Photoshoot, July 2013

It took an ice storm in December for me to get time to process photos taken in July, but that's what happens when a future Porsche driver is added to the family...

One of My Favorite Ella Pictures

Click past the jump for additional shots.

Porsche 993 AC Compressor Replacement

As mentioned in this previous post, Ella's AC compressor was suspected of leaking r-134a refrigerant and needed to be replaced.  The repair quote from the mechanic was absolutely ridiculous, so I felt free to buy tools and equipment as well as the parts. :-D

For an excellent how-to article, check-out http://www.pcarworkshop.com/index.php/993_-_A/C_Evaporator_Replace.  Although the title says "evaporator" replace, it also covers the compressor and the receiver/dryer.  Rather than re-create the DIY here, I made a few small contributions to the article on pcarworkshop. Ella even makes a cameo appearance!

In this post, I will cover some of the special circumstances and considerations from my install.

Porsche 993 AC Bracket Repair

Broken Piece of Porsche 993 AC Compressor Bracket

As I was lifting the AC compressor off its base, I heard something metallic falling into the engine bay.  My first thought was that I had missed a bolt or nut somewhere, but I was very careful about that. I looked down into the engine bay to find a piece of the AC compressor bracket.

You could see from the changes in color along the break that it had been cracked for sometime.  I also know of one other 993 owner who experienced the same issue.

Update: Porsche 993 Fog Light Reconditioning

In preparation for a bumperette delete and taking advantage of a Pelican Parts, I ordered "clear corner" lights for the 993.  Excited to see how they would look, I popped them...and was pretty bummed.

A couple months ago, I painted the inside of the fog lights silver to take care of yellowing plastic (post here).  The fogs look great on their own, but when I installed the clear corners, they don't match color wise.  The fit between the corners and the fogs is not as tight as I would like either.

Porsche 993 Fog Light and Clear Corners

At this point, I have a couple of options:

• Get over it
• Repaint the fog light plastic trying to match the clear corners
• Replace the fogs with one of the brake duct fog light replacements
• Swap clear corners for amber corners

Not sure which way I will go yet.

Off Topic: How to Coil a Cable, Hose, Cord, etc.

I found this video eye-opening. I have always tried to wrap cables, hoses, power cords, etc. neatly, but it never seems to work well. Turns out I was trying to do the wrong thing all along...

Grounded!

As summer heated up here in Texas, Ella's AC seemed to be growing weaker.  After one miserable hour driving around Dallas in the summer heat without effective AC, I took her in to the shop.

The Culprit?

The mechanic noted the refrigerant was almost completely depleted, but couldn't find the source of the leak.  He added dye and refrigerant and told me to return if I noticed poor AC performance.  A few weeks later, it was time to head back to the mechanic.

This time, he diagnosed the problem as a leaking seal on the AC compressor.  No problem, except that it would cost $2000 to repair with $1500 in parts alone.  After a quick look at the DIY instructions and a search for parts prices indicating I could get the parts myself for $300-$400, I decided to tackle it myself...

It seems that maybe I got myself into a bit more than I first realized, but that story is for another post. :-)

Porsche 993 Fog Light Reconditioning

Ella's fog lights needed some reconditioning.  The passenger side fog light had been cracked by a large stone, and was very yellow.  The driver side looked much newer -- like it had been replaced once already (hmm...don't remember that in the car's history, oh well...).