A/C Woes - Opinons/Guidance Welcomed

[dogsridewith]

Originally Posted by 06YarisRS

Thanks! I thought very briefly about doing an A/C system delete, but quickly dismissed the idea. I'm much more tolerant of cold than heat. I bet a delete would free up a tiny bit more power though, even when the system isn't engaged. Did you just get rid of yours because of the hassle of repairing/maintaining it?

A/C delete during headgasket replacement at 150k on a car that was pretty well on the way to dying of rust. System was more of an add-on than w/ Yaris, which doesn't have the extra fan. Really cleaned up the engine compartment, which is busier than the Yaris' for other reasons too. (The 4AF series was originally an inline engine, and there was extra-bracket madness to make it work FWD, so the delete removed the belt and a bracket.) On A/C deletes I also remove the evaporator from the HVAC box, which makes the fan's output higher.
I do basically like/believe in A/C for cars, and would likely keep the Yaris' there and working.

re: your O-ring photos. Mine were thinner, the joint was different, and one of the rings was a bit rolled out of place.

[06YarisRS]

Originally Posted by dogsridewith

A/C delete during headgasket replacement at 150k on a car that was pretty well on the way to dying of rust. System was more of an add-on than w/ Yaris, which doesn't have the extra fan. Really cleaned up the engine compartment, which is busier than the Yaris' for other reasons too. (The 4AF series was originally an inline engine, and there was extra-bracket madness to make it work FWD, so the delete removed the belt and a bracket.) On A/C deletes I also remove the evaporator from the HVAC, which makes the fan's output higher.
I do basically like/believe in A/C for cars, and would likely keep the Yaris' there and working.

re: your O-ring photos. Mine were thinner, the joint was different, and one of the rings was a bit rolled out of place.

I get ya. Sometimes it's not worth spending the money and/or effort on repairing non-critical systems on older cars. I've vowed to get mine working. I think I'm going to replace the condenser as they're relatively cheap and mine has some dark spots along the top. It's entirely possible that it's just rustrpoofing that I applied that leaked down from the upper crossmember. But, I've got the front off and replacing the condenser should eliminate one more possible leak point in my diagnosis. Plus, replacing it looks like a pretty quick job.