Here in the U.S. we use rebuilt compressors all the time, and they last
roughly as long as new ones. A rebuilt is better than the one you have now,
is it not? But how will you get a remanufactured compressor in France?
Shipping is expensive. I recently paid 29 Euro to get a 9 DVD set weighing
only a kilo shipped from Spain. I suppose that the compressor you want is
about five kilos. I strongly recommend that you try to find this part from
a French vendor too, because of warranty issues. A Prelude for the French
market might have used a different compressor from an American model, too.

One of my Spanish friends told me that shopping trips are arranged, for
people to fly from Europe, where clothes are really expensive, to spend a
couple of days in New York, filling up their suitcases with relatively
inexpensive and stylish American clothing. If you were coming on holiday,
it would be no great trick to find the compressor you wanted, and slip it
into your suitcase. I don't know how airport security would react though,
or French customs. Sometimes, you will find what you want in another
country, at a very attractive price, but getting it home, that is the
problem!

Some American vendors of auto parts:
www.autozone.com
www.schucks.com
www.napaonline.com
A very good American source for AC components:
http://www.acsource.com

Earle

"Philippe MÉRY" <mery-ph@-discret-ifrance.com> wrote

Philippe MÉRY wrote:

In the U.S., many compressors aren't remanufacturered very well and
suffer high failure rates. This includes units from Four Seasons, the
largest remanufacturer of automotive A/C compressors. So the only
remanufactured compressors I'd accept would be those from the auto
manufacturers themselves.

"Philippe MÉRY" <mery-ph@-discret-ifrance.com> wrote

What about a used part?

do_not_spam_me (AT) my-deja (DOT) com wrote:

Excellent advice, especially if it's a Honda reman it's guaranteed for at least a
year. Regardless of who installs it.

Just make sure to thoroughly clean all the contamination from the system before
installing the replacement compressor.

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No Lawsuit Ever Fixed A Moron...

"Philippe MÉRY" <mery-ph@-discret-ifrance.com> wrote

As long as the system is closed (and preferably with some positive pressure)
a second hand pump could be fine - a gamble of course, but you might be
lucky!

"Philippe MÉRY" <mery-ph@-discret-ifrance.com> wrote

no recourse if it fails, once installed on your vehicle in France. You
could of course remove it from the vehicle, and send it to the manufacturer,
asking them to honor their warranty policy, but the expense of shipping
would be prohibitive, and you would have to wait a long time for a
replacement. You would not even consider a remanufactured compressor from
the U. S., unless it was vastly cheaper than what you have available in
Europe. This is true, even if you bought from a supposedly reliable vendor
such as Honda.

What kind of prices are you finding in the U. S. and France, during your
Internet search?

Earle