A/C Problem, Repairable?

["therealdmcvegas <DMCVegas@xxxx>" <DMCVegas@xxxx>]

Lately my A/C has not been working properly. The in winter time here (about 
40-50 F outside) the air is not cold, and the Compressor is cycling every 15 
seconds. Up front all is clean, and I can't see any leaks. However, the 
compressror up next to the pully is covered in oil. So much so that it has run 
down the block, and the pully has slung a bit over onto the pontoon. I've not 
disconnected and purged the system of R-12, so I don't know how accurate 
this is, but when I turn the compressor by hand per the workshop manual, I 
don't exactly feel any rough spots. While I notice no extra resistance turning 
the pully, it does make a "greasy" noise. Kinda like I'm spinning the shaft and 
it's pushing axel grease around (this could simply be the compressor moving 
oil thru the chambers, but sounded a bit thick to me). Now whatever glimmer 
of hope about replacing the shaft seal on the clutch pully I had is now gone 
due to the fact that I can't find the shaft seal listed anywhere on any vendor's 
online catalogues!

Now comes the even more fun part! I got this car from a garage down in 
Southern California. This leak was obviously present before, but the 
mechanic said that he had already fixed the Shaft Seal on the Compressor. 
And the mechanic there also serviced the A/C without performing a pressure 
test first. Soooo, all the refrigerant leaked out of the sizeable hole in the 
highpressure line that was formed as the underbody in the engine 
compartment rubbed up against it over the years. A quick cut of the line, a 
small section of metal pipe, and two hose clamps later and the leak was 
"fixed". Moving on, after the vacuum test was able to hold a steady pressure, 
the system was refilled and tested. It failed to cool again, so the guy started 
fiddling with the pressure valve. When that didn't work he drained the system 
again, and replaced the orafice tube which was covered in crap! And to "flush" 
the system he disconnected the lines from the back of the compressor, and 
blew them out with compressed air. After this, all worked fine and the A/C was 
cold. Well, until last summer...

A moment of self doubt in my own mechanical abilities has cost me dearly as 
it seems. So I am literally starting from scratch here. First off, is the High 
Pressure Switch something that is absolutely set by the factory, or should it be 
adjusted by individual car? In other words will a $25 investment in a new one 
that is pre-set save me a headache in the future? Alsoif there were any dirt in 
the system, would the accumulator catch and hold it like a filter? I'm hoping 
that this problem is being caused by a clog in this unit, and not a low pressure 
problem by a leak in the system. Although I won't get any better an idea until I 
atleast pressure test the system first. And of course I hope that the oil leak on 
the compressor is simply a coincidense. Otherwise this will end up being one 
seriously expensive repair. Even at this point, what I would probably pay out 
in labor alone to service my A/C will pay for an EPA cert, and the equipment to 
do the job myself.

So in the end, does anyone else here have any experience with these kind of 
A/C problems? And at what point should I consider getting rid of the existing 
rubber A/C lines and replacing them?

-Robert
vin 6585 "X"