FJ62 A/C overhaul with Denso 10P15C compressor rebuild (1 Viewer)

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Spook50

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I figured I would do a writeup of my overhaul of my 62's A/C for those who are able and willing to do their own. I'm not converting to R-134A since I have R12 still available and will be charging with that when I have it all back together. What I'm doing is replacing my evaporator, pressure switch, expansion valve, dryer, replacing all O-rings in the system and rebuilding my compressor.

Late last summer my A/C stopped working. The light in the button stayed on but there was no cool air at all coming from my vents. A quick check with the thermocouple on my multimeter confirmed that air wasn't being cooled whatsoever. Had I known more about the system at the time I would've first checked the pressure switch for continuity to see if there was still enough charge to close the circuit. As it was I just looked at the sight glass in the dryer and saw bubbles while it was running, which according to the FSM means not enough charge on the system. This was confirmed when I opened up the system to start this overhaul. I heard faint his for just a few seconds that confirmed that there was very little freon still in my system. Though it did indicate that there was still positive pressure, which was good in that no contaminates had any way of getting in. I would've made fixing it a winter project but I had just separated from my wife in September and she was always a control freak with our money. Now that I'm divorcing her, I have a little more freedom with MY money so I'm finally tackling it. AFTER several 100+ degree heat waves in the inland Northwest.

A list of what I ordered as far as supplies (these came from Coolstream so I'll post their item numbers too)
  • Seal kit for the whole system MT2582 $6.25
  • Compressor body seal kit MT2133 $9.90
  • Compressor Shaft seal kit MT2039 $9.99
  • Shaft seal Protector tool MT4024 $11.36
  • Clutch Pulley Bearing 23-30101 $21.14
  • 8oz. Mineral oil bottle
The mineral oil is specially formulated for R-12 air conditioning systems. This is not the same mineral oil you get at the drug store. Also remember that this is for those sticking with R-12 as their freon. If you're converting to R-134A you'll use a different oil. I don't think it's necessary to completely remove every trace of the mineral oil from the compressor if you're converting, but you'll obviously want to get as much out as you're able.

The FSM says the clutch and pulley assembly takes two bearings (and even refers to them in the plural), but this is inaccurate. There is only one bearing, which presses into the pulley piece.

The first thing I did was remove the compressor. This was somewhat straightforward, but took some working. I had to remove all three belts, the battery and tray, and the dryer in order to jockey it out of the truck. Took an hour or so of work because of trying to reach the A/C and power steering belt tensioners. My compressor is a Denso 10P15C, and should be the model used for all 60/62 and I believe most 80 series Cruisers. Other vehicles use this also, along with other Denso 10P and 10PA series compressors.

The compressor out and covered in nastiness:
01-Dirty-Compressor.jpg


I plugged refrigerant holes with a glove and cleaned the compressor as best I could with a brass toothbrush and two cans of carb cleaner. This is a fairly sensitive part so it's important to make sure any contaminants are cleaned off before you crack it open. And make sure you have pretty much a sterile work surface.

Cleaned up and ready for breakdown:
02-Clean-Compressor.jpg


There's a nut at the end of the shaft. You'll need to remove it. I used a strap wrench to hold the clutch still while I broke the torque on the nut. Once that was done I was able to remove the nut and lock washer easily by hand.

Next, you'd normally need a SST to remove the clutch, but there is a trick that works as long as you're careful. It's a tight fit over the shaft so you can't just pull it off by hand. Luckily it's not super tight so my trick works (for mine anyway). I took the handle of my 3/8" drive ratchet and placed it against the front edge of the pulley. Next I took a flathead screwdriver and stuck it inside of the clutch a little ways next to one of the rivets. Gently pry up until you feel the clutch shift up a bit. Now switch to the other side and do the same thing. It doesn't take long and you'll be able to work the clutch off. Towards the end you'll have to do a little bit of prying against the friction surface of the clutch, but a piece of hard plastic would be best for this. If you're careful you can get it off with the screwdriver without marring the friction surface. I, luckily, was able to.

Prying with the screwdriver:
03-Removing-Clutch.jpg



The lower gap you see here is the space between the clutch and pressure plate expanding as I raise the clutch up. The upper gap is where you initially want to pry (again, gently) with the screwdriver.
04---Clutch-Raised.jpg


Once the clutch is off you'll want to remove the small shims that it rides on top of. Save these. They're used to set the gap between the clutch and pressure plate when you get it all back together. Now you can remove the snap ring holding the pulley in place. Next step is removing the key. Mine was a little stuck (moreso than I could get at with needle nose pliers), so I took a small flathead screwdriver and gently tapped it down between the key and the shaft. The key popped right out.


