How to remove the B-car LT1 AC compressor in about an hour

1. Put the front end of the car on ramps. I did the whole operation like this and it was probably even easier than if I had had it on the lift.

1b - DISCONNECT THE BATTERY. Safety.

2. Remove the serpentine belt and tensioner (10mm bolts).

3. If you have the mechanical fan package, remove the upper shroud and the fan belt tensioner. You may have to remove more of this to get the compressor out (it needs to come out the front and then out through the top).

4. Remove the 14mm nut on the back of the AC compressor hose assembly. Regular socket and flex adapter helps here.

5. The place where people spend hours on this is that metal bracket on the back with a 15mm stud on the block and two 10mm bolts going into the compressor. Ignore the 10mm bolts. Get the stud out. You NEED a 15mm deepwell (non-impact so it's thinwall), then a 3-piece wobble extension set from Harbor Freight or equivalent. Do not bother any other method of this procedure without these specific tools. Trust me I tried. Put the shortest extension on the socket, then the next longest, then the next longest, then your ratchet. Thread it up through the steering linkage and in between the bracket and the frame rail, then use a long narrow screwdriver to help guide the socket onto the bolt. Then the bolt comes right out. If you have a '96 car, just get it loose, as the '96 bracket is an open slot rather than a hole. I talk about how to upgrade this on the '94-95 cars below.

6. Remove the electrical connector from the AC clutch.

7. Take the front three bolts off the compressor. I think they are 1/2".

8. Wiggle it to the side to get the bracket off the stud, then pull it right out.

9. I did NOT have to drain the coolant or do anything else besides remove the belt tensioner in order to gain clearance, although I did have to move the lower coolant hose aside a bit to wiggle the compressor out.

10. IMPORTANT - For '94-95 cars, once the compressor is off the car, take that bracket and open up the stud hole into a slot so you can just slide it right in on the way back in. GM made this change on the '96 cars and it made reinstalling the compressor a breeze.

11. Swap the bracket and the shield (all have 10mm bolts) on the back of the compressor to the new one.

12. Put the stud back into the engine block before you reinstall the compressor, then all you have to do is tighten it down once the front three bolts on the compressor are tight.

The compressor oil situation is a whole different story which I will save for later (once I get the system vacuumed and filled).

#2 needs to state DISCONNECT THE BATTERY. I didn't, the socket slipped, and I had to replace a battery, starter, and both battery cables.

So amended. Heard a similar story in high school about a girl who laid a wrench on teh battery, and it slid over and hit the two top posts. It instantly welded itself to the posts, the battery caught on fire shortly after, and it was a very expensive repair.

i pull the motor mount bolt and jack the motor,.
gives you all kinds of room,.

WFM
YRMV
NWEOI
DAOR
PDCC

Nick

It's really easy to put the hose bolt back in with an air ratchet.

The original compressor had a stud/nut on the hose whereas the new one had a bolt. The stud would have been a lot easier to locate the hose on!

Oil: The short answer is that the "Tough One" AC compressor came loaded with 6.8 oz of oil, basically meaning it was hydrolocked. The old compressor was empty - I got three drops out of it despite spinning it quite a bit. The old dryer had maybe 2/3 fl oz of oil in it. The compressor hoses had some oil in them as well, so I just put the compressor in as it was, put the new hoses and dryer on, sucked it down and called it a night. I slowly turned the compressor by hand and pumped all the oil out into the high side and it should find its way around the system all right.