I've been looking for a escape hybrid for some time. I can't seem to find one exactly as I want. The closest that I have a found is an 09 Limited. My questions are - is it possible to swap out the belt driven 09 ac compressor for the 10 electric ac compressor? Is it possible without too much modification to swap out the rear drums for the 08-older discs?

 

You sure you want to swap over to disc brakes? While they're certainly better, i have doubts you'd even feel the difference between the two. Replacing disc brake pads is easier and might also be a source of motivation, but given how little these cars actually need to use their brakes, i don't imagine you'll replace the shoes more than once anyway. That'd make the hours (or days) of effort to swap the systems only save you maybe 30 minutes when you have to replace the pads in the future.

Without knowing the compressors very well here are some things that come to mind that might be issues:

• The electrical connectors are going to be different so you'll either have to cobble something together, or cut the connector off of a donor car's harness.
• Finding a place to mount the compressor where the existing hoses still reach
• The older hose fittings might not mate with the new compressor
• If you remove the old pump then you'll need a different sized belt
• The signal to activate the clutch in the old pump may not be the same as what turns on the electric pump.

I could see doing this kind of work if it saved you money, but unless you have a donor car already, both of these projects are likely to only consume your time and money without any real benefit.

 

You will likely need to transplant the inverter from the 10 as the 09 wont' be able to feed the A/C compressor. Likely a dedicated computer. May need all hybrid related computers from the 10 as well.

As I type this, I can't help but conclude if you want electric A/C, buy a model year with electric A/C. Likely just pain otherwise.

 

Keep in mind that the '09 relies on the A/C system to supply battery cooling while the '10 draws air from the occupant space. That's pretty much a non-starter as far as trying to replace the A/C system goes - you're jeopardizing the battery cooling.

If you're that committed to a electric A/C (why?), either be patient and wait for a 2010-2012 to appear or widen your search radius and factor freight cost into the price.