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[Nickbat]

Found the answer

For the benefit of anyone who wants to know, the compressor uses PAG 100 oil.

[Marks DTM Calib]

Well actualy it should idealy be PAG150- but 100 will do the job

[Marks DTM Calib]

You dont need to remove the compressor to fit the seals, the pipes attach to it via a plate which sandwiches the seals between it self and the compressor body. Remove the bolt holding the plate, ease it up and fit the new seals. Tighten the plate back down again and jobs a good un.

[Marks DTM Calib]

That site gives a reasonable indication of how reliable the Vx aircon systems are.

Note that vaux are near the bottom of the top sellers list yet have a very large no of units sold.

VAG are near the top yet sell much fewer vehicles......

[Nickbat]

Getting towards the end of my tether now. Receiver/drier arrived, but no compressor seals. Phoned up and they told me that there are many different sizes and that I would need to go to the main agent. Phoned my local agent and they said they didn't know which ones I wanted and anyway they don't have any in stock.

Tried fitting the receiver/drier. Easy to get to union and dismantle, easy to get to the screws holding the unit in place, but bl***y impossible to remove the thing from the car. It's such an unwieldy object and evything seems to be in the way. The Haynes manual says remove the crossmember at the front of the engine. I could only find one crossmember underneath the car, which appeared to have only two bolts holding it. Undid them and got nowhere.. The unit seems to be welded to the rest of the chassis and coinnected to the tie bar etc. etc... In any event which way does the unit come out of the car? Haynes doesn't specify. Seems to me you have to remove the rad.

Put everything back together again, without achieving a thing except filthy hands. Getting bored and dispirited by this wretched car now. Want to see the back end of it, but can't afford to get a decent one.

[Marks DTM Calib]

Lol....it slots into two grommit in the bottom cross member and is bolted to the rad.

You need to pop the rad out first...not to difficult to do.

[nixoro]

I noticed that the condenser that sits behind the radiator on mine has brackets which the rad are attached to couldn't you just remove the two bolts, as the rad is also held in place using the pinch clips.

Might be the same as yours, just a suggestion

Good Luck

[Marks DTM Calib]

The dryer is obscured by the rad.......so rad needs to be removed.

[nixoro]

The dryer is obscured by the rad.......so rad needs to be removed.

Ahhh fair enough.

[Nickbat]

Lol....it slots into two grommit in the bottom cross member and is bolted to the rad.

You need to pop the rad out first...not to difficult to do.

Thanks Mark. Now I'll need to hunt round for auto transmission cooler O rings as I think you need to disconnect the pipes if you take the rad out. O rings and seals are a real pain. No one wants to stock them as there's no profit to be made.

[nixoro]

With any luck you shouldn't have any problems finding the anti freeze for the refit, I guess that has to be one saving grace so to speak.  

Good luck with your search.

[Nickbat]

OK, so after a Bruschetta and an American pizza, I'm feeling more like carrying on this battle. I'll take out the rad and  get the receiver/dryer in. Not sure I'll get it done before the weekend, though. I'm booked to be take the other half and the kids to the seaside for the week...and I have my "day job" (lucky I work from home, eh?

BUT, my real problem is locating these compressor seals. I've scoured the net and no one seems to stock the two seals that fit on my ex-scrappie Delphi compressor. If anyone has any ideas where I can get them, please let me know.

[Marks DTM Calib]

Pretty much any aircon supplier/fitter/garage keep them.

The dealer can also order them for you.

[Nickbat]

Been away with my bucket and spade for a week, and have returned to deal with the continuing saga.

Just before I went, I replaced the receiver/drier. I followed Marks DTM Calib's instructions and, as usual, he was spot on. Removing the rad made the job a doddle....well a time-consuming doddle at any rate.

So that just left me with the damn compressor seals. After I got back, I located an aircon company about 20 miles away that said they could replace the seals and regas for £85. Off I went, full of hope. It took them an age to get the bolt off the top of the compressor. In fact, I was the one who had to undo it as one of the two mechanics disappeared to do some tyres! Anyway, the remaining mechanic crawled under the car and reported that:

1) The old seals were "melted" onto the pipes
2) They couldn't shift the refrigerant pipes up high enough to get new seals in...
and:
3) They didn't actually have the right replacement seals. They think they are special GM seals which are part rubber/part metal. Can anyone confirm?

Fortunately, they didn't charge me, but I wasted about 4 hours of my day and I am back to square one again.

I'm tempted to just forget the aircon but, then again if I don't get it repaired and use it, the system will dry out.

Bloody thing is getting on my t*ts!

      

[Kaycee]

Hi
Just a point have yu tried taking out the switch for the heated window