Removing Rear AC

[Sigeats]

Hi all,

I want to remove my rear AC unit in my 1984 Wolfsburg Westy. It doesn't really work all that well, and I'm planning on installing a cabinet door in place of the vent panel (I found a used cabinet door in the Samba classifieds).

So, I've read everything I could find on the subject, and it seems like an easy project.

Step One: Drop the upper cabinet box by unscrewing a few bolts that hold the whole thing to the roof.

Step Two: Detach AC by unhooking the electrical plug and the two brass fittings . . . right?

Step Three: Bolt the box back up to the roof, and install my new door.

I guess what I'm wondering, is it cool to just unhook the two main tubes that I circled in the picture below? Or is freon or something going to start spewing out all over the place? Should I remove the belt in the engine compartment attached to the compressor? What happens if I turn on the AC up front with all of this stuff removed?

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'84 Westfalia

[vwsyncroguy]

I'd like ot buy the AC vent grill you remove from the cabinet....when you're done.

P-mail me.

Warren C.

[an86carrera]

I would remove the belt and compressor, if you don't and turn on the A/C it will drain electrical current for no purpose.

I am looking for an ac compressor. Let me know.
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Len
Current Vehicles
'84 Westy '95 2.2 Subaru
'08 Dodge 2500 diesel
'75 914

[Blood Loss]

I would also like to remove the rear air-conditoning in my '90 vanagon, but I would like to leave the front air-conditioning intact. Any tips from someone who has made this modification?

[mightyart]

The A/C vultures are a circle'in...
No it's not cool just to remove those lines, they are under pressure.
Down in the engine compartment by the compressor where the two big lines hook up there should be a fitting or two that look just like a tire filler thingy, may even have a cap on it like a tire filler/unfiller does.
This is where you "charge" and uncharge the system.
Back when I was a lad we used to uncharge using a screw driver just like you would letting the air out of a tire.
There days discharging freon into the atmosphere is a no-no, so you should take it to a place that can reclaim the freon.
Once it is uncharged and unelectrified you can take it apart as much as you want.

[morymob]

Isn't the front A.C, usually called a vent?

[Terry Kay]

Dro the evaporator cabinet, remove the everything in that cabinet.
Blower, evaporator Etc.

You can pull the wiring & the two hoses out from inside / behind the closet to the evaporator.

If your outa freon ( which you will be when you disconnect the evaporator ) don't worry about the compressor kicking on.

It won't.

Cut the belt off of it--your done.

Now-- for the guy thinking about removin his rear AC unit, and saving his front AC vents.

Ahh--got some bad news.

If you yank the rear evaporator housing--your all done, kaput.

There is no, zip, nada, front AC
evaporator section--your AC days are all over with.
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T.K.

[floggingmolly]

I did the same thing last year. Who needs AC in San Diego anyway?

I disconnected the wires and the hoses (mine wasn't charged). Those nuts on the hoses are tough to loosen sometimes (I had to cut one hose). Don't cut the lines if you can help it, some people will pay $$ for them intact.

One thing I strongly suggest is to loosen the nuts on the bolts that are installed horizontally. That way you can have the whole thing loose, then pull all of the bolts out at once, so you are not trying to hold up the cabinet and loosen nuts at the same time.
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'85 Wolfsburg Weekender

[rotorimp]

Hello removers of the AC.

I live in Phoenix and would really really lke to buy one of the rear ac units and hoses.
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1965 walkthrough Sundial

[camo westy]

If you are installing an A/C unit in from used parts, I highly recommend replacing the high pressure hose with a new one.

My blew after one hour of perfect operation (1985 hoses - no pressure for 10 years).

Be sure to make the drain lines have enough 'slope' to actually drain, otherwise the condensation will slosh out going around a corner.

Bee cool.

[westynova]

I ripper mine out last weekend. I dropped the rear cabinet and I pulled the side Wardrobe out as well. I made a side door on the wardrobe while it was out.

