Gone And Quickly, Very Quickly Forgotten.

[fastbob72]

Well, after threatening to do it for so long I finally got around to the job itself and it could not have been easier. In fact the only difficult, read bloody awkward as opposed to difficult, part was removing the condenser from infront of the radiator itself.

The suprising thing was the main difference felt from behind the wheel. I wasn't expecting any increase in performance or fuel economy as such which I've yet to see from a week of driving but there was one immediate noticeable difference and that was in the steering at low speeds. It felt significantly lighter which isn't hard to explain yet the one area I imagined there would be no effect on whatsoever.

Am going to set this all out with pictures in a step by step guide with expectations, explanations and real world effects and outcomes for anyone interested in such a job.

P.s i'll also add the part no. and price of the new drive belt needed to.

Bob.

[fastbob72]

Have to add the access created by removing all the A/C gear i.e compressor, condensor, piping up to the bulkhead is worth it alone.

Btw, forgot to add I've not removed evaporator from the matrix, that is still in place.I've just removed all the piping and hoses right back until the bulkhead where i cut them and sealed them off.

[Konrad C]

Bob,

Can I assume that there was no gas in the system to be removed, due to previous leak?

You went the whole hog of removing the parts and not just putting a short bypass belt.

The drag must have been high. have you spin the compressor wheel now it's off the car?

Good update and nice to share the difference before and after.

Konrad

[fastbob72]

I don't think I had any gas left in the system when I bought it.This car and my previous 1.8 GS where the only cars I've had with A/C, the GS had no gas as that point was made when I went to buy it but it was simply the fact that there seemed to be absolutely no difference between the heater set to cold with or without the A/C switched on which strongly suggested to me that the A/C wasn't working. There's a little window right at the front below the Battery on the inner wing which seems to be where you can visually check the level of gas but I wasn't sure if that was telling me if I had gas or not so eventually I bit the bullet (not recommend) and undid one of the low pressure pipes to see if any gas vented but nothing came out..so I assumed no gas left

Yeah, there didn't seem to be much point bypassing the belt without removing all. the components because there's a clutch on the compressor wheel that disengages the pulley when the A/C is switched off so in theory if you never use it the decrease in drag would be minimal I'd imagine.Yeah, one of the first things I did was spin the pulley with the compressor removed and with great disappointment found it span freely, I was hoping there'd be a massive amount of drag so the improvement would be that much more significant.

It was always a combination of reduced drag and a weight saving that I hoped this would achieve and there are some real world gains and some more apparent ones.

Lighter steering from standstill/take off and at car parking speeds is a definite change and not unwelcome although once your up to 30+ mph it feels exactly the same.

Overall coolant temperature on open road driving is 3-4°C less on average. Normal temperature at a steady 60mph hass always been 86-88°C but now averages 83-84°C but I put this down to the condensor being removed from where it sat in front of the coolant radiator thus exposing it to much more cold air flow than previously.

There does seem to be an improvement in responsiveness,better throttle response,improved take off from lower revs or part throttle to WO throttle but this could be either wishful thinking OR more significantly down to the fact I put in a brand new set of plugs plus the hose from my PCV valve to the throttle body had been pushed on at both ends, it was always a tight fit but I fitted new jubilee clips both ends and tightened them down fully so it's hard to put any perceived performance improvements particularly at part throttle and low speeds down to the removal of the A/C over the much more likely new plugs and properly sealed PCV system.