Compressor failed spectacularly - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Demothen · #16 07-25-2016, 04:50 PM

The bracket, hose, etc were all correct
As i said earlier, we charged it the previous day, but the day it failed i had just started the car and hadnt gotten out to check manifold pressures, so I dont know the pressure, except that is now at 1atm absolute pressure due to having an O ring halfway out of the system.

97 SL320 · #17 07-25-2016, 05:20 PM

Your post 12 says the can looks like the one in post 10. ( slid forward ) For the can to slide a washer or bracket had to be missing or improperly placed on the side it slid towards.

DeliveryValve · #18 07-25-2016, 05:24 PM

^^ yes another question, was the washer on that nut for the high pressure hose support bolt?

The liquid line is still available new from the dealer. If it is more than $100 to rebuild that hose, you might be able to find it cheaper. Part number 1238301015. Fwiw, I paid $54 for a new Behr hose in 2013.

Demothen · #19 07-25-2016, 05:36 PM

Oh wow, I hadn't looked at the other picture well enough, I saw the O-ring pushed out but not the huge gap in the can - no, the can didn't slide forward, or if it did, not very much - it just forced the O-Ring out.

DeliveryValve · #20 07-25-2016, 05:53 PM

I would bet your compressor did not blow up internally, so your condenser should be fine.

funola · #21 07-25-2016, 06:00 PM

If that look at the pic, the o-ring sits in a pretty deep groove. For that o-ring to blow out, I'd say the casing has to slide back a little, or the casing deformed somehow.

Demothen · #22 07-25-2016, 06:23 PM

Well, looks like this was my fault after all. Apparently I forgot to do a final torque on at least two the compressor bracket bolts, or they loosened on their own. Most likely I forgot to torque them. I am not going to return the compressor now since this was clearly my fault.

And this is why I used touch up paint to mark suspension bolts after torqueing them. Plus it easily indicates if they have backed out for later inspections.

funola · #23 07-25-2016, 08:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Demothen

.........
The guy I was talking to advised me to take the evaporator in to a radiator shop to leak test, in case they are not able to source me a new one. If it is leaking, they said a shop might be able to repair it for me. I know it's a ton of work to pull it, but I was also pretty underwhelmed by the air speeds I was getting out of the vents, so even though I cleaned the coil with foaming cleaner, I might as well pull it to clean at the very least.

Once the evaporator is out, pressurize it with compressed air, place condenser under water to test for leaks. I'd bet that's what the radiator shop would do.

Demothen · #24 07-26-2016, 08:13 AM

Just pulled one of the liquid hose ends in order to have it rebuilt. Even after flushing it i found quite a bit of gunk inside. Guessing this was the black death. Probably from the original compressor. Would this have contributed to my mediocre cooling?

funola · #25 07-26-2016, 08:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Demothen

Just pulled one of the liquid hose ends in order to have it rebuilt. Even after flushing it i found quite a bit of gunk inside. Guessing this was the black death. Probably from the original compressor. Would this have contributed to my mediocre cooling?

You don't like to use pics to show what it looks like do you? Didn't you have other hoses off before when you replaced the TXV and dryer? What did those parts look like as far as signs of black death?

Demothen · #26 07-26-2016, 08:34 AM

I didnt grab pics, and havent figured out a way of scaling them on my phone to upload under the file size limit, so it takes a bit to post them

I didnt stick q tips in the hoses while i was rebuilding it previously, didnt want to risk getting lint in there. I flushed the original system with four large cans of flush split between every hose until it came out clear. Will check other connections tonight and upload pictures.

funola · #27 07-26-2016, 08:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Demothen

I didnt grab pics, and havent figured out a way of scaling them on my phone to upload under the file size limit, so it takes a bit to post them
...........

Upload pics to hosting sites such as Photobucket (what I use), Imageshack etc and post the links. Much easier. All can be done from your phone.

funola · #28 07-26-2016, 09:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Demothen

New evaporator may be out of stock. I just ordered the compressor kit, an upgraded fan, and a set of crimpers for full size hoses. The person who was advising me said that the liquid line to the TXV needs to be reduced hose, and since that die costs about as much as it would to have the hose rebuilt, I'm just going to ship them the hose to rebuild for me - but I'll be replacing all of the suction side hoses, and between my PF condenser kit and the Sanden kit all of the high side hoses will be new. Also have all the ferrules and new ends for the hoses, except the custom bits for the suction lines that I'll have to re-use as they are not available. Will be getting some full sized #12 hose shortly as well.
The guy I was talking to advised me to take the evaporator in to a radiator shop to leak test, in case they are not able to source me a new one. If it is leaking, they said a shop might be able to repair it for me. I know it's a ton of work to pull it, but I was also pretty underwhelmed by the air speeds I was getting out of the vents, so even though I cleaned the coil with foaming cleaner, I might as well pull it to clean at the very least.

I get the feeling that replacement evaporators are difficult to come by. I'd be super careful with the one you have. Rig up a pressure test setup like mine and test it in situ to make sure it is indeed leaking before pulling it to repair it.

Demothen · #29 07-26-2016, 09:31 AM

I prefer to upload pictures here, that way five years from now they wont have been purged from the sharing site, and they might be of use to someone. It's super annoying to find a thread on a forum which might be useful, only to find a bunch of broken images because they were purged due to an inactive account or expiration date.

DeliveryValve · #30 07-26-2016, 09:34 AM

Fyi: I know starting in the 1983 model year, there are two original manufacturers of the evaporator box . Siemens and Behr. The evaporator itself do not interchange between the two brands.
Before you order an evaporator, make sure you check to see which manufacturer you have. I made that mistake, ordered a brand new evaporator for a Behr box and it didn't fit my Siemens box. I ended up getting a whole box out of the wrecking yard and another evap from a forum member. I used wrecking yard one and kept the forum member one as a spare.
Btw- the Siemens evaporator core is about a 1/2 to 1 inch wider that the Behr core.

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