Well, my buddy up the street pulled out the old AC compressor and the old evaporator/thingy-whatever-you-call it. The new orifice didn't want to come out, so he fetched me to come get my ride. The AC works really good for its age.

But when I got home I seemed to remember that a thorough soaking In PB Blaster might loosen a tight fitting. Sure enough, after about 5 dousings with PB Blaster and some industrial strength force, the AC fitting moved.

So my question for the gathered gearheads is should I pull down the AC system once more and fix the orifice tube or let it go? My buddy is a really good guy and will do whichever I want., he just didn't have any more time to try to to loosen the fitting...plus he broke his disconnect tool in the process.

It seem so simple to me to pull the system down, fix the orifice valve (and while it's down blow out the radiator) and proceed to march.

Am I on the right track here?

 

In general when an A/C system is opened for repairs its just wise replacing anything potentially affecting or diminishing its effectiveness. Along with it being fully functional one defective or failing part could cause other components to fail---why risk $500 or more in parts/labor for a $12 part?

I'd change the orifice tube without hesitation. The existing accumulator/dryer, evaporator and condenser can remain if the budget is tight and those components aren't damaged or leaking. The final evacuation before charging should reveal any leaks in the system.

 

The next day off my buddy had he yanked the orifice valve out of the condenser line and replaced it with the new one. There were only about 3 tiny pieces of "glitter" in the orifice, which I took to be a good thing for as long as that compressor had been in service. (This van has about 148K on the odometer,but the a/c hasn't worked for at least 5 years and the van itself is only driven occasionally.)

Now I have a new R134a system with a new compressor, a new condenser, a new accumulator/drier and a new orifice valve. Today the high temperature was about 78 F. Oh well, next year it'll feel good.

It's a good thing that all the electrical controls work exactly as they're supposed to. The last thing I'd want to do is to try to chase down some errant electrical signal.

 

Glad it all went together without too much effort, even more glad its working as designed even this late in the summer.

My current daily driver/work van with just now 210K miles will be getting a new OEM compressor and orifice tube sometime in the next month. That'll be October and here in Ohio that's not much need for A/C but because defrost mode calls for the A/C compressor to be working doing this now isn't fool hardy at all.

Come next summer I'll have the system checked for proper operating pressures just to be sure all is well.

BTW thanks for your update!