This might be helpful for newbies (like myself). I have been educating myself on the A/C system in hopes I get it sorted by summer and staring at parts diagrams is great... but hard to get the exact connection flow. Finally I got under the hood and followed all the components and connections and made this simple diagram. A couple comments about it:

- Details are for my 86 SIII US late number VIN car.

- I always wondered why only three "lines" were ever listed in the parts diagrams
until I realized that the fuel cooler has its own hard line that connects directly to
the compressor. Likewise, the receiver/dryer has its own hard line that connects directly
to the condenser.

- The two hoses to firewall/evap/exp valve seem to be common, but the compressor to condenser
hose had a VIN distinction.

- The fuel cooler line returning to the tank is covered with heat shield wrap, so if yours is missing that
might be good idea to add something. Cooled fuel runs right next to hot exhaust manifold.

- I had thought the condenser was much smaller until I realized I had been looking at the oil cooler.
The condenser is thinner but about same size as radiator behind it. Reading a bit I learned that
A/C gets priority to maximize efficiency and that the air coming to radiator is only slightly warmer because
of condenser in front of it.

Thanks - Randy

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