Remove and Replace Air Conditioning ?
Remove and Replace Air Conditioning ?
(OP)
Is it possible to remove the air conditioning components from a 1999 Toyota RAV4 and replace them later if necessary to use the vehicle for a trade in ? How practical and or expensive might this be ? Would better gas mileage be achieved by doing this





RE: Remove and Replace Air Conditioning ?
Regards
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RE: Remove and Replace Air Conditioning ?
TTFN
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RE: Remove and Replace Air Conditioning ?
2) The weight of the removed components aren't very much, probably about 50-75 pounds or half a passenger.
3) Depending on your climate, the AC may be necessary to defog your windsheild on humid days.
4) If you must, can you just remove the belt? Many vehicles have two serpentine belt sizes, one goes around the AC, the other jsut the rest of the accessories.
Seems like a lot of work for minimal gains - see comment #1.
RE: Remove and Replace Air Conditioning ?
I can't see that you will gain anything by doing this. The losses of a belt on an unused A/C compressor are probably unmeasureable in terms of MPG. If MPG is the issue, you would do far better keeping your tires properly inflated, checking your tire alignment, using a lower viscosity oil, replacing your air filter regurarly, or even leaving your spare tire home.
RE: Remove and Replace Air Conditioning ?
Norm
RE: Remove and Replace Air Conditioning ?
RE: Remove and Replace Air Conditioning ?
Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com
RE: Remove and Replace Air Conditioning ?
RE: Remove and Replace Air Conditioning ?
-Reidh
RE: Remove and Replace Air Conditioning ?
RE: Remove and Replace Air Conditioning ?
Not so for a DIYer. It's not a good idea because it's a waste of expensive refrigerant, but it's not illegal.
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: Remove and Replace Air Conditioning ?
1) It is a fair bit of work to remove everything, especially the parts that are integrated into the ventilation / heating / demisting system.
2) It is more work and cost to later replace it as some parts will be damaged by storage and exposure to moisture in air.
3) Fuel savings by not running the compressor in hot weather will be offset to some degree increased aero drag by driving with windows down. This will be very car model and speed dependant.
4) Fuel savings all year round due to decreased weight will be real, but insignificant.
5) Safety will be significantly decreased due to significant loss in drivers viability due to loss of demisting function. This alone probably makes it illegal in some areas.
6) Not mentioned so far is reduced handling qualities due to change in weight without correcting ride height, spring rate and alignment changes.
Regards
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RE: Remove and Replace Air Conditioning ?
This is what prompted my question in the first place. And yes, I did Google it for hours without getting any helpful answers.
Thanks again to all.
RE: Remove and Replace Air Conditioning ?
RE: Remove and Replace Air Conditioning ?
Before A/C was virtually standard, cars had a lot more internal volume for their seating capacity, with much more vertical glass and flipper vents. Also, we expected to warm them up before moving off. Also we accepted poor vission at times as normal. Standards regards expected safety have changed.
Regards
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RE: Remove and Replace Air Conditioning ?
All facetiousness aside, it has been a good discussion. Thanks for posting the thread.
rmw
RE: Remove and Replace Air Conditioning ?
This will disable the A/C and the only load will be the bearing for the clutch plate, which ought to be insignificant, compared to a bunch of other factors.
This would seem to be the simplest solution, although, you probably should run the A/C every so often to keep the lubricants and whatnot in running order.
TTFN
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RE: Remove and Replace Air Conditioning ?
I had two cars during this time. First one didn't have functioning A/C. I kept a refrigerator full of Gatorade, and got about 50 miles to the quart.
Second car I installed a modified Fluiddyne racing radiator so both the car and the A/C would remain cool when in stopped traffic (modified as a standard racing radiator doesn't have brackets to support the A/C fan, nor the cooling circuit for an automatic). Too many newer cars size the radiator size right at the margin. But when you've been driving 70 MPH, and suddenly have to come to a full stop in bumper-to-bumper traffic in the hot Florida sun over hot blacktop behind a buss that is dumping 150 degree air directly into your radiator, A/C cooling begins to approach a life-and-death situation. You're sure not going to turn on the heater to help cool the car engine, and you can't survive without the A/C for long.
RE: Remove and Replace Air Conditioning ?
RE: Remove and Replace Air Conditioning ?
Keith Cress
Flamin Systems, Inc.- http://www.flaminsystems.com
RE: Remove and Replace Air Conditioning ?
Rod
RE: Remove and Replace Air Conditioning ?
Evelrod - for you RV in storage, probably all of the system was at the same temperature so the oil remained distributed throughout the system. Gravity probably pulled the oil to the nearby lowest point, so your compressor seals still had oil around. Just an guess.
RE: Remove and Replace Air Conditioning ?