SiliconAngel
1 AYC Bar
The A/C compressor in the VR4 is an MSC90C. This compressor was used in a huge range of vehicles (some details you can find in my original post here), so it's actually not too difficult to find a new replacement. Ben (@benny__S) has managed to find some in Australia for us, but I'll let him provide those details in the following post.
I managed to find some on AliExpress fairly cheaply - I got this one for ~$260 delivered. Just be aware that there are several variants of the MSC90C - pay careful attention to the type of pulley used. You're looking for one that looks like this:
Not like this:
I'm actually not certain if the pulley on the second variant is just a shroud that can be removed, but as the port arrangement is also slightly different that's not overly important, as it isn't going to fit anyway.
Hopefully having these available fairly easily we can avoid anyone else having problems with their compressor bursting into flames
EDIT: There are two important issues to be aware of with the aftermarket compressors.
I managed to find some on AliExpress fairly cheaply - I got this one for ~$260 delivered. Just be aware that there are several variants of the MSC90C - pay careful attention to the type of pulley used. You're looking for one that looks like this:
Not like this:
I'm actually not certain if the pulley on the second variant is just a shroud that can be removed, but as the port arrangement is also slightly different that's not overly important, as it isn't going to fit anyway.
Hopefully having these available fairly easily we can avoid anyone else having problems with their compressor bursting into flames
EDIT: There are two important issues to be aware of with the aftermarket compressors.
- They'll probably be missing the dowels next to the hot and cold pipe inlets - these help align the pipes as they attach. Without these dowels attaching the pipes is quite difficult - they have to be lined up exactly or you won't be able to get them on straight, making it extremely difficult to bolt them in (and if you manage to get the bolt in and the pipe isn't lined up straight and you tighten it up anyway, you might damage the mating surface which will lead to leaks and will require potentially expensive repairs). Now it may be possible to pull the dowels out of your original compressor and transfer them over - I didn't get a chance to try because I was on the clock trying to swap them over as fast as possible. So you can give that a shot. But if you can't pull them out of the original without damaging them, just be very careful and patient when attaching the pipes - they will go on, it's just fiddly.
- The aftermarket pulley may have a larger diameter than the original, even though they look very similar. It won't cause any issues fitting on the car, but the belt won't fit anymore. The original belt for the VR4 is a 6PK1060, so you might need to go to a 6PK1075 or 6PK1080.