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Waterloo

Rolled in yesterday to the house, steam coming out from the front of the hood... I open her up and find THIS! A cracked AC condenser and lots of green dye.

I cracked into it this this morning as I was tired and pissed off yesterday when I got home from a very busy week.

See the photos below...

Notice the brackets, all Mickey Moused together with pop rivets. This thing was wedged in there and under stress, you can see that in the photos... It is no wonder it cracked and failed, this thing was doomed the minute it went in. The brackets and outer housing actually tore from stress.

This was the condenser I had installed last year, an aftermarket unit that cost $186.00. Now I know why it cost $186, it is nowhere near a direct fit. The OEM International one is running $575 and the correct bracket kit is $30. I'll go down tomorrow when the bracket kit comes in and drop the coin and install myself, after I chisel a few bucks off of the condenser. You save a few bucks and lose hundreds, in my case a grand or two. Freight is flying right now and I am sitting on my ass waiting for the right parts.

Let me add this, when dealing with the AC system on these ProStars, stick with the OEM parts, do not waste your time with aftermarket stuff, pay the bucks, install yourself if need be, it is not hard. International has a gasket/O-Ring kit that covers all of the bases for the entire system. Spend the money once and be done with this. I have been down this road, for well over three years. I finally had this thing freezing my ass out of the cab after all of the aftermarket crap on here was replaced with OEM parts other than the condenser, which was working, but failed for obvious reasons. It has been a three year process that I would not wish on anyone! And the reason I am going to fork over the cash for this high dollar OEM condenser.

The bottom photo is the correct condenser for the 08 ProStar, Justin the parts man took the photo for me just a bit ago and sent it on... See the difference? It is sad when the parts guy answers the phone on his headset in the back room and says hows it going Mike! Worse than that, he has my cell number in his phone book on HIS personal cell phone... He didn't even ask for my number to send the photo, and I called on my house phone. OY!

This is the OEM condenser, see the difference?