Hey everybody, first time posting on the forum here, although certainly not the first time here. I bought an '03 LX with just under 80,000 miles, single owner (Chinese grandma) around the Houston area back in August of 2025. Car looked great. No lights on the dash, not a speck of rust on the frame or anywhere in the engine bay. Overall very clean example and I was very happy with the price that I paid.



I later discovered a few oil leaks that I have since taken care of around the VTEC solenoid behind the block and the other one around the P/S pump. The LBJ were also blown so I replaced that and the sway bar links, as well as one of the control arm bushings; Honda calls them compliance bushings. I got the bushings out fine, but had to take it to a shop to get the new ones pressed in. Looking back, I would have just replaced the entire control arm.



But now for the point of this thread, a couple months into my ownership, on a trip out of town, I noticed by A/C was slowly blowing hotter. I then discovered refrigerant speckled with metal when I got home, so I took it to the dealer to get diagnosed, where they then confirmed my suspicions of the infamous A/C black death occurring and quoted me ~$8000, which is more than I paid for the whole car! I had a look for myself and found two holes in my compressor, both larger than a US quarter. I'm now getting parts together for the job, but I wanted to see if anyone has done this job before and what materials were used. The only parts I can't find online are the high pressure lines, the ones that connect from the firewall to the compressor I believe. What I am able to find is as follows,



-GPD Piston Compressor

-GPD Condenser

-GPD Expansion Valve

-GPD Low pressure lines (from expansion valve to compressor)

-Evap Core

-Condenser fan (I believe mine is broken as it doesn't turn over, despite the connector receiving 12V when A/C is on)



I don't believe I need to evacuate the system before hand as there are two big *** holes in the compressor, and I will rent a vacuum pump and some gauges to properly pressurize it and all that when it's all together. I have also bough a rotary tool from HF to cut the plastic behind the dash. For the lines that I can't find, I will either use a flush kit to flush the ones in my car or go to the junkyard, pull those lines and flush those as well. I am going largely based off of this YT video: . Still unsure how to add oil/refrigerant into the system after so any tips on that would be very helpful. Other than that I'm wondering if anyone else has actually done this job before. Any bits of guidance would be greatly appreciated!

 

I have done the AC a few times on the 2002 but not the full system. Compressor, condenser (dryer included), flush the lines where you can. Most of the supplies I got off eBay but don't get the cheapest. I can't remember how many years it has been going strong but it works hard in HOU and a few years in ELP.

ETA: Add the oil to the compressor before installation. There was a website that had Honda fluid levels and amounts (I don't see it now). Add the refrigerant after the vac has run for an hour and held for about another hour.

I hope this helps.