This past week it was 100 degrees in Texas. I have had no ac for about 2 months now but with the heat I took my Cavalier into a dealership to get it looked at. After 2 days of work and 240 dollars for a dye test and a diagnostic test they say its the compressor. They want 950 total to replace it. Ive done alot of work to my car. I put a new tranny in this past summer and a radiatior. How hard is it to put an AC Compressor in? The only reason I ask is i dont know anything about ac.

Installing a compressor is pretty easy. Unbolt the old one, bolt the new one in, put the new "O" rings on the attachment manifold, Evac & recharge. Just about any coolant place can evac & recharge. If it has Freon in it, you should evac first.
Don

stroll over to your local autozone or other parts store...

you may need special tools to remove/reinstall the pulley/cluth system (i think autozone- u can rent them for free)

you'll haveta put in the right amount of oil into the newer/rebuilt compressor before reinstalling...

parts person may recommend flushing the system if bits of the compressor is floating around the pipes...

he'll probably recommend installing a new receiver/drier...

+ an inline filter to catch whatever remains inside the system...

you can also get a recharging kit ~$40 w/ 3 cans of r134a freon & the gauge...I don't really know how bad that compressor is (it's just leaking from that area?) I'd put in a can in there just to see...

but the best thing to do is to have the system evacuated after repairs are done 1st...

See this is where i'm confused. I have read other post on her about this. How do I get the freon out before starting and also do I just replace the compressor, charge it up and I'm ready to go or am I missing alot of other important details? I know there are many parts to an AC system. I hate not knowing anything about AC

Take it to a shop that does ac worka nd have them evacuate it. Then you can replace the compressor, with all the new o-rings, oil, etc. The only other thing you may need is to flush out the system, but that all depends on what happened with your compressor. If it basically blew up you run the risk of all those pieces getting in the rest of your a/c and ruining them too. If it does need to be cleaned, you can get cans of cleaner for it, and you might want to install a new receiver/drier as well.

When I get a "rebuilt" compressor I always get the one with the Clutch installed. They are prone to go out and if your replacing the compressor anyway it's a wise idea.
Before taking it apart, have it evacuated by a shop. I've done a bunch of these on various GM cars and it's pretty easy. What you want to replace when doing a compressor is the dryer, and Orafice tube/filter. The reciever/dryer and the orafice
tube always replace when replacing a compressor. Both Autozone & Advance will not honor their compressor warrenty if you don't replace the dryer & Orafice tube as that's where any debries winds up if the compressor pukes junk out when it dies. Flushing is a good idea, i've done that but before you install the dryer and Orafice tube. Don't contaminate the new parts. If you have replaced a tranny, this is cake in comparison.
Biggest thing to watch out for is keep your hands away from any freon that escapes. Stuff will freeze your skin in a heartbeat.
Don

This is a good thread going here. Something I've been wondering about too. I would think that as long as you don't have any freon left in the system, there's nothing to evacuate. I think there's probably still some backyard mechanics out there that just let the stuff escape into the atmosphere because the equipment to suck it out is so expensive.
You need to have some sort of vacuum pump to "suck down" the system. I think this is done after you have all the new parts installed.
Would a person need any other special tools to do this? How do you flush out an A/C system? Do you need those gauges or can you just recharge it from those little cans until the system won't take any more?

Just about all the systems i had that crapped out were just about empty. I put my gauges on them and they usually only have about 15 psi. If it's that low i just vent as there's not more than a cup in it. If it's got a normal charge, that's about 70+ pounds static so that needs to be evacuated at a shop. You must evac to -29-30 psi for the A/C to work properly after installing the new parts. If you don't evac, you have air trapped in it and your new dryer will go fairly quickly from the moisture. I bought 1 of my 2 pumps at Harbour Freight for something like $35. My "pro" model was $299 at an A/C supply house. Biggest difference is that the pro model will suck it down in like 5 minutes, where the cheapy takes 30 or more. Always evac after your new parts are in stalled. When i do a system, i always wait until last to install the dryer and don't uncap it until i'm bolting it in. It's very sensitive to moisture and you don't want it contaminated. Also on GM's, replace the orafice tube. I has a screen that traps a lot of debries. I've only flushed one system, and that one was open to the environment for several years. I've done several systems and never had a problem. But then again i always replace all the "O" rings in every connection, dryer, o tube and compressor at the same time. Costs a little more that way but it lasts.
Don

I have gotten other tools from harbour freight. If i will to get the pump from Harbour where exactly do I hook it upu to pump out the freon? Now I know what the compressor is and looks like but I'm a little confused on what the drier is. does anyone have a picture? I see that you recommend flushing the system. Is this just like a radiatiator? Drain and flush or is there a special tool I need to do this?
Thanks alot guys