ACURA RSX 2002 BASE MODEL A/C REPAIR HELP

Hello all:

I have an RSX with 85K miles on it, had it for about 2 years and never had any major issues. Always done my own preventive maintenance and it still runs and shifts like a dream although the common second gear grind irks my soul.

About 2 weeks ago my AC suddenly went out. Here’s what happen I was driving with the AC on since it was a hot day and about 45mins into the drive my AC compressor started making a Clicking/grinding noise when i would have the AC on. I turned off the AC once i figured out the noise was made when the AC was on. The noise does not sound when anything else was on (regular fan or heater). Later that night I did another inspection to see if my AC even still worked so I turned it on heard the noise and felt no cold air was coming thru, the clutch was spinning but no cold air so i shut it off and hadn’t used it since. (A week or 2 prior to this event I had replaced my Serpentine belt with a new one. The belt tensioner was still good but I will replace that soon as well should be noted that I used my AC almost everyday I drove without any issues after the belt replacement)

So at first I thought eh I’ll just replace the AC compressor clutch since i figured it still runs its probably just a bad bearing or something. That idea changed when I bought the entire new compressor for about 200 bucks the clutch alone would’ve cost me more and it didn’t make sense to me to have a to take off the clutch off a new compressor and put it on the old after I said to myself why not just replace the whole compressor.

So i got some mani gauges and got the readings on the low and high AC lines. the low side was at about 100 to 110 psi and the high side was at about 90 to 100 psi. So basically the low side was too high and high side pressure was too low.

So with that in mind i finally decided to just replace the compressor.

Here is what I need help with; PAG oil where do I add oil for all the components I’m going to replace. Since my car is almost 20 years old I will be replacing the Drier and the Condenser along with all the gaskets and o-rings to go with them(I’m leaving the expansion valve and evaporator alone). I have the oil amounts spec as to which component takes what I just don’t know if you add the oil directly to the component itself or do you add it in the compressor and it will circulate throughout the system.

My system is already evacuated so I will be adding R134 and bit of dye after about an hour of vacuuming the system since its still closed just empty.

ALSO if anyone has done this job before with this vehicle or similar civic or TSX did you need to remove the sub-frame for that last bolt that hits the sub-frame closest to the passenger side wheel.

The special tools I will use since the system is already empty:
Engine support bar if i need to remove the sub-frame
Mani gauges
vacuum pump

If you wondering about my experience in the field I have over 6 years as a mechanic in the military worked on big trucks and small so this doesn’t really phase me much.

My start time for this project will possibly be this Friday 7/5 or on Monday 7/7 my condenser and drier should arrive in the mail by then if not sooner. I will take my time to do this since I want this car to last me a pretty long while so I know it shouldn’t take me long once i remove the front bumper but I’m looking to put in about 3-4 hours into this job. Any help would be greatly appreciated.