> Took my Vanagon back to see where the dye leaking out.
> Mechanic says 'compressor front seal'. He recommends
> replacing compressor and dryer. Quoted $500 for compressor
> plus labor, $85 for dryer plus labor plus replacing lost
> freon. Around $850 total he said. Also said expansion valve
> could be leaking but he cannot tell without removing roof
> molding (quoted $350 labor). This is all on top of the $1200
> I paid to get the van thru emissions and fix a few other things.
> To compare prices, I looked on Bus Depot website for an a/c
> compressor and could not find one.

Here's the compressor (assuming the most commonly found version):

http://busdepot.com/details.jsp?partnumber=SD709

$332 with your Vanagon List discount, and it's brand new, not rebuilt. (To
find it, just choose "86-91 Vanagon" and then keyword search "compressor" in
the SmartSearch box.)

And the receiver/dryer is $30, versus your mechanic's $85:

http://busdepot.com/details.jsp?partnumber=253260633E

Between the two you'll save hundreds of dollars supplying your own parts. It
might be worth talking to him again, or shopping around for a different
mechanic, or at least seeing if he's willing to buy the parts from us and
then mark them up a bit.

- Ron Salmon
  The Bus Depot, Inc.
  www.busdepot.com
  (215)  234-VWVW

_____________________________________________
Toll-Free for Orders by PART # :  1-866-BUS-DEPOT