tabularasa

how can i tell what kind of compressor i have? 91 FC3C ?

I went to a A/C place that said mine was dead and wanted $350 for a new one. I'd like to get my own and have them recharge it.

SidewaysFC

don't you need a place to evacuate these different chems like freeze 12?...talked to a friend at an a/c shop and he said that we wouldnt be able to evacuate my system legally cause there is no place to store it?...since most places work on r12 and r134 and what not

also, lemme see if i can get a good answer...my system is a part, save a few lines that were left in the engine bay.

so far it seems like i need to clean the parts already out of the car like the condenser and steel lines

...flush the compressor since its out

buy a new dryer and seals/o-rings

then put it all together and evacuate the system?

then leak test it, then recharge the system and itll be ok?

i dont know how the leak testing is done...seems like the system has to be charged and therefore i need to evacuate the system more than once and use 2 times the refrigerant


...maybe someone has a simple solution

calio64

were can the reciever/dryer be purchased?

thanx

SidewaysFC

napa, usually any well-to-do auto shop

duehuynh

sideway:

you hit on the nail..that's the problem with fr12 , autofrost, and such products: you can fill your system with this stuff the first time, but if you have to take your car to get the AC fix at a shop, they won't take it because most shop deals with r12 and r134, and they don't want to contaminate their system with the other stuffs.

Damn the EPA!

SidewaysFC

well thats not good...now im forced to get r134 cause i have no chance of having the tools to evacuate the system or storing it somewhere...and r134 apparently doesnt cool for crap and blows things up

J-Rat

iTrader: (2)

Yep, thats a problem..Thats why you evacuate the system your self.

SidewaysFC

by chance do you know the tools and procedure?...maybe a procedure on my previous question at the top?

J-Rat

iTrader: (2)

I am going to defer this question to either SBI or Maxtheman... I dont evacuate them, I just charge them!

SBi_Owner

You need a gauge set that will read the range of the chemical, a vaccume pump that can pull 30in Hg, a small nitrogen bottle and leak detector bubbles or soap and water in a spray bottle.

You DO NOT run the A/C with just a nitrogen charge as there will not be any oil in the system and will trash it.

You draw the system into a vaccume of at least 15-20in Hg using the pump and the gauges. You then turn off the pump, and close the gauges and see if it holds the vaccume for at least 30 minutes. If it doesn't move, then you are safe to recharge. You can also use a hair dryer to heat up the condencer coil and lines to get all moisture out. If you find that the vaccume doesn't hold, then you need to put about 10psi of nitrogen in the system and start spraying the soap and water all over the system and start looking for bubbles.

Thats the short version for now, I can give a more detailed version later if needed.

Remember, you need to draw the system back into a vaccume before charging the unit. You also need to make sure that the recomended amount of oil is put back into the system as per the manual.

mwpayne

I'm sure the above is the correct/proper procedure, but I just bought some freeze 12 on ebay along with a can of stop leak stuff, added both and system blows cold.

SidewaysFC

thanks SBi...in short, im putting all the components back together clean, then create a vacuum for a leak test, locate and fix any possible leaks, create the vacuum again, then charge the system with the proper amount of oil and refrigerant?...in my case, freeze12 seems to be the safest and best working alternative

if i do all the those procedures you listed correctly...is there a chance that i will have to evacuate the freeze 12? and is creating a vacuum the same as evacuating the system?

Aaron Cake

iTrader: (1)

Good thread. I put a copy in the archives...

J-Rat

iTrader: (2)

thank you AAron.

HAILERS

***as per the manual.*****


You can find the Sanden rebuild manual on the internet if you look and want to rebuild your compressor. Just FYI

SBi_Owner

There is always a chance, but if you make sure and do all the steps, you should be good for awhile. If you don't feel the system is holding, feel free to repeat all the steps again. Better safe than sorry. I hate to say it but every system is going to leak out the coolant over time or the coolant is going to become saturated with contaminants. I have yet to see a perfect system in ANY car.

Actually, evacuating the system is removing all the coolant, pulling a vaccume is the process of removing air and moisture before the charge.

SBi_Owner

Actually, if you can find and post the site, that would be a great addition to the thread.

HAILERS

Well, I got something out of this thread. For the last few years I would on occasion think about taking a look at the evaporator to see what kind of crud was present. YOu know how on a home window airconditioner how if your a dumbass and not use a filter, how the evaporator gets all clogged up etc. Well I assumed that since I've never seen a thing in a fsm about changing a evaporator FILTER, that there was none.......sooooo if there was none, then it would do what a home airconditioner evaporator would do.

So I pulled the bottom off the a/c unit in the car. Ewwwwwwwwww! I think I found Jimmy Hoffas body there among the slime and crud. Jeeeez, why do the car companys not have a filter to change out??????? Cleaned same....air flow and cooling are much improved.

Message: Clean your evaporator at least once every fifteen years. Better results if done yearly. No filter, tsk, tsk, tsk.

HAILERS

This site: http://www.sanden.com/support/servicemanual/index.html

Anything can be found on the web. Just gotta do a rational search.

Some of the gaskets can be bought online from places like CARPARTS.COM or maybe even NAPA....or some local shop.

Maxthe7man

Yeah thats pretty good..
I have found from doing this, that if I can't pull an evacuation of at least 24", the system still has a pretty good leak, there isn't much volume in an auto a/c system so my 4 cfm vc pump makes it short work of it, and will pull past 20" with a hole in the lines the size of a pencil lead... Even a bad shaft seal will pull down to there, I run the system with a bit of gas in it sometimes just to get the seal wet, then re-evacuate it, and they will usually pull down to 29.9 which is where you really should evacuate it to with POE, actually 50 microns is whats in the literature, but most peoples well used vac pumps won't break 150 microns..
When leak checking, put a min pressure of 3 times the low side operating pressure, on a car is about 90 psi, alot of leaks won't show till those kind of pressures, if it won't leak at 90, you are good to go..
The more air/crap is in the system before you charge, the effectivelly smaller the evap and the condensers get, the compressor has to work harder, and your nominal system tonnage decreases..
Thats right about the moisture in the system as well.. If you suspect any moisture in the system, leave the vacuum pump on for as long as you can, and get the system as warm as you can, without setting fire to things, Moisture and refrigeration=BAD, I won't go into detail to much but it forms acids that get circulated alot, you can guess what happens from there...
There used to be a procedure called "triple evacuation" that is not "kosher" with the laws of the enviroment anymore, buts its the best way to do deal with moisture, basically you pull the system down to a deep vacuum, then take the pump off, and break the vacuum with a gas like r-22, bring it up to 25 psi, bleed it off , put pump back on for 5 minutes, repeat the 25 psi charge, then bleed off, and then put the pump back on, now they say you are supposed to use nitrogen to do that, but even dry nitrogen is not near as good as some of the refrigerants at picking up water, in that procedure... With a system thats full of water thats they way to do it, but change your vac pump oil every 24 hours at least..max

SBi_Owner

In reference to using R22 to pressure check and hunt for leaks, it is legal to do so with a small ammount of R22 and the rest of the charge is nitrogen. If you read the EPA requirements it says that such a charge can be done and released to the air if the charge is used for leak detection. You can not, however, charge a full system of R12 with nitrogen just to release it to the air.

I also agree with the 29.9 in Hg vaccume theory. Thats why I stated you can do this procedure as many times as needed till you are happy that there are no leaks in the system.

I'm also going to post a website that you can become MVAC 609 certified through the EPA not only on line but for a reasonable price. You need to know that the cource only gives you a brief discription of the procedures but it certifies you to legaly perform the evac. and charge yourself.

SBi_Owner

Website

http://www.qwik.com/

SBi_Owner

Here we go again....

Rookie84

My AC doesn't work so I was trying to see if the fuse was blown... but where is the AC fuse located?? My newbie *** couldn't find it.

HAILERS

I've no idea where your fuse is .....but try this: Turn the A/C to on. Then go to your drier and find the pressure switch on it. Jumper the pressure switch leads. If the compressor clutch pulled in, then your too low on refrigerent pressure and it needs servicing.