I knew my system was empty but just in case, there is two charging connectors near the compressor. I put on a face shield and some gloves and opened them up. Lucky for me nothing in the system. The correct way would be to go to an AC shop and have them empty the system (Save the Environment).

Disconnect the battery ground

Disconnect the two main lines. unplug the electrics and drop the coil. Remove the side cabinet and I removed the lines and cut the wires and taped them off.

I cut the belt off the compressor. Bolts are stripped on the compressor so I have to cut them off tomorrow. Got a buddies air-powered hacksaw.
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84 Westy
2010 VW Golf TDI Wagon
2009 Jeep Rubicon Unlimited, Lifted and Locked

[floggingmolly]

Figures, just as I go and spout off about not needing AC...93F today in SD, at the beach!
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'85 Wolfsburg Weekender

[Zero419]

Its snowing in PA right now.
It was 75 yesterday.
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1987 Westy Auto Bostig 2.0 Ztec

[floggingmolly]

Ah the good times. April can be tricky back there. 2 years in State College, I remember it well.
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'85 Wolfsburg Weekender

[Sigeats]

Pulled my rear ac yesterday. Started with just removing the stuff in the upper cabinet, then decided to pull the tubes and wires running behind the wardrobe. Then I figured why stop there? Yanked the compressor . . . turned out I was totally out of freon by the way. No pressure left in the system at all. Then I removed all the tubes running to the front. Also removed the dryer thing that was in my front left wheel well. The tubes are still connected to the Condenser in front of the radiator . . . is that ok? Or should I seal them off or something? I taped off all the electrical wires at the point they enter the engine compartment near the ECU. Now if I switch on the AC from up front all that happens is the Radiator cooling fan starts blowing . . . which it always did when the AC was running. I guess it's kind of cool, I can kind of manually turn on and off the blower on hot days to cool down my coolant I guess.

I've got a bunch of AC parts that I'm going to sell on the Samba classifieds for all you AC vultures. I'm putting up the add in a few minutes. Here is a picture of what I have.

Thanks for all the advice . . . it was super easy.

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'84 Westfalia

[Sigeats]

Took my Westy on a quick two night camping trip out to the San Diego mountains. She ran great, and no real problems. Only thing that happened had to do with the AC I removed a couple weeks ago. I removed everything except the condenser, and the two tubes connected to it. I chopped off the tubes just above the clam shell spare tire cover, so the tubes still connected to the condenser are only about a foot or two long.

Anyway, I guess it had something to do with getting the radiator hot, but a lot of this red/brown fluid is dripping out of the cut tubes. I figure it will eventually stop dripping, but it kind of worries me. Is this stuff harmful to the environment? I've got a pan with some cat litter in it under the drip at the moment. It wasn't doing this on shorter trips last week around the neighborhood . . . just after the longer run this weekend.

Should I remove the condenser, or will this stop soon?

Any advice.

Thanks.
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'84 Westfalia

[j_dirge]

[lord419]

It looks like this thread is long dead, but figured I'd try and resurrect it... I'm planning on pulling the rear AC unit from my 85 Weekender, along with all the hoses and condenser. It's my intent to keep everything as intact as possible in case I decide to reinstall the unit at some point, but being in Seattle I think the value of the storage is > the value of the AC.

I'm planning to take the van to a pro to have the Freon "uncharged" and then starting disassembly at the upper cabinet and working my way to the condenser. Any other tips you all can offer would be most welcome!

Thanks!

[Ahwahnee]

Dunno - I feel like I'm talking to a guy on his way to get a vasectomy who wonders if I have any advice.

Seems like there are a half dozen ways to get a little more storage that doesn't require such radical action. Sounds like you're planning on storing all the bits at home anyway and they will take up more space there (loose) than they occupy now (installed).

Your van - your choice of course.

[Zeitgeist 13]

What he said^^^

Somewhere puppies and kittens get kicked whenever AC is removed from one of these vans.

I live just South of Seattle, and use my van's AC all the time from April through early December.
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Casey--

'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik?