I had the refrigerant filled in my 85 GT air conditioning system the beginning of last summer. It worked fine all last summer. When I first went to use the ac this year, a few months back, it was blowing warm unless I cranked it up to about 40 or 50 mph and then it would give some slightly cool air. When it backed down to idle, air went warm again. I took the car back to my mechanic, the one who had filled it last year, and he checked the system and found a leaking condenser. I obtained a new condenser (if anyone is having trouble finding this part I can tell you where to get it) and it was installed today and the system was recharged. It is now ice cold, however my mechanic is telling me that the compressor is having difficulty processing the new refrigerant.

I read some articles by respected Fiero advisors and the information was a little confusing. I read that the compressor that came with the 85 GT is a D6 model, however this model should not be used with the new refrigerant. In 88 they changed to an H6 model, and that is the one that is recommended as a replacement. So I go searching parts suppliers for these compressors and I see that they are being offered with both a 4.9" pulley and a 5.7" pulley. I called the Fiero Store, the Fiero Factory, and the parts supplier and none of them can tell me which one would have been in my 85 GT. Why is this such a mystery?

If someone can tell me which compressor I should buy that will be a perfect "plug and play" with no modifications to wiring or plugs or mounts, etc. I would greatly appreciate it. I called the mechanic and he measured the pulley and said it is the 5.7" size. Has anyone successfully installed an aftermarket or rebuilt unit and had a successful outcome and if so, where did you get it and which one was it??

As always, thanks for all your help.

I just did this upgrade for my car. I used www.car-part.com and searched for an 88GT compressor. The results list should verify the donor car. It wound up being a little more than I expected, price-wise ($75 shipped) for a used part, but I got lucky when it arrived and turned out to be a recently remanufactured unit. I had my mechanic bench test it (it wound up needing a shim in the clutch, my mechanic and I are a little too thorough sometimes). My 87 GT now blows a chilly 40° with R134a. The nice thing about that website is that the yards that sell on there typically offer a warranty.

Bump - still not sure which compressor is the correct one and where to get it at the best price.

I'm following this thread closely because my compressor just blew up the other day while I was getting on the highway.

White smoke blew out the louvered panel and scared me lol

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Any Oregonians out there?