Removing the key. I had already gotten the stator (coil) off and cleaned it but I set it back in place for the sake of the pictures:
05-Removing-Key.jpg
 
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Once the pulley and key are taken care of, you can remove the large snap ring from the bottom of the "nose" of the compressor. This is what holds the stator in place. The stator then lifts off.


That's the removal process for the clutch/pulley/stator assembly. You'll want to give it all a thorough cleaning and inspect the clutch and pressure plate friction surfaces for damage. Also pay close attention to the big rubber ring on the front of the clutch. That serves as a shock absorber for when the compressor gets engaged. If this appears damaged you'll need to order a new part.


Everything removed and the compressor ready for teardown:
06-Compressor-Ready.jpg



That's all for tonight. Tomorrow after I see my kids I'll work on rebuilding the compressor and document that as I go.
 
THANK YOU, DUDE! this is a great subject, and I'm needing to tackle mine...
 
Great write up!! Very helpful as I'm trying to swap my compressor from 24volts to 12volts and have had a tough time getting the correct parts. From looking at your clutch I assume its the late 87 to 88 truck you have.
Hope it all works out. This winter I will
Revisit your post as I want to rebuild my spare 10pa15c.
 
Before getting into the compressor itself, I'll cover replacing the bearing in the pressure plate. For the most part it's straightforward with just a couple minor points to keep in mind.

When you get the pressure plate off of the compressor and flip it over you'll see a snap ring holding the bearing in place. Just pull this out with a pair of needle nose pliers.
07-Bearing-Retainer-Ring.jpg



From here you can either press the bearing out from the other side (or use a big socket and pound it out, which is what I did). When it comes out you'll notice there's a ridged ring that comes out with it. I honestly have no clue what purpose this ring serves, but I made sure to put it back in place before putting the new bearing in.

The ring:
08-Bearing-Cap-Ring.jpg


The pressure plate cleaned up with the ring in place and the bearing installed:
10-Bearing-Installed.jpg


I'll work on getting my pictures organized and try to get the write up for the compressor rebuild itself done today.
 
Okay, to begin with teardown of the compressor, first look inside the nose cone. You'll see a flat retainer spring holding a piece of absorbent felt in place. Clean all the dirt out of the nose cone and carefully remove the retainer and the felt. The felt is used to absorb any oil that might leak past the shaft seal and shaft seal plate. I cleaned any loose grit and dirt off of it with a soft toothbrush and blotted it dry with a paper towel.

The felt wick sticking out of the nose cone. When installed it'll sit at the bottom.
11-Wick-Removal.jpg



Now we're ready to drain any remaining oil in the compressor. Hold it upside down (servicing valve assembly on the bottom) over a bucket and shake it for a few seconds to get anything out. It just saves making more of an oily mess on your work surface. Now back at the bench, remove the servicing valve assembly. You'll need a 6mm allen head socket to remove these screws. These ones don't have washers.

Service valve assembly removed:
12-Service-Port-Removal.jpg



Once the service valve assembly is removed you can go ahead and discard the old O-rings and clean the sealing surfaces thoroughly with a lint free shop rag. Now set the compressor upright on its back. Go ahead and remove the body screws and discard the brass washers (the screws are also 6mm allen heads). Having a strap wrench was very helpful in doing this since they're torqued at the factory to 19 ft-lbs and have sat like that for ~30 years. Once the screws are out the front and rear covers can easily fall off so carefully set the compressor right-side up again. Now you can remove the front cover and set it aside. Go ahead and remove the old O-ring and clean the sealing surfaces on the front cover and the compressor body. There will be two removable indexing pins either in the cover or still in the body of the compressor. If they're still in the compressor you can remove them by hand and put them in their holes in the front cover. Things will be slippery because of residual oil still in the compressor, so be careful to not drop anything onto a dirty surface. Now carefully remove the valve plates. There will be a black one and then a thicker steel one with two thin flexible pieces stuck to it (the oil keeps them from falling apart, which is handy). Now stack them on the front cover so that they're sitting as they would when installed. This will make reassembly much easier.

