AC pressure sensor gave out today, no more A/C

[skylinrcr01]

Pretty annoying, but a new one was only $42 so whatever. Anything special I need to know when replacing it? I'm assuming it's under pressure still, I checked my lines and they are still pressurized.

[FL C6 Avant]

you need to vacuum pump system for 30 min minimum to as close to 1 torr as the dedicated vac pump will allow any time it has been opened. Would not recommend trying to change the switch out under pressure, so yeah, that will mean evacuating first.
Also, optional but recommended, especially if at 10 years service and not previously done is to change the receiver/drier (dessicant) and they don't always come with o-rings, so check that as well.

[skylinrcr01]

Much appreciated. Thanks man!

[skylinrcr01]

So it turns out that the sensor puts pressure on a valve, and won't depressurize the system when removed. Very impressed with the engineering that went into this car so far, even though the sensor was a pain to get to.
It's hand tight if anyone else ends up needing to replace this. So don't crank on it.

[FL C6 Avant]

very cool. was there a 'burp' of pressure when you removed the old switch, before the condenser valve closed?
would be interested to find out more about what caused the old switch to fail (I assume it is just an NO switch that closes when a pressure diaphragm makes contact)

[skylinrcr01]

Yea, a tiny bit of R134 came out too, that stuff smells nasty. No idea what caused the old switch to fail, the contacts looked fine, and there was no debris in it. I tried reseating the connector a couple times too, so I'm confident that it was the switch.

[f20c]

TTT, i did this over the weekend and you DO NOT need to remove the bumper..

1. remove 3 bumper bolts on top and pull the bumper as much as you could
2. use a mini ratchet w/ the torx to remove the cover for the switch; + remove attached harness on it.
3. original switch is 17mm; u can angle it to turn if too tight
4. new one is 24mm; hand tight and slight turn w/ wrench if u want.

done.

took me half hr to see if could do w/o bumper removal.