Hi Everyone,


i'm having a bit of trouble locating a thread on Fitting Aircon to an FD

Can someone point me to the correct thread as i'm sure there is one !.


Long and short of it is I have a FD3S, Twin Turbo with rebuilt engine (in the UK), original A/C was stripped from the car and installing /Regassing a FD system was not on the table so I am wondering how expensive or what options i had to getting "Good & Functional Air Con" in to My FD and where i may find such information

I'm sure i have read here a topic on retrofitting Rx8 Aircon to an FD but my computer literacy skills and thread search skills are somewhat lacking.

 

First off, do you have ANY of the parts of the system on the car or was it totally removed?

Parts of the system -

- Evaporator, this is the box under the dash that has the "radiator" that the air from the cabin fan blows through.

- Compressor - this is the pump that bolts to the engine and is belt driven. This compresses the refrigerant and pumps it through the system.

- Condenser - this is the "AC radiator" in front of the engine radiator. Coolant flows through this to cool it down.

- Drier - this is the can that's in front of the stock battery that refrigerant goes through to filter it and remove any moisture from the refrigerant.

- Lines - the aluminum and rubber lines that connect all the components together.

You'll have to figure out what you don't have and try and find parts first. I'm guessing you have a right hand drive car being in the UK - the RHD AC system is different from the LHD system, so you'll need to find the appropriate parts.

Also, in the US there were 2 AC systems - MANA and Denso. For international and JDM cars there was only Denso, so you don't have to worry about that.

I would get all the parts together then work with a local AC specialist to assemble things and get the system charged and working.

Dale

 

Hi, thanks for the information,

Yes it RHD
No parts are left of the AC unit , its completely stripped,

My garage told me fitting and regassing an Rx7 AC was not possible due to its refrigerant not being available these days, I want to trust the garage but i have my suspicions?

would fitting an RX8 system be possible/ prove cheaper and easier as i would be starting from scratch.

 

I was able to purchase an entire ac system, less condenser, off yahoo auction japan for a couple hundred $ and the condenser was still available new from mazda japan. This was all from a newer RX7 96+ that came with R134 from the factory. If your car is an early version from 92-93 then it probably came with R12 and maybe that's what he doesn't want to mess with.

 

Fantastic , do you know the weight of the complete ac unit is 25kg about right, as shipping looks like it could cost 5x the unit price.

never used the yahoo auctions so from what i see , i would have to estimate weight to pay correct shipping fee's

either way its still a lot cheaper than individually trying to source items .

thank you. love this forum .

you guys and gals are awesome

 

The RX-8 system is VERY different, it would not be easy to retrofit. You're best off getting the original parts.

Yeah, later cars used R134a. Earlier cars can be converted to use 134a, it's also not too bad with the whole system out. Sometimes the system won't cool as well as it did with R12 but in your area that should be plenty to be comfortable.

Dale

 

The compressor is the heavy part, and the condenser the big one. The lines, drier, evap, are all pretty light weight. Being outside of Japan, you wouldn't be able to personally bid on items on YAJ but there are services that can do it for you. If you reached out to one of them, such as bidjdm, i'm sure they could estimate the shipping for you. Then when a set or some of the pieces pop up the final value and shipping cost to the broker will be added up.

At the very least, you need the evaporator under the dash, and a compressor that bolts to the engine. The other stuff can be fitted or custom made but that's all time and money as well. I found it best/easiest to just get the OEM stuff.

 

ok cool, ill check out one of the proxy sites for Yahoo auctions.

thanks

Owen

 

OP, you live in the UK, a country that what barely gets over 25C in Summer right, and it's September... so is this for next year? Take it from me, I had a factory R134A FD ('95 model) that was fully charged and working, and the stock AC really isn't that good by modern standards. I mean it's not bad, but sitting in stop and go in a hot and humid day (30C+) it's lacking, but it works fine when you are moving on highways. However the hot floor boards of the FD will NOT be solved by air conditioning. The only way to do that is with heat shielding. On a stock car it's not that bad but once you go aftermarket downpipe, A/C is not going to fix that heat.

A/C also takes a lot of power from the car. On a newer vehicle you don't feel the drag of A/C so much because the electronic throttle masks it. On an FD you really feel it.

So are you sure you want to spend that kind of money and trouble on a system that is "OK" living in that kind of climate? How often do you drive it anyway? I mean you're going to spend several months and plenty of money so that you can use it next year a few times?

 

Arghx, I never drove a 95 with working AC so I don't know, but I have heard that it isn't as cool as the older R12 systems.

That said, when my R12 was working right on my car (before I decided to go front mount) it was AMAZING. 34 degree air out of the vents (measured with a thermometer) and it had ZERO impact on how the car drove. I could not tell at all that the AC was on when going from a stop, lugging at 2000 RPM, etc. It worked awesome. Someday I want to get that back!

But, going back to OP's issue, since it doesn't get as hot in the UK as, say, the swamps of Florida, I think it will do great for warm days, defogging the window on a misty/rainy day, etc.

Dale

 

Often the A/C system is taken out, but the diffuser unit is left behind in the dash. Perhaps check that. The diffuser core can be removed/reinstalled without removing the dash (unlike the heater core). (Hint: Remove the glove box).

I believe there is an issue with the system seals if you use the wrong version of refrigerant. My '99 system blows beautifully cold (when it is working). I seem to have an extremely slow leak, so I have to keep an eye on the fluid levels (there is a window on top of the dryer bottle).

It is generally cooler (colder) in Canada for longer periods of the year. However, many of us can not tolerate being hot (i.e.T-shirt weather starts slightly above freezing). The FD is so streamlined, you can not effectively get a cross draft (particularly without an opening sun roof). If someone wants to invent a deflector of some sort (perhaps to mount on the door mirror) to direct air into the cabin, that'd be welcome.

