R4 Compressor Manifold Leak

The R4 Compressor on my daughters 300D is leaking at the two pipe connection manifold on the compressor. It is still a straight O-ring type. There is one of the connections in this manifold that has an alignment tube as part of the manifold. The other side does not have anything in the way of a tube or sleeve to align it. Is this missing? Was there something there, maybe on the compressor side orginally?

When I put the manifold in place, the connection closest to the engine has no means of alignment and slides upward enough that I cannot get it to seal.

Any suggestions appreciated.

Have a great day,

[jcyuhn]

Larry - My 123 car was the same way. One of the pipes extended through the mounting plate, the other did not. Never had any difficulty sealing that particular connection, though I have certainly had my share of o-ring foibles. I can't remember how it is clamped - aren't there two bolts at either end? Or does it just have one in between the two pipes?

For parts & advice, let me recommend a place by the name of McCains. They're in Richardson, on Floyd Circle, behind TI. Both a service business and an over the counter parts operation. It's the kind of place where you could pickup a suction side filter, or have the manifold hoses replaced for fifty bucks. Whenever I've popped in for a small part - a few o-rings or service valve core - they've never bothered to charge me.

jcyuhn,

Thanks for the info. I used to go to McCains when they were next to the Porsche dealer. The last time I was there the parts guy was very customer hostile. Not too long after that they disappeared and I thought that maybe they went broke because of how he treated the customers.

They were a great resource in spite of that Turkey. I will talk to them.

BTW; there is one bolt between the two pipes, it is not such a tight fit that it keeps the manifold straight over the two holes. I have an O-ring kit with the special glanular lubricant. All that is okay, it's just that the manifold will not stay in place to properly seal up.

Thanks again,

[jbaj007]

When installing the R4 on my 300SD 1984 (twice yesterday...don't ask), I found it best to leave the manifold bolt screwed in several turns but far from tight. Then adjust belt tension and final torque the 19mm. mounting bolts . This will bring the manifold into better alignment and you can then snug up the manifold 13mm.? bolt. Use Nylog to help keep the O rings in place. [The flat washer R4's are much harder to do than the O ring models ]

Well, I got it fixed today, although my daughter is grounded and may not be able to enjoy the a/c for awhile.

The bolt had made it at an angle and one of the mount bolts was loose.

I took the manifold loose swung it out of the way, took the bolt to the hardware store and got a tap the same size. I ran the tap in carefully at a right angle, covered everything and blew out the chips with compressed air.

I held the manifold down while starting the bolt carefully. This was while the line retaining bolts were all removed. There is one at the bottom of the compressor that was missing, so another trip to town got the right bolt and nut to put all that in place. Then I put the 10mm retaining bolt in place above the outboard line. I pumped it down and gross leak checked, there was no leak. I charged it and it is working great.

Thanks for your help and replies,