Front cover removed and plates stacked on it:
13-Front-Cover-Removed.jpg



Now again set the compressor on end, on its rear cover. Hold it stationary by holding the shaft in place and gently tap upwards on the mounting bosses of the front body half with a small hammer. I have a 12oz. plastic hammer that worked perfectly. Once the body seal is broken go ahead and remove the front body half by holding the shaft in place with your thumbs and lifting it by the mounting bosses with your fingers.

Removing the front body half (I actually used both hands but one had to take the picture):
14-Body-Half-Removal.jpg



Be careful when lifting the front body half off as there are two washers with a needle bearing sandwiched between them that can stick to the body half and fall off as you're pulling it away from the shaft. Keeping dirt and grit out of the bearing is critical. The washers can be easily cleaned if they get dirty. If they come off but you're lucky enough to have them land on your clean work surface, just give them a quick check and place them back on the shaft. On top of the wobble plate it goes washer, bearing, washer.

Here you can see the washers on top of the wobble plate with the bearing between them:
15-Bearing-&-Washers.jpg



More to come...
 
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Now that the front body half is off, remove the O-ring and, again, clean the sealing surfaces of both body halves. Now thoroughly lubricate a new O-ring with new mineral oil and place it in its channel in the rear body half.

Front body half removed with the washers, bearing and old O-ring in place on the rear body half:
16-Body-Half-Removed.jpg



Now go ahead and place the front body half over the shaft and carefully move it into place by hand. Once it's in contact with the seal, press them together by hand and set the compressor right-side up again.

You can now go ahead and remove the rear cover. As with the front, make sure the two indexing pins are in place in the cover and remove the valve plates and stack them on the cover. Again, discard the O-ring clean the sealing surfaces that contact it. Thoroughly lubricate a new O-ring and set it aside, on a known clean surface. Now grab the shaft and carefully pick up the compressor (making sure the body halves don't separate), holding it by the shaft, nose end down.

Holding the compressor, with the new rear cover O-ring in place:
17-Rear-Cover-Seal.jpg



Now take the two indexing pins from the rear cover and place them in their holes in the rear body half. Set the valve plates in place, and lastly, set the rear cover in place. While holding it in place, flip the compressor onto it's rear end and set it aside. We need to do some work on the front cover before we can reinstall it. However, go ahead and clean the sealing surfaces of both the front cover and the front body half. Lubricate a new O-ring and set it in place on the front body half and set the indexing pins and the valve plates in place.

Now look inside the nose of the front cover. You'll see a snap ring that needs to be removed. Once the snap ring is out, flip the front cover over. You can use a deep well socket to pound out the old seal. I recommend doing this somewhere away from your bench since the carbon seal will shatter and send little bits and pieces of carbon everywhere. I was able to pound it out with a 14mm socket and a couple firm blows with the hammer. Bits of carbon will likely be stuck to the inside of the front cover in the two 1/4" orifices that connect to the nose cone. Blow these out with compressed air and make sure the front cover is all free of carbon bits.

Inside of the nose cone nice and clean:
18-Clean-Nose-Cone.jpg



Back at the bench, open up your shaft seal kit. You'll notice it's a two piece set. The spring loaded carbon seal (the carbon ring on top can fall out if you're not careful, so be mindful of this) and the shaft seal plate that has an O-ring on it. You can remove this O-ring and install the fat green O-ring from your compressor seal kit in its place. Be sure to lubricate the new O-ring.

The new shaft seal set. Also notice that the top of the shaft seal plate has a machined surface. This surface will sit against the carbon seal when everything is installed.
19-Shaft-Seal-Set.jpg



This is how they will sit when they're installed into the nose cone:
20-Shaft-Seal-Stacked.jpg



Before we install the shaft seal set we have to prepare it. It is absolutely critical at this point that you ordered a shaft seal protector. If you haven't, STOP at this point, cover everything so it's protected from dust and order a shaft seal protector. Your compressor WILL leak oil and freon if you attempt to install the front cover back onto the compressor without protecting the new shaft seal.

More to come shortly...
 
Now, to condition the shaft seal for installation, take your shaft seal protector and liberally coat it with mineral oil. Take your shaft seal and coat that liberally as well. Now place your shaft seal over the protector, upside-down and press it down over the length of the protector, pulling the protector all the way through and out of the seal by hand. This prepares the shaft seal for expansion and readies it for sealing against the shaft.

