That would be the Denso drier. Where did they get the pad mount ends to go on the lines? Do you still have a sightglass? Any pics of what they did? I'm still trying to figure out if there's a non OEM source for the line ends.

The valve on top is the Denso one, the lower one is a MANA valve. Both should be should be a pretty common component used on various vehicles. I thought that the MANA expansion valve had another small tube as an external equalizer, however.

 

ill snap some pics and find out exactly what he did when i pick the car up, hopefully tomorrow. the two driers LOOK almost exactly the same, but my lines just wouldnt match up with the driers we kept getting. since i replaced all the parts in my A/C system, i didnt not want to re-use the original drier, i wanted everything brand new, which has become a serious annoyance.

yeah it probably does, i just grabbed that image from google image, but obviously the two parts are completely different design and not interchangeable. the problem is that when you call an autoparts store, all they know is "93 mazda rx7"... there is no separate designation for Mana or Denso, so they just order it, and the warehouse sends them whatever is in stock. we told them all, but they have no way to control what part they get, their system doesnt show a difference, even though the part is completely different.

 

Please do! I stopped by a couple local A/C shops today to see if they could splice together some lines....ended up going to a place that does custom welding and fabrication. Haven't decided a course of action yet, tho.


I have seen some listings that have a note of "factory" and "dealer" to differentiate the two systems, but yes, most of the lookups I've seen make no distinction.

 

bad news.... the method using the pieced together/modded lines ended up being too expensive and might not have worked right.

in the end, we spoke with some a/c shops and followed their advice... when they cannot source a proper drier, they boil the old one.

 

On what basis would it not have worked correctly? Metal fatigue from being welded?

Boil? As in a pot of hot water?

 

I'd like to know this also. I have a mana system and I want to replace the drier, but no luck so far finding one. :-(

 

Since most of the cars sold were touring you can find the Denso system dryers easily and cheap.

If these won't work it should be because the fittings on the end of the lines don't match up to the holes in the dryer I would think. You could take off the old fittings and fab some new ones out of some aluminum plate. Since there will already should be a recess in the dryer for the o ring you could cut a rectangles out of plate and drill holes in them, press in a short piece of aluminum tube to keep the o ring centered and use aluminum solder to attach your lines into the fittings. It would take some effort but would be mostly just cutting and drilling the holes accurately.

Another way to do it. Buy some denso system lines from someone who has removed their system, cut the fittings off the denso lines leaving some of the tube on each one. Cut your old ones off and install the denso ends. You could try installing them by having a section of aluminum tubing that just fits over the two lines to be joined. That is, the i.d. of this tube is just greater than the o.d. of the tubes to be joined. Solder with aluminum solder and the proper flux using a propane torch.

For the larger tubing that will fit over the lines you are joining buy some annealed tubing like the U bend 'em refrigerant lines from Summit Racing. Since it is annealed you can use a swage tool available from plumbing supply shops to expand it if necessary to just fit over the lines to be joined. This should work since commercial refrigeration system piping is soldered all the time.

It'd be some work i'll admit but you would eliminate this problem since you can readily get the denso dryers.

 

for the lines, i think it was just not feasible getting the fittings done by the time i wanted the car back. i dont see any reason why someone that has the time shouldnt be able to have a custom line fabbed up to work with the more common driers.... i just hadnt had my car for 3 weeks and was so sick of little bullshit missing parts and hassles that i didnt question exactly what he meant by boiling it. all i know is the a/c blows nice and cold now and we replaced everything else in the system, so other than the drier its all new