A/C Compressor - buy new, used or remanufactured?

[TellarHK]

So, our new Z has a few issues as I'm sure a number of people here are aware. One of them, however, is arguably more pressing than others during the summertime in northern Nevada; a lack of functioning A/C sure makes the car less pleasant many afternoons.

I'll be starting a build thread pretty shortly, but in the meantime I'd like to ask people's opinion of what path to take. When we purchased the car, the A/C was disconnected with no belt in place. The father of the prior owner (not the one that effed it up, for the record) is a mechanic who did most of the maintenance himself, but he simply pulled the A/C belt when it didn't seem to be working when his daughter got the car. We have no idea whether this car was converted to R134 and have no way of knowing how to look. Therefore...

Do we:

A: Go to a local mechanic and throw money at them willy-nilly screaming "Fix it, fix it, fix it!" expecting them to materialize brand new parts out of thin air, then eat ramen for a couple months.

B: Purchase new parts ourselves and throw money at mechanics saying "Install it, install it, install it!" expecting them to find anything we missed and go from there and then spend a month living on the Wendy's dollar menu.

C: Purchase remanufactured parts from NAPA and throw money at mechanics bellowing "INSTALL IT DAMMIT!" until we're tossed on our asses hoping we might save enough to eat a pizza again someday.

D: Purchase used parts ourselves and invoke the same overwrought imagery of money-tossing, and occasionally hit Subway for lunch instead of sushi.

[REDWINTERZ]

Buy a remanufactured part (try NAPA) and install it yourself. Get yourself an edu-ma-cation about your Z and save money.

DIY FTW.

[Cyman]

I agree with redwinter. these cars tend to have a lot of dinky things that need maintenance/repair, and if you take it into a mechanic for every single one of them, you'll end up spending way too much.

there is always a limit to what you can do yourself, but the community is helpful for the things that you can't.

gl hf

[TellarHK]

Unfortunately, we just don't have the tools and time to do this particular job ourselves yet. Future major work on the Z will be stuff we do ourselves whenever possible, but the heat's just too tough for us to deal with for something like this as a first serious mechanical undertaking. It's been rough enough that we're considering picking up a swamp cooler to mount to one of the garage windows just to make things tolerable because we've spent the last four days bordering on heatstroke and pounding down gatorades.

[evildky]

a decent mechanic will offer you the option of reman vs new, maybe even used

[REDWINTERZ]

Unfortunately, we just don't have the tools and time to do this particular job ourselves yet. Future major work on the Z will be stuff we do ourselves whenever possible, but the heat's just too tough for us to deal with for something like this as a first serious mechanical undertaking. It's been rough enough that we're considering picking up a swamp cooler to mount to one of the garage windows just to make things tolerable because we've spent the last four days bordering on heatstroke and pounding down gatorades.

Bummer... Just a heads-up now, I keep a total running cost of repairs to my car in what they really cost me, and what they would cost if I took it to Nissan (just for fun).

Current cost to me: 543.89

Cost if I took it to Nissan ~3900.00 (don't know the exact cost, they would only give me "estimates" over the phone)

Unless you're very wealthy, this is not a car you can own and not repair it yourself. ASAP, I would invest in a floor jack and good quality jack stands, and do EVERYTHING possible yourself. My first repair on my Z was an alternator replacement, and it was 104*F. Still glad I did it myself Maybe grab a cheap collapsable tent to put over your Z for repairs? I just got one and it works great!

Good luck man (guys)! And remember, we're here to help

[TellarHK]

Unfortunately, we don't have any experience with this level of major mechanical work. This is the first car either of us has ever done more than changed a belt on, but we're willing to give it a shot. So far, we haven't found any good information on what exactly needs doing in order to repair or replace an A/C unit in one of these. Without a Haynes or Chilton manual, and the FSM giving us little to go on without Consult, we're kind of wary on this particular component.

But, we've got Consult cables on the way. One for the Z and another for my Q, and we'll see just how things look if we can at least get the belt back on the A/C and fire it up with some diagnostics, if there's anything that will help there. Maybe we can do something, but we're pretty much banking on paying to get this one item fixed professionally. Most of the rest though, will be on us.

[REDWINTERZ]

As far as R134, I believe they all are, stock. Mine is. And what needs to be done? I would just do direct R/R.

This Z is my first car, so I know how you feel about jumping into repairs. It broke down two weeks after I bought it right in front of my high school (talk about embarrassing lol)

Next week when I get back from vacation, I can get pictures of the A/C system installed for you if you wish. In fact, I have an engine sitting on a stand with the A/C system still on it. I can get you pictures of any angle you need. Hell, I'll get under the hood of my Z and get some pictures of it actually in the engine bay if you need it.




Those are the only two I have right now, but like I said, I'll be home next Friday. If you don't feel comfortable, then it's better to have a professional do it. I don't mean to be a hard@$$ about DIY. Just know that if you want to do it, there are people here who can help. Just look at my rebuild thread! Haha... Anyway, just let me know!

Here is the best deal I could find:

http://www.everdrive.com/partdetails.as ... n=shopping

And these are some pages I would bookmark, for future reference:

http://www.z32photoguide.com/
http://twinturbo.info/

Again, good luck

[fabbio25]

I actually just picked up a used compressor on ebay for $125.00 shipped. My cousin is gonna install for me.

[Nismo686]

New is optimal but reman is just as good in my professional opinion. I would never install a used part on a customers car as I would never put a used part on my own vehicles. Obviously you can get away with used parts for some things but for the cost of paying someone to install a used part, The risk of that part failing or not functioning at all is not worth the risk.

[REDWINTERZ]

^^^ This.

When you buy a "used" part, you may only pay half-price but it also may already half-way to the junk-yard. Why would you pull a dead used part, to replace it with a almost dead used part? LOL Remanufactured parts are usually rebuilt to new spec, and a much better bang for your buck.

[TellarHK]

Okay, we were pretty much leaning toward the remanufactured option, and are pretty much certain that's the way we'll be going. Unfortunately, getting one might be tough. I'm taking the Z into a local tire/mechanic chain (Tires Plus) tomorrow afternoon and we'll see how things look then. I'm going to get them to do an estimate on fixing up the A/C one way or another, and if they quote me prices with new parts I'll ask about bringing in my own reman'd.

Looks like we're definitely going to be switching from R12 to R134, considering the prices involved.

[Initial_Z]

Thanks God the Z comes with Targa roof ...

[Onyxblue]

Do you have any presssure in the line? Any leaks?
Try to use the FSM to troubleshoot the A/C - maybe your compressor is good.
My A/C didn't work too - I used the troubleshooter in the FSM and I found out the compressor is fine, low pressure valve is fine. Now I have to find the A/C control amplifier

[tg]

Where is the option to delete all the A/C system and save weight???

failing that, it is cheaper to buy a refurbished one from the local place that actually refurbishes them, and then bring them your old one for a refund after, shouldn't be too expensive.

[TellarHK]

I'm sitting at a table in a local tires plus shop, checking on it now. There was nothing at all in the system, from all indications. They should have info on diagnosing it for me sometime soon. I'm definitely at the point where I'm glad I have an iPad to keep myself entertained, and a modded droid phone to get online with in the downtime I have waiting.

Our plan is to get the system fixed with remanufactured parts and converted to an r134a refrigerant.

But first i have to endure the rantings of a woman yelling at her bank and some stupid stuff on tv telling me all about Lindsay Lohan being a drunken moron, to put it lightly. Whee.

And if I could find any kind of good mechanic or part refurbishment shop, I'd get there in a hurry.