 

I would not be surprised if the '99 or even '96 R134a systems work better than my '95 system. I'm pretty sure Mazda went the cheap route and did the bare minimum to convert over for series 6 cars seeing how they were getting close to end of production., It's possible in series 7 or 8 they did some more redesigning. For instance my Miata A/C, which is a 2002, blows pretty cold.

OP what year is your car? Since the shop said they can't get refrigerant for it, I'm guessing it's a series 6 with factory Denso R12 system. I know in the US it is still possible to get R12 refrigerant if you know where to look, but it's very expensive. I have a friend who puts real R12 (not "substitute" products like we have here, such as Freeze12) in his old Mercedes and Rolls Royce vehicles. It's like 10 times the cost per weight, but it performs well as R12 is a naturally more efficient refrigerant, just not environmentally friendly.

 

The shop is wrong. With a new (to you) system being installed, you (or the shop) can easily drain the compressor and put in the correct oil for R134a. You're not married to R12 by any means.

That said, the biggest overlooked downside to running 134 in a 12 system is leaky charge port adapter fittings. If you can just get a 134 system complete and put that in it's a no brainer. Regardless, have the shop drain the compressor and put in the correct oil to be sure. Brand new drier is a requirement as well. Any used system's drier will have bad dessicant.

 

Thanks everyone,

i have my reasons for wanting the Aircon in the Uk, The whole A/c unit has been stripped so i was looking to get a system as suggested from auction whether a UK or a JP auction.

Having no current A/c at all i guess i'm not tied to the older R12 system, i was looking at r134a systems or parts and JP shipping looked like a real expenditure so i'll be looking in the UK for a little while.

Everyone has their own idea's of a dream build, mine sits somewhere in the combination of power, handling, luxury etc.

even if it drops the temp by just a few degrees and dehumidifies it then it will be worth it in my eyes.

i'll likely be jumping threads soon as i want to gather some info on what people feel is generally the best company/setup to go with vs cost for intercoolers, turbo setup/kits, blow off valve, induction, brakes, coilovers , cosmetics etc.

Thanks for all the useful input

 

I can confirm and agree with arghx, the 95 AC system isn't that strong, it barely blows cold in stop and go traffic (mine is fully charged and working), and you can feel a bit of a strain on the FD when it's on...

 

what about getting a system from auction that comes from a right hand drive 97 or later model? would that be any better ??.


As I say in have no system in at all so provided they are compatible then im not limited to a 1995 model A/C and could go for a 99 spec if one pops up or have one custom made.

this isn't just about money, this is about having a nice car with all the mod cons even man could desire, yes it will sacrifice some performance but i'm no street or track racer , so if she runs and has some boot to her then i'm happy.

as i say everyone has their own idea about what a car should be for them, if we didn't then it would be just boring.

 

I think if you have the whole system it should just bolt up, even from a newer car. But, some of the later JDM cars aren't well documented to us in the US since we didn't get them, there is some wiring going to the AC components and they may or may not plug in.

Dale

 

There was a used parts supplier in London going by something like "Torx" who had tons of parts. I bought four compressors from him. Turned out all were R12, but luckily he threw an R134 compressor in the box. Its in my car now, and I used it today (30 degrees C). If your entire HVAC system is AWOL, you are going have to acquire the whole HVAC under the dash unit and remove the dash to put it in. If you are lucky you might find a used entire assembly. That would save a lot of trouble.

I recently compare the LHD and RHD factory parts catalogues and took some comfort that there were indeed some shared parts numbers for the piping.

 

great stuff, thanks

 

What year is the car? If you have a '92 (JDM) or '93 (other countries) then I believe you'll be dealing with R12. I just went through this over the last couple days with the local AC shop and here were the challenges:

1.) They wanted to drain the R12 to replace it with R134 (and compatible oil), but no one keeps an R12 machine around to hold the gases anymore and they're not (legally) allowed to vent it to the atmosphere.
2.) R12 is available in the U.S. still through ebay, but the shop likely won't have it on hand. It costs around $30-40 per bottle and you'll need a couple 12oz bottles. They didn't want to refill mine initially because it had a leak and they didn't want to leak an entire bottle of R12 into the atmosphere.
3.) If you have a leak, parts availability can be difficult. There's another thread on this, but it looks like the o-rings and stuff can be bought new still from a variety of sources, but some other parts can be difficult to find. I've seen some stuff available new, but not an entire system. Best bet would probably be to hop on Yahoo Auctions Japan and order a box of used parts there. Stuff like that isn't usually too expensive. Shipping shouldn't be awful either. I use buyee a lot and have had good experiences with them as a middleman/fowarding company, but there are several other options. Some will even buy from local shops or random sites not specifically listed if you talk with them.
https://www.mazda-parts.com/v-1993-m...1--1-3l-r2-gas
https://www.realmazdaparts.com/ (not so great reviews, looks like the same site as the previous URL)

I ended up getting the R12 refilled and it was relatively painless. Fixing the leak will be a journey in parts searching though.

I would say the R12 cools better than the R134 in my 1995 RX-7 I used to own, but I couldn't say it's a huge difference.

 

Just looking at EBAY UK. There is a supplier in Surrey that is selling parts of an A/C system perhaps out of a 99. Looks like the supplier name is Jimmy's. Prices seem in line with North America. Grab the diffuser at least.

 

A/C systems have gotten a lot better over the years, just like say sound systems, so our point of reference is different than it would have been back then.

 

Yeah, I'm comparing a 1992 to a 1995 FD RX-7. The AC in the 1992 seems somewhat better, but not a huge difference. Both with AC systems that probably had never been updated.