All,

Noticed in the responses to Braubus (sp?) in his thread about the A/C rebuild, that there is mention from Leathermang about not being able to correctly flush the system due to screens in manifold tubing at the compressor.

Is it mandatory that these manifold tubes be replaced each time the system is flushed/recharged?

Have my compressor working again but systems is low on pressure, so it'll be back to a shop for a recharge. Hesitant to return to the same dealer who couldn't identify the root cause of the compressor not working, and wanted to charge me $1.6K to rebuild the system.

Want to be quite specific at the next garage (indy) when it comes to telling them what work I want done. If replacing the manifold pipes is a requirement, I'll be certain to specify.

Also, recommended oil type and quantity?

Thanks as always,
Dave

what car??

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1970 220D, owned 1980-1990
1980 240D, owned 1990-1992
1982 300TD, owned 1992-1993
1986 300SDL, owned 1993-2004
1999 E300, owned 1999-2003
1982 300TD, 213,880mi, owned since Nov 18, 1991- Aug 4, 2010 SOLD
1988 560SL, 100,000mi, owned since 1995
1965 Mustang Fastback Mileage Unknown(My sons)
1983 240D, 176,000mi (My daughers) owned since 2004
2007 Honda Accord EX-L I4 auto, the new daily driver
1985 300D 264,000mi Son's new daily driver.(sold)
2008 Hyundai Tiberon. Daughters new car

My AC manual says that if catastrophic compressor failure occurs that that manifold must be replaced. I think that Larry said that some had screens in the and some did not... so IF you had Black Death.... thus sending trash into the system.... then you need to at least find out ( perhaps a wire or chain dropped into and around the curves... ) to see if there are internal screens... perhaps one could tell by the flow rate or bubbles during flushing it...

Mercedes did not put screens on the older A/C systems. Can't speak for the newer ones. There are aftermarket screens (and even filters) that an A/C tech may have placed with an A/C repair in the past. These are generally easily replaced when refurbing the system.

I use shotgun cleaning pads/wadding attached to a monofiliment fishing line and a split shot to clean hoses/manifolds when flushing a system. You can even shoot the split shot thru the hoses with compressed air when they are disconnected but not totally removed (when I'm a little lazy).

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The Golden Rule

1984 300SD (bought new, sold it in 1988, bought it back 13 yrs. later)

All;

Sorry, I'm usually pretty good about ID'ing the model... In this case, the car is a 1985 California-spec 300TD with 207K on the clock. Still running R-12 for a refrigerant.

Thanks again, and excuse my oversight.

r/
Dave