Hey. I am having the A/C overhauled on the FD, and I ran into a little bit of a problem. I have the Mana System, and since Mazda decided to stop making the Dryer for this system, I was forced to search for 2 weeks untill I found the one by Ready-Aire (Part number 4016 I believe avaliable from shop.oriley.com). The problem comes when I try to install it. The edges where the o-rings sit on the stock dryer are beveled, so the hose end sits flush with the dryer when installed. the edges on the ready-aire are straight corners, and the hose end sticks up about a mm when installed. Since this is a pressurized system, I want to make sure everything is good. Has anybody with this dryer had the same problem, and if so, how did you fix it, or did it work fine as installed?

I am alittle worried about having it machined, since the new dryer is aluminum it will be alittle harder to keep shavings from dropping inside the dryer. and as we all know metal shavings inside an A/C system is not very good.

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Another option I thought would be adding 2 bolt holes to help hold the hold the hose ends down to the accumulator in addition to the 2 bolts holding them down already.

 

Bolt it all together, pump it down, and see if it holds a vacuum. If so, then you're probably good. There's always the remote chance that it will hold a vacuum but won't hold under pressure, but I suspect you'll be fine if it holds a vacuum.

 

That was what I thought about but what I thought was under vacuum it would pull the orings in keeping the vacuum but under pressure the orings would be pushed out not sure but I guess I could try. Was wondering if anybody had run into a similar problem

 

I'll be dealing with the same problem soon....I need to tear my compressor down and replace the shaft seal, and I'm going to replace the dryer with the same ReadyAire part while I have the system open.

If you want to machine yours, you can blow DRY nitrogen through the port that isn't being machined....that should ensure that any little bits of metal are blown clear of the dryer, but it is still risky.

Pushing or pulling doesn't really matter...the o-rings are going to be pinched in place where they can't really move.

Are you keeping the system R-12?

 

Would it be workable to have a custom lines made up with the right ends? IIRC its not terribly expensive.

 

well i will be using Freeze-12 at first since its cheaper, and the shop said it cools almost as well, buit my plan is to work out all the bugs, and when i feel satisfied, switch to R-12. I've gone without A/C for a few months in Texas, so I think Ill be ok aslong as its not 130F anymore! And since its a smaller molecule, if the Freeze-12 doesnt leak, in theory, the R-12 wont.

 

the ends are correct, its where the orings on the hose ends meet with the dryer thats the problem. the dryer has the problem, not the hoses

 

Hmmm I must be misunderstanding, you are going with a newer design dryer that sounds like it is designed to work with a hose that has a more modern fitting on the end. So you need a new hose, new fitting on one end, old fitting on the other.

That is how we used to do it on another brand of old car that I fool with.

 

the new dryer is in every aspect, except one, exactly like the old dryer, and is marketed as an exact replacement. the difference is where the o-rings seat on the old dryer has a curved edge, and the new one has a straight 90 degree corner. the dimensions of all the openings are exactly the same, the thread for the bolts are the same, and the mounting bracket is welded in the exact same spot and shaped exactly the same.

 

Ok. I took the plunge and took the dryer to the machine shop. The guy fabricated some plugs to fit down into the dryer holes first to prevent any shavings from dropping down inside, and then milled the edges to as close to the factory dryer as he could. we'll see if it works right on Monday since the shop decided to close early for the day!

 

Ray @ Malloy Mazda sold me My Dryer after mazda stopped selling theirs in the US, he said they're not cheap but he found a place that was willing to manufacture them for him to the Mazda Specs... from what I remember they were more expensive than the Original Mazda Dryers, that Ray could get at wholesale, but not as expensive as the mazda dryers were locally at retail...

Just an option for someone who tries to follow your footsteps...

 

Can you post a pic when you get it back, curious to see if I could do this in my garage.

Thanks

 

Sorry, didnt take any pics, got it back and it worked great sealed perfectly. did cost about $60 from a machine shop, but they did a perfect job and its worth it to have AC.

I wouldnt recommend trying this in your garage for a few reasons.
the bevel needs to be perfectly level, and trying to do this with a hand drill, probably wont come out too well.
you need a way to keep the metal shavings from falling into the dryer, even one tiny shaving in the dryer could make its way to the expansion valve and ruin your day
you also need to be exact in the depth, width and angle of the bevel

so if you have a table drill, micrometer, depth gauge and a way to keep the shavings from falling into the dryer go ahead. its up to you.

and before you go and say yea i can do it, a few more points.

the dryer is made of aluminum, so you cant use a magnet to keep the shards out
DONOT try and use compressed air to blow the shards out, compressed air is extremely humid, and the oil used in the compressor isn't usually compatable with the A/C system.

good luck.

 

Just to make sure everybody is happy, I did have the shop try the dryer as it was shipped, and no go. it held vacuum like i suspected it would, but as soon as we started charging the system it began leaking at the dryer. hence the reason i decided to get it machined.

 

Any update on this? Is it leak free?

 

Just an Update, no leaks at the dryer, but there seems to be a small leak near the compressor now, it never ends does it!

 

I just installed the drier in question without modifying it, and the lines are about 1mm proud of the top of the drier. With the system fully charged and running, my electronic leak detector isn't seeing any leaks. I'm not pleased with the fitment, and I wasn't pleased with the way they'd just sealed the top of it with a piece of tape...but what can I do? This is the only part that fits the car. Time will tell if it will hold up long term.

 

Just to clarify. The dryer you bought had a straight edge and you got the edge machined to be bevelled as follows (thick lines):



The o-ring sits in the bevel and the bottom of the fitting is then flush with the top of the dryer?

 

For reference...the top of the stock drier looks like this:

 

Yes, that is correct. the dryer came with a straight 90 degree edge where the o-ring should sit, and I had it machined with a bevel just like the picture you posted. There have been no leaks from the dryer so far. There is dye in the system, so I would have noticed any leaks.

On a side note, I did take the stock dryer to the machine shop with the new one, for comparison.

 

I am in the same boat hopefully Ray still has something that will just work for a decent price.

 

When I spoke with Ray about 2 months ago, he stocked the same Ready-Aire dryer we're all talking about for about $90.

You can get it here http://shop.oreillyauto.com/productd...artNumber=4016 for a bit less.

Mine has been on the car for 2 months and still doesn't seem to be leaking. No oil residue, and my electronic sniffer doesn't pick up on any leaks in the area.