new compressor.... refill

Your system will have the gas and coolant in it at the moment and some of it will be compressed.

If you take it off your self, you'll get a face full of the stuff.
Send it down to Kwik Fit or some other place and get them to drain the system for you.
then take it back to them to refill.

you could try the DIY kits from halfords or ebay. I've heard that they are ok as a top up, dont think they will do a hole system though.

I've taken off a couple of compressor after being told there is no gas.
Half way through removing one of the pipes, i start to hear a hisssss, thought it was a little bit left in the system. Next thing i know a bit whoosh or white gas in my face and me running out of the work shop followed by a cloud of AC gas. I did not feel so good after. lol

Thought you had to be certified to do this because of the gases? I'm with the suggestion on having it drained first though!

hi

unless the refrigerant has been removed then you will require a certified refrigerant handler to remove it under the Flouronated gas rule 2079 as the refrigerant has a global warming potential of 1300.

so for every kg of R134a (which is in your ac system) the global warming impact is 1300times higher than for every 1 kg of co2 ie 1300kgs worth of damage to the enviroment or in english the equivilent of driving 5990 miles in my s3, sorry to bore you.

sh*t fit are beyond useless what your requiring is an indepant auto ac engineer that will recover the refrigerant from your car fit the new compressor, pressure test the system, evacuate the system to 2 torr to prevent any none condensables from entering the system, charge the system accuratly in accordance with 2079 fg regs and leak test the system properly.

hope this is of some use to you.