2006 CR-V

I've just replaced the desiccant drier and have vacuumed the system for two hours. It's been holding steady vacuum for several hours now. The Honda FSM says to add 25 ml (5/6 oz) of PAG 46 oil when replacing the condenser, but it says nothing about adding oil when only replacing the desiccant drier.

Should I add nothing? Add 25 ml? Add about half of that?

 

Condenser and drier are one piece? Did not know you could separate the drier.

EDIT: Looks like there is an option to remove the desiccant sock from the condenser and replace it. Good to know.

That sock probably doesn't hold a significant amount of oil. If you wanted to get really fussy you could compare the weights of the oil and new and add the difference in oil.

 

Condenser has a built in cavity on the side of it which has an o-ringed cap sealing it. Remove the cap, then remove the dessicant drier sieve bag and install a new one with a new cap (or replace the o-ring on the old cap). So the drier can be replaced without replacing the condenser.

 

When I'm replacing an accumulator I typically dump the liquid inside the accumulator into a measuring cup to see how much comes out, and then I put that same amount back in the new accumulator. If some of what comes out is water, it'll settle to the bottom of the cup under the oil so you can see if you've got a combination of liquids. I'm not sure if you have that option...never replaced a receiver/dryer.

 

When I removed the drier desiccant sieve bag, there was virtually zero oil in the cavity. Does the desiccant also hold oil as well? If it does, I would think I should add at least something. If it doesn't, then I would add no oil.

 

Oh, yeah, it's one of those sleeve bag types. The desiccant doesn't hold oil, no. It's just there to absorb moisture. Accumulators tend to be like coffee-can-sized so they tend to retain some volume of oil. If no oil came out when you pulled the desiccant sock, don't put any back in to compensate.

 

Everything working geat now. At 88F temp outside with 63% humidity, and with setting on MAX (recirculation mode) and stopped at a red light in idle with my foot on the brake, I'm getting 39F - 40F. Driving around, my digital temp gauge shows temps as low as 35.5 F and up to about 47F, and averaging around 38F to 42F.

I had replaced the burned out clutch coil (which came with a new pulley/bearing and clutch plate). Sorry for the huge photo. I don't know how to shrink it like I can on other forums.