Shaft seal and protector oiled up and ready to push the seal down the protector:
21-Shaft-Seal-on-Protector.jpg



Once that's done, place the shaft seal in the nose cone with the exposed carbon section facing up. Now coat the inner wall of the nose cone with mineral oil, coat the O-ring on the shaft seal plate with mineral oil as well, and work the shaft seal plate into the nose cone by hand, making sure the machined surface is down so it will seat against the carbon seal. At this point you can take a larger deep well socket (make sure it's clean!) and use it to press the shaft seal plate down by hand. When it's all installed you can clean and reinstall the snap ring, making sure it's seated properly. Note: Snap rings have a somewhat beveled side and a perfectly flat side. The beveled side should always face towards you when installing a snap ring. Notice that there's a gap between the shaft seal plate and the snap ring. Don't worry about this, as the shaft seal plate will be pushed up against the snap ring when we reinstall the front cover to the compressor.

Now, we'll take the compressor and place the shaft seal protector over the shaft. The reason the protector is so critical is that it provides a smooth surface for the carbon seal to slide down so that it won't be damaged by splines (the keyway in our case) and steps in the shaft. Any damage to the carbon seal means leaks and a new one will be needed, and you most likely won't know it until everything is back together and you've had your A/C charged.

With the seal protector in place, place your hand over the front body half. This is to prevent the big O-ring from being pinched or damaged in any way if the front cover slips quickly down the shaft. Now take your front cover and slip it over the shaft seal protector and work it down on top of your hand. Now go ahead and move your hand out of the way and gently push the front cover into place by hand. You can now remove the shaft seal protector.

Thoroughly clean and lightly lubricate (with mineral oil) the five body screws. Don't forget to put new brass washers on them. Insert the screws into the compressor and tighten them by hand. Next, use your ratchet and gently snug them up so that the seals will be compressed. Now torque the screws (using a star pattern, like with lug nuts) to 19 ft-lbs (per the FSM).

Now take your felt wick and flat spring and reinstall them into the nose cone. Gently push them down until they bottom out against the shaft seal plate. You'll notice there is a gap left uncovered by the felt wick. That's okay. Make sure though that, as the compressor would sit in the truck, that gap is at the top of the nose cone. Just make sure it's towards the servicing valve assembly.

Next, install new lubricated O-rings onto the servicing valve assembly and reinstall it to the compressor. These screws will need to be lightly lubricated as well, and torqued to 19 ft-lbs.

At this point you can check to make sure the compressor is sealed correctly. Take the nut that holds the clutch in place and thread it onto the shaft. Now take a 12mm wrench or ratchet and, with your thumb over the suction port (the top port of the servicing valve assembly), turn the shaft a couple times. If everything is good you'll feel very obvious suction against your thumb.

Now we can reinstall the clutch assembly. Set the compressor on end again and set the stator in place, securing it with its snap ring (make sure it's seated). Now reinstall the key into the shaft. It should be a tight fit and stay put once you tap it into place. Now the pressure plate can be reinstalled. It's a snug fit, but it can be worked into place by hand. Once it's on, secure it in place with its snap ring.

Here is where we deal with the shims that you saved after you first pulled your clutch off. My compressor had a 1mm and two 0.1mm shims. To account for wear I omitted one of the 0.1mm shims. I would say it's a safe bet to omit one as well for anyone doing a compressor that's been on their truck since manufacture. Make sure the shims are clean and place them on the shaft. Now you can slip the clutch into place. It should easily install over the shaft and key. Once it's on install the lock washer and the nut and torque the nut to 12 ft-lbs.

Now we'll have to check the air gap between the clutch and the pressure plate. This is done using a dial indicator. I bought a digital one from Harbor Freight that measures metric, just to make it easy on myself. It's best if you have a small stand or tripod for it, but I didn't have one so I just used a large woodworking clamp as a stable base to hold it in place. I set up the dial indicator so it would measure front to back movement of the clutch pressure plate. With the compressor sitting on my bench, I placed the dial indicator with the contact against the outer rim (the part "outside" of the rubber ring) of the pressure plate. I used some 10AWG wire to rig up power from a (charged up) spare car battery and connected the positive lead so that I could "switch" the clutch on and off just by touching the ground lead to the screw on top of the compressor. I zeroed the dial indicator and touched the ground lead to the screw. The dial indicator showed 0.3mm of movement. You want 0.6mm minimum to 1mm maximum of pressure plate movement. So I removed the pressure plate and reinstalled the shim that I left out, returning it to what it was when it was fresh from the factory. When I measured again I got 0.6mm, the minimum spec for factory, and using all the factory-installed shims. (Cue Beavis voice) I'll be damned. I measured a couple other locations around the outer rim of the pressure plate and noticed that it doesn't sit perfectly even against the clutch. The largest variation was 0.2mm for me though, which ended up being 0.5mm at the point with the smallest gap and 0.7mm at the point with the largest gap. When I spun the pulley there was no sound of any rubbing, so I called it good. Apologies for no pics for this procedure, as the couple I took came out too blurry. It should be pretty self explanatory though between my description and the instructions in the FSM.
 
