As the major service necessitates the discharging of the refrigerant, this is a good opportunity to service the A/C system, replacing seals, dehydrators, etc. With the engine out of the car, this also gives a great opportunity for a close inspection of all the components. Sure enough the inspection revealed a hairline crack on the mounting bracket for the AC compressor. I was fortunate not only that the crack was caught before it was at a critical stage, but also for the fact that I was actually able to find a good second hand bracket to replace it.

The A/C system must have had a slow leak in it, as a year or two earlier, I recharged the system (with the help of some SoCal Ferrari Stooges!) but when I discharged the system, it was virtually empty.  Note that the discharging should be (and was) done at an air conditioning shop, so the refrigerant is recovered, not released to the atmosphere.

I opted to get the compressor rebuilt (not exchanged), and I replaced all of the o-ring seals in the system.  These are readily available (they are the green ones).  The dehydrator also came with the major service package that I bought from StickyRX.  I don’t think that major service kits usually include this, so it was a nice bonus.

There is insulation on the lines going to and from the compressor and the condenser, which can be easily replaced with a Thermo-Tec product that is available from Summit Racing (was the suggestion of JohnK I believe on FerrariChat).  The new sleeving really helps keep the engine bay neat and tidy.