A/C removal tool - CEG Archives

Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives

I'm getting ready to pull the A/C and I'm wondering what I need for the fancy connectors. Is there some way to get them with pliers or something, or do I need a special tool? If so, how much is it?

your normal fuel rail/ac disconnect tool

Like this?

I've never used one. How do they work?

You can get one that looks like this :

Get the one labeled for Fords ...you can see it has 4 openings for 4 different sizes of connectors. You close the opening onto the pipe and push the flared end into the connector, then pull the connector off.

The one tool will work on the AC connector and the fuel lines.

Should be a couple of bucks, $5 or so.

I've seen them in Autozone, just under $5 I believe.

Originally posted by Auto-X Fil:
Like this?

I've never used one. How do they work?

the connector has a safety clip that needs to be removed, then you snap the correct size tool over the line and press into the connection, then separate the connection. The tool expands the spring that is inside the connection so that it will come apart

Thanks! I'll pick something up today and hopefully be lighter fairly soon.

if your removing the ac to make the car lighter or to gain power its not worth it. the amount of wait you save by removing it is minimal along with the power gains. todays ac systems use very little power. (besides when your at WOT the pcm kills the compressor anyways) the only good reason to remove the ac is if you are FI and the ac system is in the way.

Or it's for his autocross car...

I don't use the AC - ever - and it's significant wieght. It's probably worth around 0.2 sec on an autocross course. It's almost certainly not seat-of-the-pants noticeable, but it's a real gain. 40+ lbs off the front end of a car that's already front heavy is huge.

do you use the defrost. if so then you might consider keeping it. the defrost uses the ac to dry the air.

Originally posted by amarv12:
You can get one that looks like this :

Get the one labeled for Fords ...you can see it has 4 openings for 4 different sizes of connectors. You close the opening onto the pipe and push the flared end into the connector, then pull the connector off.

The one tool will work on the AC connector and the fuel lines.

Should be a couple of bucks, $5 or so.

I have that and it didn't work. I use a hacksaw instead.

Originally posted by Auto-X Fil:
40+ lbs off the front end of a car that's already front heavy is huge.

My condensor, compressor, accumulator, and most of the lines only weighed 24lb.

Hmm, sad story. How much freon is in the system? That has real weight. What about the evaporator, too?

Originally posted by Auto-X Fil:
Hmm, sad story. How much freon is in the system? That has real weight. What about the evaporator, too?

you have at most three pounds of refrigerant (freon is a brand of r-12) in the system. evap cores only weigh a few pounds also.

so more like 30lbs than 40lbs. That's surprising seeing how heavy the A/C is in many other cars. Very cool that Ford did a good job, but sad that I'm not going to lose that much weight.

the metal tool dont work too well, the plastic ones work way better

Originally posted by Russell-3L:
the metal tool dont work too well, the plastic ones work way better

Plastic tool FTW!

The metal one sucks!

Works fine if you know how to use it.

It's slightly harder to grip due to the shape but if you press it up into the connector from both sides it works fine.

Now obviously I had a mechanic remove all refrigerant from the system, because that's the law. But, you always treat a gun as if it's loaded, right? So, assuming the mechanic messed up and didn't quite get all the refrigerant out, how would I proceed to open the system safely, in case there's *some* left in the system?

I may have slipped and released a little bit of refigerant. Somehow the valve on the pass. side of the engine came off. The pressure wasn't too bad, it popped off and hit the hood, but didn't hurt the hand that loosened it at all. It looked really cool coming out, too!