legacycentral bbs

Not sure if this is the right area, sorry if its not in the right spot.
I've seen posts about people removomg the a/c condenser and hardware at home with no special tools. Is there anything to worry about if I do it myself, like will the system have pressure, if it does how much, can the refrigerant harm me at all or my surroundings? The reason I ask is I never use the a/c and after I got backed into the condenser got bent, I think it bent enough to lose the charge but I'm not sure so I figure its better to ask before I jump in and possibly hurt myself.

Legally you need to have the freon removed and collected, but standard hand tools and a big stonkin wrench will work.

If you decide to remove it yourself, there may still be pressure in the system. Make sure you do it in a ventalated area, outside, not in a garage. Slowly loosen one of the bolts for the fitting on the compressor. It will likely start to hiss. Once it starts hissing, stop loosening the bolt and let it vent. Go somewhere else while it vents. Once it stops hissing, loosen the bolt some more and see if all the pressure has been released.

As Mike mentioned, legally, you are supposed to have the system evacuated and refrigerent disposed of properly.

Well, I was right in my assumption that there was no charge in the system. I started loosening one of the compresser fitting bolts like Josh said and there was no hissing at all so the way I see it, one, the system had a slow leak, or two, when the condenser got bent the charge went out right when it happened. But either way, there was no charge and I've gotten everything under the hood removed.