Refrigerant Type: R12
After scouring the web for a rebuild kit for my RV2 compressor I made the mistake of cheaping-out and ordered a GA4392KT kit from Polar Bear Inc. because ...well... it was cheapest. After I got it I noticed that it didn't include a shaft seal and the gaskets appear to be just simple "paper" style gaskets. So for one, I wasn't sure I trusted paper gaskets to hold the head pressures and be air/refrigerant tight. Also, though I hadn't tore down the compressor at that point, I was thinking (apparently incorrectly) that the OEM gaskets were a metal+rubber composite type gasket.
Since Polar Bear Inc. *doesn't do returns*... I decided to eat the cost and ordered the expensive kit off eBay sold by "MOBILEAIRPARTS" basically due to the simple fact that they had a good picture of everything included and I could see there was a shaft seal and the gaskets looked to be the metal+rubber type.
Now after receiving the second kit I find that the gaskets are actually an all metal gasket - no rubber. And some intensive Googling found mentioned here on the forum that early RV2 compressors did indeed use paper gaskets, but in the RV2 compressor's later years Chrysler switched to the all metal gaskets (?). However initial tear down of the compressor appears it was using paper gaskets (well what's left of the paper anyways.)
My main question is which gaskets would you use?
I'm leaning towards the metal just because it seems a little more up to the task.
(And yes, I am aware that ACKits.com sells a RV2 gasket kit, but *ahem* there are no pictures indicating what the kit consists of or types of materials included :-) Hint hint. But if that kit is better in some way please do tell.)
The second question I have is about coating the gaskets vs applying them dry?
I know there is a huge contingent of both car guys and HVAC guys who swear up and down that "gaskets ARE the seal" and "the metal surface IS the seal", but I have tried many times to follow such advice on things like valve covers, power steering pumps & gear boxes, hydraulic & coolant hoses, heck even sprinkler parts. I would say it usually makes a seal that is "good enough", but after a while there will be ever so slight signs of fluid "creep" from the seam. IMHO that's not sealed - I want a seam to be and stay bone dry. I usually end up taking such things back apart and apply a coating to the gasket or sealing surfaces in order to get that "bone dry" seam. My usual preferred coating is Permatex Aviation #3 for paper gaskets and anywhere I need the sealer to be very thin and RightStuff silicone on some odd ball things like bolt threads and coolant hoses. I have read quite a bit about Nylog on this forum and was already planning to use it on all the O-rings I touch. Despite it also being recommended for use on gaskets I question its sealing capabilities on a compressor gasket given its perma-gooey and basically just refrigerant oil which is exactly what I'm trying to keep from making it past the seals. Is it A/C blasphemy to consider applying a thin film of Aviation #3 ? I simply can't find any mention as to whether or not any of my "usual suspect" sealers can survive contact with refrigerant gases or if they will just dissolve and glue shut a reed valve. (FWIW, Hylomar is the one sealer that does specifically state it can stand up to fluorocarbon refrigerants, but I have yet to try that stuff on anything myself.)
Here are some pictures of the two kits, since apparently there are almost no other pictures of these anywhere on the inter-web:
The non-refundable GA 4392KT RV2 Compressor gasket kit from Polar Bear Inc. :
Note the lack of a shaft seal being included and I wasn't too sure on paper gaskets.
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The eBay "MOBILEAIRPARTS" store kit (which quite obviously comes in a "Santech" bag - wonder if I could have bought it direct! lol):
This one seems better and does include the shaft seal, but not sure all metal gaskets will really do the trick either.
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Discuss.
Either will work fine. Use the metal gaskets on a clean/ flat surface and skip the goop. Works just like a head gasket. The older RVs were all cast iron, the newer ones had aluminum castings.
Forgot to mention, the external parts between the newer and older RV's are interchangeable. The newer versions also had a stamped steel sump.
Why are you not asking the vendors you are pushing for these answers? This site does not operate by pushing ebay products.
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Sorry just cranky with all the ebay posts lately.
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Make sure that the "O" rings are correct in your Santech kit. I just had one of their kits and three out of seven were clearly the wrong size. Luckily I had an assortment kit as well which had what I needed.
LOL - Why not ask them? ... Because I like you guys better!
Look at it this way anybody who Googles either of those competitors will now find your website with an unbiased third party review explaining all the things those kits are lacking. What would be really great is info on what's included in the ACkits.com gasket kit.
LOL, as stated cranky today.
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