I did a thing.

[— kung fu jesus —]

Having today off, I got rolling around mid morning. I thought I could remove the condenser without removing the radiator and only the bumper, but no...it’s far easier to remove both to get at it.





The condenser tucks under the radiator core support and it’s feet land just in front of the radiator. My larger CSF radiator and thicker front sway bar wouldn’t allow me to get at the condenser and fittings easily without removing the radiator. So, I emptied the radiator in a clean container, set it aside, removed the radiator hoses, unclipped the electrical connectors from the fans, and lifted the radiator assembly out, super easy.

From there, I had easy access to the condenser and the hose connections. I used a 17mm, 19mm, and two adjustable wrenches to loosen the connection fittings before loosening condenser mounts. Always use two wrenches at each connection to support the fittings and prevent the aluminum from twisting and collapsing.













I removed the old unit and drier. Here it is next to the new one.





The tube coming out of the old drier on the right needs to be transferred over. New o rings all around, more Nylog to keep the seals happy and threads sealed.





Installing the new condenser needed some fitment. One of the mounting brackets was a little larger than it needed, so I marked it and cut a 19mm x 9mm notch with an angle grinder. I was carful to keep all open fittings covered to keep dust and debris out while doing this.



The factory mounting brackets are arranged and shaped to allow a lot of slop/adjustment. They didn’t reattach in the same orientation as they came out. That’s not a worry, you just want to be sure the condenser angles away from the radiator and it, nor the drier, contact anything where they can rub and create a hole. Patience and a bit of mild modification with pliers worked fine. I test fit the radiator for clearance before buttoning up the condenser.





I started reattaching the connections finger tight. I also rechecked the clearance for everything.







Be sure to reuse the little bracket that attaches to the radiator at the bottom center. This supports two AC lines and keeps them clear of roar debris. After the condenser was tidied up, I tightened the connections. Empathy and touch are necessary. No need to hulk-smash them tight, but judicious torque gets it done. ;)

I dropped the radiator assembly back in, reattached the hoses, poured the coolant in, reinstalled the bumper and undertray, then burped the system.





I taped the ends of the open lines at the bulkhead, I am picking up a used evaporator assembly from my favorite local Miata breaker tomorrow after work.



All this took 3-3.5 hours. I’m about 5-6 hours into it total, so it makes sense why AC system repairs are so expensive...it’s the labor time. It really is not difficult at_all. Figure ~$150 for these parts, 7-8 hours at $50-65/hour, plus recharge costs, I can see where this job could be $600-1000 at a repair shop.

I will replace the evaporator valve on my new-used unit tomorrow and reinstall the evaporator box. I decided to use a shop to evacuate the system and recharge it. I want this working right for a long time, so it will be worth it to me to have a pro do that.