Hi,

Is it practical to remove the AC unit from my IS? I'm living in the New England area, it not hot here at all except for maybe 2 weeks a year. I wonder if anyone has done this before. If you did, how much did it cost? Thank you in advance!

 

I highly doubt anyone on here has done it tbh. I’m sure it would cost a bit. Do you want to do it for weight savings?

 

I guess the first question is, when you say A/C unit, are you talking about the entire system, or just the stuff under the hood?
There's the condenser in front the rad, the lines that go from it to the A/C compressor on the engine, then the lines from there into the HVAC box behind the dash where the evaporator is.
To get the HVAC box out the entire dash has to come out.
Not to mention you will never have Defrost again...so if you ever have instances where your windshield fogs up, you'd need another way to clear it other than the Defrost setting on the HVAC system.

I kinda get why you're asking the question, but honestly it's just a bad idea all around.
And no, no one here has done it to the best of my knowledge.

 

Yep, only for saving the weight. I heard it might save around 80 pounds.

 

Probably just the stuff under the hood, not touching the tubes to the cab. (Don't we need to blow hot air to defrost? only when we turn the defrost off, the AC will be triggered. ) If no one had thought about this, then it's probably not a good one...

 

People used to remove them for building a purely performance oriented vehicle. Some increase in power due to less resistance from the pulley I guess and I suppose weight loss too....but 80lbs? Seems like a whole lot. I guess you'd be looking at the compressor and condenser fan right.

Do you not use your AC to heat as well? It can help get warmer faster and there is some benefit to its dehumidifier aspects too.

Curious, do you know how you'd replace the compressor? Wouldn't you need some bypass pulley or delete kit I think people used to use. Sounds hard to source unless there are generic kit .

 

The AC is triggered for defrost because it is dry air with no humidity which in turns allows for proper defogging versus just outside humid air being pumped in and onto the windshield.

 

ooo yeah, that's one of the benefits of the dehumidifier for heat. Makes sense.

 

Whatever you take out, you’ll just have to put back in, if you ever sell the car. Who’s gonna buy a car without AC?

 

that's a good point. science.

 

I agree. But if the effort needed is not that much, maybe worth it. just feel the head is very heavy when making sharp turns. You make a sharp turn, the car still goes straight. Might be some other reasons caused this.