Four Seasons 78542 AC Compressor - High Performance Replacement for Car & Truck Air Conditioning Systems - Perfect for Summer Road Trips & Hot Weather Driving

UPDATE: Almost two year later; July 2014The compressor worked great for approximately two years. However, it now requires replacing again due to cheap bearings. You can hear the bearings grinding away. So, I have revised my review to 1 star to reflect this. Two years is a very short time for an AC compressor to fail, therefore, I can not recommend this compressor and advise staying away from it unless you want to be replacing it again in two years time. Mind also that this is two year with only two summer seasons of using the AC compressor. This is not two years of continuous use. So, the performance of the bearings in this compressor are two summers... approximately 6 to 9 months maximum. Very poor performance and a very poor product. Such a waste to bother manufacturing a perfect fit and performing product only to put in really cheap bearings. AVOID THIS COMPRESSOR!!! Look elsewhere.Original review: July 2012---------------------------------------Bought this to replace a seized compressor in a 2003 Ford Explorer V6 (4.0). This compressor is a perfect match. Fits perfectly onto the three bolt mounts. The fan belt aligns correctly with the pulley. The freon tubes wrap around and connect perfectly in place.I've been running this compressor for about three weeks now (at the time of writing this review) and so far very good performance. I run a high pressure system, due to the dual zone temperature control system, and this compressor seems to be happy and does it's job well.For those looking to replace a compressor themselves this will fit the bill for a 2003 Ford Explorer V6 for sure... at least it fit mine. Be sure you also replace the accumulator and orifice tube as well. If you are replacing a seized compressor your orifice tube will likely be clogged with metal fragments from the old compressor. The accumulator has to be replaced whenever you open up the system if it is old (and likely your accumulator is old).The O-rings that came with this compressor worked fine. No leaks or any problems. Beware of the O-rings that come with any accumulator, however, they are usually not the right size and will leak when you vac and recharge the system.Anyway, replacing the compressor is a snap for anyone with any knowledge of a socket set and how to use it. Replacing the accumulator is much harder due to bad design on the lower mounting bolt. You will need to remove the front plastic grill in order to access the nut holding the bolt in place on the lower mounting bracket of the accumulator. Genius engineers/designers who have never fixed a car before. Also note, many repair books will tell you that you need to remove additional components when replacing the accumulator. This is not true. You actually can wiggle the old accumulator out and wiggle the new one in without removing anything other than the front grill and the freon tubes that go into the top of the accumulator.Anyway, for those who want to save a ton of money fixing their seized AC compressor (and related parts) themselves, this is a good way to go. Sure beats paying a mechanic a fortune to do it.Also, when replacing the orifice tube, realize that you should use a variable one and not a fixed type. You will get better performance from a variable one. Many companies (i.e. Autozone and on Amazon) will attempt to charge like $28 for one. That is a total ripoff. They can be had for as little as $4 on specialty parts stores online. Autozone for example will attempt to rip you off on this part.Also note, the bolts for this compressor are metric (as many of the bolts on the 2003 ford explorer are).. you will need a size 13 or 11mm socket (I forget which it was). And when removing the old compressor realize that the bolts are far too long to be completely removed with the compressor in place. You simply undo them and lift the whole assembly out with the bolt still inside the compressor bolt mount shafts. When you go to install the new compressor, likewise, you need to place the bolts into the bolt shafts prior to moving the new compressor in place. You will find the bolts like to slip out since the compressor faces a direction that allows the bolts to fall out. Placing something like a tiny bit of window putty or plumbers putty inside the shaft to hold the bolts in place until you can socket them into the engine block works wonders. And drop a few ounces of TAG-46 refrigerant oil into the compressor prior to sealing up the freon tubes. The compressor comes pre-oiled, but you will want more to spread around the rest of the system. My explorer used TAG-46 oil. If you have Autozone look it up they will end up getting some cryptic ford code that makes no sense to anyone outside of ford.Anyway, save a lot of money and do the repair yourself if you are confident enough. Even if you end up having a mechanic vac the system and recharge it, it will still save you some cash doing the parts replacement yourself.Locations of various parts you will likely need to change (facing car headon with engine hood open):AC Compressor; Right side of engine block (on a V6 model). You will notice the pulley on the right side that has an electrical connector going into it. This is the electrical control for the AC Compressor clutch to engage and disengage the system as needed. Note: You will need to disconnect this electrical connector to replace the AC Compressor.Accumulator; Left side next to the radiator (on a V6 model). Large aluminum cylinder with two freon tubes connected to the top and a refill connector on the top. It is held in place by two bolts; one on the top bracket, one on the lower bracket underneath the accumulator.Orifice tube. Left of the engine, near the rear of the engine compartment, inside a freon tube that runs into the car through the firewall. There should be several freon tubes here running parallel to each other. The tube has a large metal ring nut that you loosen, then pull the tube apart and remove the orifice tube that is inside.