The water pump replacement took longer than expected (partly because I had to remove the Y pipe, forgot to replace the O-rings, and had to remove it again when the valley filled with coolant...), so I didn't get to much of the A/C system yet. It's also going to be in the high 90s this weekend and humid, so I might wait another week before doing the rest of the list.

Mounting: I'm sure the compressor is mounted correctly. The mounts cannot be removed from the compressor body, it only mounts one way, and the drain plug is mounted on the passenger side above the mid level (so not all the way on top, but as on top as it gets for this, it seems).

Oil: I have not checked the oil level yet. I know it came filled from the factor, but now I've filled the system (probably mostly with air) and emptied it, so did I take some significant amount of oil with it? It ran for 10-20 minutes at most, but I don't know if that's enough to circulate a significant amount of oil out of the compressor. Do I need to drain it and refill it, or should I be fine as-is? I can pull it if need be; it's just a bit of a pain (have to take off the belt, remove the air intake on my car, remove the lines, unbolt the compressor), so if I can be lazy I'd prefer that. But I'd also like a working A/C system.

Routing/Connections: I took the passenger side hose off of the compressor to try to shine a light in there to read the "S" or "D" on inside when I noticed the giant "S" and "D" printed on the back of the compressor casing itself that I somehow didn't see before. I traced the "S" side hose and confirmed that it connects to condenser, and is in fact the low side. I tried to turn the compressor by hand with the clutch engaged to see if I could feel suction, but I couldn't turn it fast enough for that. I'm thinking of taking the "S" like off, turning the car on, and using a PowerProbe to briefly power the compressor and see if I feel suction, just to confirm that it's turning the right way. However, this is the cross-reference part for a 1989 Eagle Premier, so it seems likely that's already correct.

I checked all the other hose routing and they seem to be fine.

Accumulator: The system is currently filled with air at atmospheric pressure. I didn't get around to replacing the accumulator and orifice tube yet (but I do have them). I assume I should do this before trying to fill it again. Hopefully since they were only put on a year ago they won't be too hard to take off. I was going to try it this morning, but it's already pretty humid and I have to do day-job work, so it'll have to wait.

I also found out that the knob on my manifold set that opens/closes the yellow line seems to be stuck on "open" and never seems to seal closed. Simply closing the low/high knobs should let me work around that problem, and my can side tap has a Schrader valve that should keep the yellow line purged while I switch cans.

I'll report back after testing, but I'd like some opinions on if I need to bother checking the oil. I'm just assuming that the accumulator/orifice need to be replaced at this point unless someone tells me otherwise. I mean, I could just fill it now and see if it works, but I'd kind feel bad about having to vent R134a if it doesn't.

Thanks!

-- Joe