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Subscribed.

Good work !

John
 
good write up....I've normally been lazy and bought new compressors with the A/C clutch included...
 
I figured I would do a writeup of my overhaul of my 62's A/C for those who are able and willing to do their own. I'm not converting to R-134A since I have R12 still available and will be charging with that when I have it all back together. What I'm doing is replacing my evaporator, pressure switch, expansion valve, dryer, replacing all O-rings in the system and rebuilding my compressor.

Late last summer my A/C stopped working. The light in the button stayed on but there was no cool air at all coming from my vents. A quick check with the thermocouple on my multimeter confirmed that air wasn't being cooled whatsoever. Had I known more about the system at the time I would've first checked the pressure switch for continuity to see if there was still enough charge to close the circuit. As it was I just looked at the sight glass in the dryer and saw bubbles while it was running, which according to the FSM means not enough charge on the system. This was confirmed when I opened up the system to start this overhaul. I heard faint his for just a few seconds that confirmed that there was very little freon still in my system. Though it did indicate that there was still positive pressure, which was good in that no contaminates had any way of getting in. I would've made fixing it a winter project but I had just separated from my wife in September and she was always a control freak with our money. Now that I'm divorcing her, I have a little more freedom with MY money so I'm finally tackling it. AFTER several 100+ degree heat waves in the inland Northwest.

A list of what I ordered as far as supplies (these came from Coolstream so I'll post their item numbers too)
  • Seal kit for the whole system MT2582 $6.25
  • Compressor body seal kit MT2133 $9.90
  • Compressor Shaft seal kit MT2039 $9.99
  • Shaft seal Protector tool MT4024 $11.36
  • Clutch Pulley Bearing 23-30101 $21.14
  • 8oz. Mineral oil bottle
The mineral oil is specially formulated for R-12 air conditioning systems. This is not the same mineral oil you get at the drug store. Also remember that this is for those sticking with R-12 as their freon. If you're converting to R-134A you'll use a different oil. I don't think it's necessary to completely remove every trace of the mineral oil from the compressor if you're converting, but you'll obviously want to get as much out as you're able.

The FSM says the clutch and pulley assembly takes two bearings (and even refers to them in the plural), but this is inaccurate. There is only one bearing, which presses into the pulley piece.

The first thing I did was remove the compressor. This was somewhat straightforward, but took some working. I had to remove all three belts, the battery and tray, and the dryer in order to jockey it out of the truck. Took an hour or so of work because of trying to reach the A/C and power steering belt tensioners. My compressor is a Denso 10P15C, and should be the model used for all 60/62 and I believe most 80 series Cruisers. Other vehicles use this also, along with other Denso 10P and 10PA series compressors.

The compressor out and covered in nastiness:
View attachment 1120735

I plugged refrigerant holes with a glove and cleaned the compressor as best I could with a brass toothbrush and two cans of carb cleaner. This is a fairly sensitive part so it's important to make sure any contaminants are cleaned off before you crack it open. And make sure you have pretty much a sterile work surface.

Cleaned up and ready for breakdown:
View attachment 1120736

There's a nut at the end of the shaft. You'll need to remove it. I used a strap wrench to hold the clutch still while I broke the torque on the nut. Once that was done I was able to remove the nut and lock washer easily by hand.

Next, you'd normally need a SST to remove the clutch, but there is a trick that works as long as you're careful. It's a tight fit over the shaft so you can't just pull it off by hand. Luckily it's not super tight so my trick works (for mine anyway). I took the handle of my 3/8" drive ratchet and placed it against the front edge of the pulley. Next I took a flathead screwdriver and stuck it inside of the clutch a little ways next to one of the rivets. Gently pry up until you feel the clutch shift up a bit. Now switch to the other side and do the same thing. It doesn't take long and you'll be able to work the clutch off. Towards the end you'll have to do a little bit of prying against the friction surface of the clutch, but a piece of hard plastic would be best for this. If you're careful you can get it off with the screwdriver without marring the friction surface. I, luckily, was able to.

