AColli3r

My 05 RL hit 78k miles over the weekend....and my A/C gave out, started blowing hot air. If you do a little searching you find numerous threads stating that its 98% something to do with the field coil (or stator) to swap that out and you're all good but the dealer i went to wanted nearly 1000$. I'm fairly mechanically inclined if i have good instruction so i decided to look for the part and attempt the work myself before shelling 1000$ to the dealer.

Parts needed:
Field coil (see below, #1 for link and price)
Flat + phillips head screwdriver
10mm socket (good luck with wrenches..not going to happen)
7/8" socket for lugnuts
snap ring pliers
and patients....

1. I found the part for 78$ online here you can add 20$ to the cost and have it overnight-ed like i did.

2. follow the instructions (with Pictures) by Shark7 on this thread here. This DIY was for an 04 TL so i used it initially as a guide but my research showed that the parts seemed to be the same. So, if you follow shark7's DIY you should be able to do this yourelf

All in all it took me 3 hours of sweating and beating my head but i finally flipped on the A/C and THANK YOU it blows cold. I've heard of people doing it in about 1.5hrs so its possible.

*hints-

A. had throuble with the 2 snap rings ( if you don't know what that is just google it and you probably should set asside about 8hrs or get a friend before tackling this lol). So make sure you get a good set of snap ring pliers from your local auto parts store for about 10-20$. if you already have the pliers you should be fine BUT while begging the first and 2nd snap ring to come off I wished i had a pair of 45degree snap ring pliers because you gotta remember the person that installed the A/C compressor did it at a desk and had a lot more wiggle room but just my 2cents. (side note- if you can't seem to get the first snap ring off use a flat head screwdriver and start on one end and put the flat head in the grove/indention and it should come off in seconds as you work your way around. dont worry about the damaging the ring either the OEM kit comes with extra rings and spacers)

B. Clutch- once you have taken off the first snap ring and are trying to remove the clutch you have to pull...pull....and pull some more. it may seem like theres something else holding it there but its just friction of years being attached to the compressor. I added some carb/gear cleaner spray...wd-40 would work and just jiggled front to back until it released. you can use a good flat head to wedge it off but be careful not to pinch the serpentine belt or dent the clutch.

oo7spy

Will being a doctor help with this fix?

AColli3r

Well help with it, no but afterwards YES! It can be a bit of a headache so a strong pain pill and a cold one would be much needed lol.

russianintrigue

Is there anything on these cars that doesn't break prematurely? This has been the worst reliability car I have ever owned. It's nearly as bad as my dads old 7 series.

HEAVY_RL

iTrader: (1)

great post

djrabbie303

Thanks for the post. Part is ordered, and my 05 RL hopefully will be spitting out cold air just in time for 90 degree temps to arrive.

djrabbie303

So I installed the new stator which only took about 3.5 hours. Car ran really cold and then started cooling off again. The same symptoms as before I replaced it. Drove it probably 20 mins and it cycles cold cold air and then not so cold air and then back to really cold.

What can be the issue? Could the replacement stator be bad out of the box? Any ideas?

GaRaS

Same issue that i have before, u are low on freon. My suggestion is have a professional take care of the issue. Here's what i did on mine. When the outside temp is hot usually around 1 pm, i started the car until it reaches the engine normal temp, then i placed a thermometer at the ac vent. Temp at low and fan set to low. I have ac gauge manifold btw. After placing the ac freon upside down i open and closed real quick then read the thermometer every 5 mins until it reaches 40 degrees then stop and do not overfill ur ac compressor. If u are going to do it by yourself do it at your own risk. I watch the tip from eric the car guy on this link at youtube