'87 911 air conditioner overhaul Performance Aire

caliber60 · 06-20-2005, 10:44 AM

Performance Aire in Anaheim , CA estimated $3,500 for a a/c overhaul. Is this a good price? I heard they are the expert in 911 A/C. Anybody has actual exerience with them?

Crachian · 06-20-2005, 10:45 AM

Holy Cow!!

ruf-porsche · ruf-porsche's Garage

I assume that they are going to convert the a/c to 134 so that they will upgrade the hoses and flush the system. $500.00 in parts (including 4 cans of R134a) and $3,000 in Labor?

But since you are living in Kalifornia you get to use a/c and your PORSCHE more often than us Chi-town people.

tcar · 06-20-2005, 10:57 AM

What all are they doing? Replacing everything incl compressor?

FenderGuy · 06-20-2005, 11:29 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by tcar
What all are they doing? Replacing everything incl compressor?

They are running away with his wallet

makaio · 06-20-2005, 11:36 AM

If by complete ovehaul you mean they are replacing/upgrading every component of the a/c system on your car, and converting to 134, then that sounds about right.

What a lot of people forget is it cost money to run a shop, and it cost money to have somebody else do work on your car.

biosurfer1 · 06-20-2005, 11:59 AM

isnt the entire systen from procooler.com $1150? i thought mark wilson did that kit with great results...$3500 seems a bit high to me

fuelie600 · 06-20-2005, 05:52 PM

For $3500, I would consider selling the car and look for a 993 with working air.

I'm having a hard time justifying ~$850 to add a procooler, barrier hoses and a serpentine evaporator to my freshly rebuilt compressor.

$3500 is highway robbery. If it takes that much to run the shop, it must be a really nice shop!

caliber60 · 06-20-2005, 09:43 PM

"993 with working air."

It about time for a 993 to have major A/C work as well. You can't get away from it. I bought a A/C retrofit kit for my 944 turbo because dealer's quote was $3,000. I have to go back to the shop 3 times every 2 weeks to have the A/C repaired again. It was never fixed. At that time, I wished I have gone to the dealer route. Obviously, I think many 911 owners(including me) just leave their A/C inoperative. We are all shocked for the actual repair cost to get it right.

niner11 · 06-20-2005, 09:53 PM

I bought a vac pump and some gauges on Ebay pretty cheap so that I would never have to pay outrageous prices at a shop.

It would make a great project and you would save a bunch of money in the process.

fuelie600 · 06-21-2005, 04:37 AM

Sure you can't get away from repair and maint on the A/C, but you don't need to spend $3500. Like biosurfer mentioned, Mark Wilson had great success with the procooler.com install.

I spent $25 to get new seals for my original compressor. Following this link , you can repair you 87's nippondenso. If I spend another $868 at rennaire I'll have a nearly new A/C system. (Just reusing my original condensers and repaired compressor.)

If you don't want to screw with the compressor, you can buy the kit with a new Sanden 507 compressor for $1375. Even with an evacuate and recharge you would save over $2000 on the quote from Performance Aire.

oneblueyedog · oneblueyedog's Garage

I have the Performance aire System. After five years it leaked .8 pounds of r-12. I DIY'd the installation. It was about $1300 with freon. The system is excellent. The leak was from the compressor seal after it sat while I rebuilt the engine. If their customer service is any indication of what they do in thier shop, I'd bet you'd get an excellent trouble-free no guesswork AC that blows cold. And you wouldn't have to recharge much, if ever again.

The price sounds very fair. The DIY installation was not easy, but doable. About a 6 out of 10 in difficulty.

scottb · 06-21-2005, 06:32 AM

Caliber: Here are some reference points.

Nippondenso compressor: $250 from Compressor International in Van Nuys (rebuilt, no clutch).

Barrier hoses: $369.00 from www.rennaire.com or www.procooler.com

Receiver/dryer: $100 approximately for Porsche OEM unit. Aftermarket units are in the $30 range.

Underbelly condenser (if you're getting one from PA): About $500.

New evaporator: $229 from www.rennaire.com

Kuehl center vent: $150 from www.griffiths.com

All of these upgrades will cost you about $1600 for parts. The question you have to ask yourself is how much your time and labor is worth. It seems to me that $1900 for labor and evacuation and recharge with R134a is on the high side.

This is not a difficult DIY job. I replaced all of my hoses, installed a ProCooler, and added a condenser/fan assembly in the front left fender. It's dirty work, and it's tedious, but it's very do-able. I had a local a/c shop evacuate and recharge the system with R12.

Biosurfer is correct, www.rennaire.com has a pretty reasonably priced kit for about $1150 (or $1350 with a Nippondenso compressor). It's worth looking at.

Good luck. Let us know what you do.

wanabe911 owner · 06-21-2005, 07:46 AM

Hello all, I just had my AC upgraded by Vertex in Miami, The job installed was $2k, Includes all hoses, filter drier, compressor, new rear condensor with electric puller fan, new evap with new ducting to the vents inside. I must say that I thought initially that the price was high but after doing some research, compared to some of the alternatives it seems in line, im sure if I would have done this myself, I could have saved the labor, but I simply dont have the time, and spending the same time at work offsets the extra $ I spent. The end result though is awesome! 32-33 degrees at the center vent! At night its just too damn cold! During the day, in S FL heat, works just as well as my newer cars!

Brillo · Brillo's Garage

Based on Jack Olsen's experience, I had my A/C upgraded at TRE. I forget exactly how much it was, around $3,200 with underbelly condensor and carrera oil cooler.

No regrets. Works great. Wife and I regularly compete in PCA's Rally series and we wanted to be comfortable. As I get older the heat just does me in.

ruf-porsche · ruf-porsche's Garage

wanabe911 owner

86 Carrera (New addition)
05 Lotus Elise
03 EVO
03 Montero (Soccer Dad car)
97 Nissan Quest (Ex Soccer Dad Car, now parts runner)

SOLD:
99 M Roadster w/Vortech S/C

How does the a/c work in the 05 Elise? Thinking of upgrading my two Lotuses to an Exige and getting rid of the PORSCHE.

wanabe911 owner · 06-21-2005, 10:03 AM

Brillo: Why did you need the carrera oil cooler upgrade?
Ruf-Porsche: The Lotus Elise Air conditioning system is IMHO not acceptable in a current NEW CAR. That being said, for a fun, track day car, sure its fine. What happens is the being in S FL, they summer heat, and more so the humidity are horrible and again in my opinion the Elise cannot cope, but the funny things is that it says so in the owners manual! LOL, Otherwise, I love the lotus! But I love my Pcar more!

fastpat · 06-21-2005, 10:28 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by caliber60
Performance Aire in Anaheim , CA estimated $3,500 for a a/c overhaul. Is this a good price? I heard they are the expert in 911 A/C. Anybody has actual exerience with them?

That's way too much, even in CA. You should be able to buy the upgrade kit from rennaire.com as mentioned and have it installed for less than $2000.00.

Brillo · Brillo's Garage

Wannabe:

It was felt that the stock SC trombone cooler would not be adequate in keeping the car cool w/ the A/C, especially on really hot days and in traffic.

My car ran hot with the stock system. It is better now.

wanabe911 owner · 06-21-2005, 11:13 AM

Well the reason I ask is although my 86 is supposed to have a better cooler (chime in if Im wrong) I think im running hotter now, except my gauge has no numbers on it, before the A/C I was getting perhaps 1/2 way between cold and full hot, now im 3/4 between!