Prying with the screwdriver:
View attachment 1120737


The lower gap you see here is the space between the clutch and pressure plate expanding as I raise the clutch up. The upper gap is where you initially want to pry (again, gently) with the screwdriver.
View attachment 1120738

Once the clutch is off you'll want to remove the small shims that it rides on top of. Save these. They're used to set the gap between the clutch and pressure plate when you get it all back together. Now you can remove the snap ring holding the pulley in place. Next step is removing the key. Mine was a little stuck (moreso than I could get at with needle nose pliers), so I took a small flathead screwdriver and gently tapped it down between the key and the shaft. The key popped right out.


Removing the key. I had already gotten the stator (coil) off and cleaned it but I set it back in place for the sake of the pictures:
View attachment 1120739

Thank you Spook!
I am getting ready to add AC to the 3FE in my FJ-55 Iron Pig. My 3FE is 1988 vintage I believe, but did not come with the AC compressor or bracket. I got the bracket, chased down new hardware and then got a compressor. The compressor did not come with the service valve assembly (manifold for high & low pressure lines), so I have been nervous about the orientation of the lines as to will this fit the 55 engine bay. Your image showing that they point straight out the side on top of the compressor is very helpful! Thank you...
Luckily (I think) for me, I do not have to start by taking compressor out, as it was never "in" to begin with.
I heard good things about Cool Stream back when one of our MUD members worked there, but then I think they let him go. That was too bad to read about. Would you recommend others buy from them? Good service?
I need a new condenser and drier for my system, and then I will make custom lines. About the only thing I am keeping is the evaporator and control unit. If I am converting to R134a, do you recommend a different expansion valve for performance?
 
Thank you Spook!
I am getting ready to add AC to the 3FE in my FJ-55 Iron Pig. My 3FE is 1988 vintage I believe, but did not come with the AC compressor or bracket. I got the bracket, chased down new hardware and then got a compressor. The compressor did not come with the service valve assembly (manifold for high & low pressure lines), so I have been nervous about the orientation of the lines as to will this fit the 55 engine bay. Your image showing that they point straight out the side on top of the compressor is very helpful! Thank you...
Luckily (I think) for me, I do not have to start by taking compressor out, as it was never "in" to begin with.
I heard good things about Cool Stream back when one of our MUD members worked there, but then I think they let him go. That was too bad to read about. Would you recommend others buy from them? Good service?
I need a new condenser and drier for my system, and then I will make custom lines. About the only thing I am keeping is the evaporator and control unit. If I am converting to R134a, do you recommend a different expansion valve for performance?

Expansion valves don't care if you are running R12 or R134a. Make sure you match the proper weight PAG oil to your new compressor with the R134a. Nippondenso uses 46 or 100 depending on compressor type. 10P/10PA = PAG46 and TV = PAG100. Spook is using mineral oil since he is keeping his system R12. Flush all of that old mineral oil from your system before converting to the R134a. If you are doing all the work yourself, you are going to invest in a vacuum pump and gauge set. Be smart and buy a 30lb tank of R134a, along with an accurate digital scale when you are ready to charge. It is pretty much impossible to accurately charge a system using the 12oz cans of refrigerant. Since you are converting, you will only need to charge to about 70% of what was specified for R12. I posted the Toyota FSM for FJ55 AC systems years ago on here. If you want it and can't find it, send me a PM with your email and I'll send it to you.
 
Expansion valves don't care if you are running R12 or R134a. Make sure you match the proper weight PAG oil to your new compressor with the R134a. Nippondenso uses 46 or 100 depending on compressor type. 10P/10PA = PAG46 and TV = PAG100. Spook is using mineral oil since he is keeping his system R12. Flush all of that old mineral oil from your system before converting to the R134a. If you are doing all the work yourself, you are going to invest in a vacuum pump and gauge set. Be smart and buy a 30lb tank of R134a, along with an accurate digital scale when you are ready to charge. It is pretty much impossible to accurately charge a system using the 12oz cans of refrigerant. Since you are converting, you will only need to charge to about 70% of what was specified for R12. I posted the Toyota FSM for FJ55 AC systems years ago on here. If you want it and can't find it, send me a PM with your email and I'll send it to you.
Pretty much it right there. Though I'm curious why you say it's pretty much impossible to get an accurate charge by using the smaller cans. I would have thought as long as you service the system until you reach the proper low side pressure when running, you would be there. Maybe not the case here?
 
