting my picture but it posts as a string of fonts, sorry.

I think i am going to try to patch it like Mongler98 suggested. I'll clean it as best i can first. It's worth a try! Thanks

UPDATE: I patched the leak with JB Weld, in about an hour, I'll see if it worked!

Also, the TRANSMISSION PROBLEM that I was told was my rattling problem turned out to be a line that was bent in my accident that was hitting my timing belt! Luckily I caught it and remedied the problem, now there is no rattling and no transmission problem. If I can fix this power steering issue, I'm golden!

not jb weld, weld stuck. its made by jb weld. its a putty.
REPLACE that belt NOW. you dont want to chance it. rotate the crank until everything is TDC marked, get some clamps and clamp the belt as you take it off and put on a new one. you can do this in 45 minutes as long as the belt never slipped. you dont want to drive this engine with a risky timing belt that is going to cost you $45~

The JB Weld putty worked! Nice call Mongler98, you da man! The TB was barely touched, it mainly hit the metal edge surrounding the TB but I get your concern. I'm at about 65K miles on this TB, but i will consider it. I didn't think that belt change was as easy as you describe but I'll look into it for the near future. Again, thanks on the putty weld suggestion, now lets see how long it holds.

if it did not scrape it up and just kind rubbed a bit on the shield, i would definatly inspect the belt, if you see any ting other than a healthy belt, change it, otherwise your probably fine.

Are you sure it was the timing belt rubbing and not the alternator/serpentine belt?

Just asking because the timing belt should run under covers (you can't see it when it running with covers in place). Anything that would have rubbed on the timing belt would have had to break or remove the covers to get to the belt.

Yes you are right, it is the serpentine belt, not the timing belt!

great!

jonnywater said:

Yes you are right, it is the serpentine belt, not the timing belt!

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Yeah, that is great. Serpentine belt is way better/easier/cheaper.