996 A/C quote - suspect condenser

Have what i believe is a leaking condenser on my 99 996, Got a quote from my local indy, i don't have a lot of experience with him but he's helped me out in the past. I try to DIY as much as i can, and haven't had the car long enough to have a long term relationship with any shops yet. Got a quote to just replace the condenser (assuming after diagnostic check that the obvious issue is the only issue). I asked about replacing the dryer as i believe i read that it's recommended to just go ahead and get that replaced while the system is evacuated. He said he wouldn't do that, just o rings and condenser and refill. What do you guys think? should I push him to replace the drier? anything else i should have done while the system is evacuated? (I asked him this and he said, naw, just the condenser). A/C blows very cold when charged, however it is also noisy, not sure if that's due to imperfect coolant level, or just 24yr old A/C not being as quiet as i'm used to. Only my second summer with the car.

I recently had to replace my compressor had quotes from two indys. Both were adamant that drier replacement is necessary because it can�t be properly flushed clean. TIFWIW

I'm no AC expert but I always thought that replacing the drier anytime the system has been opened was standard operating procedure. It's only a $20.00 part.

OK going back to my tech days in the early 90's and doing the AC work always felt like an upsell by adding in the dryer and the expansion valve, so IMO these were necessary if there was a compressor failure as it was likely to have contamination in the system from the compressor be it metal particles or whatever, so that would be combined with smidge of oil(technical term). Sounds to me like your indy is quoting a get by repair, knowing full well that you may get a couple years out of it.. and from an ease of repair he's staying out of the engine bay... front bumper off change out the condenser, pull a vacuum recharge and your back on the road in a day.. BTW may as well have him clean between both condensers and radiators as he is already doing one, if you haven't done it yet it will surely need it... whats the downside here? hmmmm , well i suppose the compressor could fail in a month and then you would have to pay him to do that repair, so you would be paying twice for the evac and recharge, but your not loosing the condensor repair in that scenario and it still needs doing regardless. I would be tempted to just do the condenser. but add in cleaning the other radiator/condenser on the opposite side.

Yes, good refrigeration practice is to change the drier/accumulator whenever the system is serviced. Changing or cleaning the orifice/TXV/XV is also good practice. On the other hand, if a known clean system needs a minor repair and is open to atm for a short time, a good vacuum pump capable of at least <1000 microns and left on system for at least a couple/few hours will boil off all the moisture trapped in the driers desiccant making the drier/accumulator like new. Moisture starts to boil off at 5000 microns but as you approach a perfect vacuum, <1000 microns or better yet <100microns, it happens much quicker. Make sure gauges/hoses are tight leak free. System has to be leak free to accomplish this. If I have the time, after shutting down vac pump correctly, like to leave system under vacuum over nite to see if it holds vacuum to prove system is leak free. If you're doing this yourself Rock Auto has a service kit with XV/drier accumulator/ o-rings for $30, and 2 quality csf condensers for $115. Also imo, add some oil to see if your compressor quiets down... Its an easy job for a diy. If you don't want to charge/vac your self, could put all the right parts in and have a shop do the charge vac. Or even a cheapy vac pump/set of gauges from harbor freight or Amazon are good enough for the occasional use of diy guy, and still will probably be lots less cash than paying a shop to do the whole job. jmo

Yeah i think you are right, I was also under the impression as others have stated that if you open the system replace the dryer, and i know the evaporators can fail on these so anything that would help extend the life of the evaporator i think is worth doing. Would not doing the dryer have a potential negative effect on the life of the evaporator or compressor? i was also hoping that since an unknown amount of oil had leaked out changing the dryer would be another known qty of oil to add back in hopefully extending the life of the compressor. (but I'm not a mechanic).

I don't see any signs of leakage on that condenser. Has it been sniffered for leaks? Anyway if there is pressure in the system I would not bother changing the receiver/drier. If there is no pressure I would change the R/D. Also the dessicant on most R134a receiver-driers is non-reversible, any moisture absorbed won't come out with vacuum. I also would not change a properly working TXV. I have never had success with any of the chinese aftermarket TXV's.

Quotes source post: 18930037

Interesting, learn something new all the time. What non reversible desiccant is being used now in driers..? Like we've both said, a lot of what should be done depends on current known condition of system. I've used the Rock Auto XV with no problem so far. But they're a simple expansion valve, not TXV, thermostatic expansion valves. It is the 20 yr old 'carburetor' of the system,so to speak. jmo

I have not taken apart a 996 air conditioning system. That said I am pretty sure they use a TXV and variable displacement suction pressure control in the compressor. I can see the thermal element on the Rock Auto pictures. Virtually all Euro cars since the 80's use this type of system. It avoids the click-click of the compressor cycling with the cheaper CCOT systems and is supposed to be better at maintaining a constant temperature. Newer Euro cars use an electronically controlled variable displacement compressor; some don't even have an A/C clutch.

Five or six years ago the compressor on my 2000 996 went bad. I looked at just replacing the clutch but wasn't sure it that was the problem. The compressor assembly at the dealer was about $1,800.00. Went on RockAuto.com and they had a Denso Compressor that was less than $300.00. When I went to replace it the Denso from RockAuto was the exact same Denso compressor that was on the car from the factory, exact same model number and configuration but was over $1,500.00 cheaper!! I did replace the dryer, expansion valve, O-rings etc. but not the condensers. Worked great and is still working great and I did not pay the Porsche tax. Hell, the cost of the compressor, related parts, a vacuum pump, gauges and everything else I needed was far less than 1/3 of the compressor if purchased from Porsche! .