Where is AC orifice tube?
 

I know there are placed under a fitting somewhere. Anyone able to point me to where on a97 so I dont break a bunch of fittings apart inviting leaks?

dont have any, you have an expansion valve, its here

Based on how an AC system works the Orifice tube is located at the spot where High pressure becomes Low press. (that is what orifice does) for that to work right it must be in the high side line going into the evaporator.

Edit; Ha guess I should checked to see if they have one :). Well in any system that has one that is where it would be. Same with the expansion valve High side entering the evap.

OK, I need to replace the comp. and I figured if the system was empty I may was well check that screen to OT has on it. Is there a screen anywhere otherwise? (at the EV?)

you don't just replace the compressor.

you should also replace the dryer and orifice/expansion.

Also, verify if the replacement compressor (never ever ever ever get a used one) has pag oil in it or if you need to add it


did I mention about the use of a used ac compressor?

I am curious as to why never use used comperessors? I ask cause I have installed dozens of them and never had an issue. I had a few I had to replace the front seals in after 3 or 4 months, the used one in my 96 I have put 50,000 mile on over the last 2.5 years and it works great.

did you stroll in the boneyard and just take one or........................

have you seen the prices of remans? With a warranty, why bother risk boneyard parts for AC, $160 for compressor and new dryer.

$20 bucks at the local up pull and I only pull them from cars that are still charged. On my own cars I only replace the Dryers when the system has been empty for a period of time. I leave the system under vacuum for about 4 hours, At that point you are sucking the mositure out of the existing dryer. This would Never be worth while in a shop, 4 hours of bay time cost way more then a dryer but I can mow the lawn while vacuum pump works. At this point I have 3 used compressors sitting on my shelf. I should be good for a couple hundred thousand miles ;)

pay attention to what you just said. You have the tools and knowledge. An avg person will just remove any AC compressor. And who uses a shop? If I used a shop instead of going underneath the cars where in the heck am I supposed to take my naps?

Torque is right, I have been working on AC system for almost 20 years. Dryers are not designed to be dried like I do, there is a risk that the dryer will burst. Let say it’s a 1 in 100 times. For me not a big deal it will take about 2-3 hours of work to get everything cleaned out, maybe a little long cause the Camaro lines are a pain in the &*#. You take that to an AC house and they will nail to the wall for the repair.

Standard maintenance procedure is to replace the dryer with the compressor or any time the system has been opened to air for any amount of time. Its in every AC book that way. There is no way to get 100% of the moisture out of the system and if the dryer cannot absorb all the moisture left in the system it will not work well at best and it will freeze up are the orifice tube and fail completely at worst. I can tell pretty quick if the system has moisture in it and can fix it.

Off the record a GM engineer told me a new dryer can handle about 4 times of the system being opened for a few minutes and vacuumed down for an hour. That is base on the size of the Silica in the dryer. They do this so at the factory so if a line leaks they do not have to replace the dryer. Anytime you open any AC line you plug it as fast as possible. On a hot day the dryer can fill up with moisture and become useless in a half an hour if exposed to normal air.

There is GM procedure for adding oil to a compressor. It is different used to new. I suggest looking it up for your model & year compressors. Since the numbers vary base on model and in some cases year you need to look it up for your car. If you get the compressor that is the same model but different year, then you need to check that year/model. If someone handed me a used compressor that had no oil in it and no idea what it came off I would use it for parts or toss it in the scrape bin.

Sorry for the long post I wanted to undo any Damage I may have done.

Edit: LOL I am getting old, I said almost 20 years,, more like over 25.

Gorn left out a very important portion

this is what i now roll on

Oversized Low-Profile Creeper

It's way more comfortable than the old one I had and the contour stops me from snoring.

I now replace the dryer every time i do a compressor. I just did one last summer on an Accord
and the 4th gen is now starting to make noise so it looks like I'll be doing that soon.

shop Ebay for remans, they are quite resonable to buy the kit with a reman'd compressor and new dryer. Since you are there, it's a good time to replace the serpentine belt.

Getting back on topic. Does the 2000 have an orifice tube? Or are all the parts sites I am checking just calling an expansion valve and OT to make it easier?