Okay got a chance to make some progress on this today. Now that my compressor is rebuilt and ready for reinstallation, I decided to tackle getting the evaporator swapped out and ready for service. I already had the housing out (that was a pain), so I'll cover what I did for the evaporator. Gonna be fairly short and sweet.

Here's what you're looking at when you get the housing removed from your dash. The glove box has to come out for this and even then it's a challenge to get all the fasteners out and jockey the housing out.
22-Evaporator_Housing_Out.jpg



So I went about getting it all apart and extracting the old evaporator.

The workings of the old evaporator. Overall it didn't appear to be in too bad of shape and was only partially clogged with schmutz.
23-Old_Evaporator.jpg



Since my evaporator was almost 30 years old and I somehow did lose nearly all the freon from my system, I decided to replace it with a new Denso unit. I found one online for $100 (free shipping too). I also went ahead and replaced the pressure switch and the expansion valve with new Denso parts. All O-rings were replaced with the green HNBR rings that came in the system O-ring kit I ordered from Coolstream.

New evaporator built and ready for install into the housing. Notice that the high pressure tube which connects to the expansion valve gets reused. Not sure if a new one can be gotten from Toyota, so hopefully yours isn't corroded. I got lucky in that mine wasn't. Also you can see the bulb from the expansion valve held onto the low pressure tube by a snap clip. This gets removed from the old evaporator and reused. The new expansion valve comes with adhesive backed insulation that wraps around the tube and bulb.
27-New_Evaporator_Assembled.jpg



Unfortunately before I could put the housing and everything back together, I ran into a small problem...
 
When I pulled the housing apart to extract the old evaporator, I discovered that at some point either I or someone else had hit or kicked it, leaving a nice cracked area. It could've been a lot worse, but it definitely needed attention.

Boooooo:
24-Cracked_Housing.jpg


So I decided to get crafty. I experimented with some cardboard templates cut from cereal boxes (I know why kids love the taste of Cinnamon Toast Crunch; do you?), and came up with a suitable template to use for a kick plate. I was smart when I got stuff from my house (been living with my sister and brother in law since September) and got my sheet of scrap 14ga sheet steel. So I cut a kick plate out from it and bent it around a broomstick to match the curve on the front bottom of the housing.

My kick plate after cutting, bending and paint:
25-Kick_Plate.jpg


To adhere it to the housing, I used some Weld-On 10, which is a high strength, semi flexible, solvent resistant general purpose epoxy. I smeared some over the cracked area to seal it, and then spread some where the plastic would contact the metal of the kick plate and set it into place by hand. Once the initial bit was cured (about 24 hours), I masked around the edge of the plate where the plastic was recessed and pressed a bunch more into the voids to fill in and help with long term adhesion. All in all it came out pretty good.

The angle of the bend looks kind of poopy in the pic. It's much closer if you see it in person and looks almost factory.
26-Kick_Plate_Installed.jpg




Next up I'll be reinstalling everything in the truck and replacing the rest of the O-rings in the system, and I'll continue the write-up with system evacuation and charging.
 
Pretty much it right there. Though I'm curious why you say it's pretty much impossible to get an accurate charge by using the smaller cans. I would have thought as long as you service the system until you reach the proper low side pressure when running, you would be there. Maybe not the case here?

You shouldn't only rely on your gauge set when filling the system, it is too easy to under or overcharge. This is especially important with R143a conversions, which only need a fraction of the R12 required. You are going to lose some of the gas from each can when you purge after connecting to the hose set. You will also be hard pressed to get all of the gas out of the 12oz. cans unless you really heat them up. Some will be left in the hose set also. So you can see it how it would be very difficult to get an accurate idea of charge being put into the system. R12 systems are more forgiving, so you should be alright using the cans even if you are off by almost a pound. R134a is not as forgiving, and if you price 5 to 7 12oz cans you are probably near what a 30lb tank goes for at the jobber rate.
 
Now we'll have to check the air gap between the clutch and the pressure plate. This is done using a dial indicator, which I'll have to pick up tomorrow. Once I've done that and gotten the gap dialed in I'll detail the procedure for checking and adjusting the gap.

Did I miss the part about setting up the gap btwn clutch and pressure plate?
 

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