Well, here's a suggestion. Have a professional shop diagnose your system and quote what repairs they are performing. Then you have them drain your system, you do the actual parts purchase and replacement, then have them leak test and recharge the system.

But, if you take this route, don't get cheap and skip things like replacing the receiver/drier or replacing the orifice tube and o-rings where you can access them.

Also, if upon opening the system, it's got a bunch of black colored sludge in it, throw the towel in and have a pro repair it. The 'A/C black death' is a PITA to deal with and if you don't take care of it properly it will cause a your new system to fail pretty quickly.

 

Excellent advice.

 

It's not worth the money. The A/C isn't a huge deal . I have a convertable so it's fine. I need to start saving