2008 High Mileage Chevy Aveo A/C System Renewal

[janice&fredn]

Greetings!

New members here from St. Pete Florida. I'm planning to refurbish the faulty A/C in our part-time grocery getter 2008 Chevy Aveo as it started cooling erratically. The car has 165k miles on her and although we just picked it up last year, it has spent her entire life down here in Fla and for sure the A/c system was used extensively.

We put on approximately 15k miles on it so far and the A/C has worked well until last week when the A/C would start off cold then progressively get warmer. I figure with the high miles the compressor is on its way out or already kaput. I did the usual checking for enough refrigerant charge and monitoring if the clutch was engaged/staying engaged and all is ok in that department. I'm not so interested in diagnosing the exact cause as with the high miles I figured if we want to continue to run this car I better do a compressor, condenser, filter dryer, flush out the lines and evaporator, and replace the orifice tube or whatever is atomizing the refrigerant mounted on the firewall. I am capable of doing the mechanical work needed and plan to do so as paying a shop for this job will exceed the value of the car for sure.

I've been reading various threads on this forum so have a basic idea of what this is going to entail but am open for info and suggestions as well. Most important info I am looking for is where do you seasoned pros suggest I buy the new compressor from as I want a reliable unit and not some el-cheapo that will give out after all the work I will put into this repair. I do have a vacuum pump and set of decent gauges but will also need to buy some good flush as well. I understand the condenser and filter-dryer comes as one unit so that replacement is reasonably straight forward. One last question is can I replace the condenser unit without removing the radiator assy and front bumper from the car, as I watches one youtube video that seemed as if they went too far in the disassembly since the condenser appears to be readily accessible in front of the radiator.

Thanks for any pointers and info y'all can give and for sure I'll post progress and follow-ups on this project here as well.

Best wishes to all!

Fred and Janice

[tbirdtbird]

The system is probably low on refrigerant due to seasonal losses, mostly from the comp shaft.
Having said that, that is a lot of miles for a comp.
Your desire to change up to new components is a smart one. As far as how much of the front end you have to remove you’ll have to look at the construction design, YouTube’s, etc.
The best place to get AC parts is right here on this forum. Tim , the site owner, is very experienced having run a shop for years. He sells decent replacement parts at ackits.com.
Everything these days is import, but he knows where the quality is, and he won’t sell junk.
His prices are highly competitive. The pro consultants here get their parts from him. The orders arrive quickly as he has most stuff drop shipped.
Good luck.

[janice&fredn]

Thanks tbird I'll take your advice and order what I need from ackits.com and get started on this project as soon as I round up one of those canopy tents to use as shade for the repair since my wife has turned our carport into an open greenhouse for her plants. I'm gonna be stuck working on this thing in our driveway

I'll be sure to post updates as the job progresses and I'm gonna be taking my sweet time working on it in this hot and humid weather. Luckily we do have another car with working A/C for the time being.

[JohnHere]

I did the usual checking for enough refrigerant charge and monitoring if the clutch was engaged/staying engaged and all is ok in that department.

Wondering how you checked for the proper refrigerant amount, which can't be "gauged" by pressures.

For reference, the A/C specifications that I have for your car are as follows: 17-19 ounces net weight of R-134a, and 6.8 fluid ounces of PAG-46. If you have an under-hood decal with specs that differ, the decal takes precedence.