So I’ve got a problem with the air conditioning in my L201 Mira.
My suspicion is that the air conditioning compressor is buggered. I’ve replaced the TX valve (just in case that was the problem), but that wasn’t it. The clutch is engaging. Pressure on the low and high lines are equal even when the compressor is engaged (not good). I’ve checked and the system has held pressure over a week, so there aren’t any leaks. I think there’s probably some fault within the compressor causing the high and low sides to equalise and never actually build up any pressure. There’s no noise out of the ordinary, so I thought it must be something else.
It appears there’s a brand new compressor for eight hundred dollars on eBay. I’m not going to shell out for that unless absolutely necessary (and probably closer to summer). The listing says it’s for an L200 Mira, so I’m not sure if it’ll bolt onto the 850cc engine properly.
So just for curiosity’s sake, would anyone know if there are different compressors for the 660cc engine and the 850cc engine? A part number or something to help me do a bit more research would be nice!
I understand that factory A/C on these L200 Miras is actually quite rare, so I suppose that’s why I haven’t seen too many posts about it.
…so a bit more research on this one. My current AC compressor is a Denso SV06E.
Looks like I can actually order a brand new cloned compressor from Aliexpress for $200-350, which is much more reasonable.
It looks like there are two VERY similar compressors - the SV06E clone and the SV07E clone. The SV07E is quite a bit cheaper and looks almost identical. There are some versions of the SV06E which don’t line up with what I’ve got on the car (the direction of the intake/outlet ports, as well as the bit that mounts to the bracket), but there are others which do line up properly.
All versions of the SV07E appear to be physically compatible…
So there was a bit more to the story here. After installing the SV07E, I realised that the fittings were slightly different.
Denso changed their fittings when they switched from R12 to R134a. The SV07E is identical in every way to the factory Mira SV06E, except for the size of the inlet and outlet fittings.
The only difference appears to be the size of the holes - the R134a inlet/outlet hole is slightly larger, and the bolt hole to fix the fittings onto the compressor are slightly smaller (R12 - M8 (12mm)/ R134a - M6 (10mm))
The machined face which the inlet/outlet hose attaches to is otherwise identical.
I tried using silicone to seal the machined faces, but it was no match for the gas pressure. It failed suddenly by busting a leak - once overnight, and the other time while I was driving with the AC on.
I had seen that adaptors for the Denso R12 -> R134a fitting was available from a company called Jayair, but it appeared to be only sourceable from trade suppliers (and they usually want a fridgie’s licence before they supply).
So after two massive failures using RTV silicone in an attempt to seal the small gap between the machined face on the compressor and the inlet/outlet fittings on the car, I ended up finding a listing for these adaptors on eBay.
You’ll need new O-rings for both the factory fitting and the adaptor, but Bunnings sells an assorted package of plumbing O-rings which contained all the O-rings I needed.
Also, LPG was not all that it’s cracked up to be…Hychill is night and day better (and Burson’s charge a reasonable price for it, so no reason not to go that way).