q45 compressor drain

[qship96]

ok,dumb question-fsm says to drain oil out of compressor via drain plug on bottom of unit-there are at least 2 bolts on underside of compressor-which one is the drain plug? FSM unfortunatly doesnt indicate which bolt is the drain.Would hate to remove a bolt that shouldnt be touched.

[maxnix]

Under direct vacuum, oil should be drawn out of compressor.

[qship96]

Brian,according to fsm when replacing compressor they say to remove drain plug from old comp and measure oil,and to install exact amount of new oil to new comp as the amount drained from old.There are 2 plugs{bolts} on bottom of compressor,wondering which one is the correct one to remove?

[elwesso]

the only oil that gets sucked out of the system under vaccum is the oil that is suspended in the refrigerant itself. If all you do is vacuum the system, you have still a bunch of oil in the system....... Why there is a flow chart in the FSM that tells you approx. how much oil each component holds...

Sorry I cant help you anymore qship, ive never done compressor oil before.

[DrewQ45]

Under direct vacuum, oil should be drawn out of compressor.

Oil is not vacuumed from a compressor, else you wouldn't be able to add oil to a compressor prior to vacuum. There's a reason for a drain plug.

I replaced mine with a used compressor. I laid it on the side and let it drain for an entire day. The drain plug is pretty obvious, looks basically like the transmission/oil drain plug with low head clearance on the nut.

To be honest, I don't think you can drain it properly without removing it. I'll have to look but I don't remember the drain plug sitting at the bottom when installed.

[qship96]

old compressor is being replaced by new compressor- both have 2 bolts on bottom,of which 1 is the drain plug-need to know which one that is,thats all.

[Q451990]

Honestly this is the first time I ever heard of a drain plug on an a/c compressor. FSM says it's only on the V-5, and V-6 versions of the compressor, so I guess it's something added later.

If you're tossing the old one, I don't see a downside of pulling both and seeing which one ooozes oil. I doubt that the compressor separates the oil from the refrigerant, so if you remove the plug while everything is still charged you'll probablyu have a pressurized blast of oily mess on your hands... Just a guess on my part.

Heath

[qship96]

anyone ?