A/C reinstall questions Help
 

Quick story, my car had all the A/C removed when I purchased it.
I have all the part except the condensor.

Now should I buy a new condensor, new o'rings, valves, change the compressor oil and refill with Freeze 12?

Or should I chage more stuff and convert to R134a?

Re: A/C reinstall questions Help
 

I bought the whole kit from RockAuto. Compressor, dryer, orfice tube, and a new hose set for $290.00 to my door. The plan is to flush the condensor with the flush and blow dry. Then pull a vacuum down and charge with 134.

Now I just have to do it. It does no good sitting in the hatch well!

Re: A/C reinstall questions Help
 

Don't jack around with the freeze 12. Use 134A.

First thing to do is straighten out your cooling system: flush any leaves, dirt, debris, etc. out of the radiator. If you have a mech fan, put on a new thermostatic fan clutch and make sure your fan is in good shape. Verify that the fan shroud is intact and fits the fan properly. If you have an electric fan be sure that it (they) both run strong and pull LOTS of air. If they don't run or seem weak, fix them NOW.

Get a junkyard condenser. Wash the outside of it until the fins and the rest of its surface are all CLEAN. Flush it well with NON-RESIDUE solvent; lacquer thinner, acetone, MEK, denatured alcohol, methanol, or even AC flush. NOT mineral spirits, brake cleaner, electric motor degreaser. Pour acoupla ounces in one fitting, cover the other with a white rag, blow compressed air through the one you poured it into. Repeat until what comes out doesn't stain the rag.

Do the same to your evaporator.

Replace the rubber line sections (you can re-use the metal parts, just change out the rubber); use genuine AC hose clamps, NOT heater hose ones.

Get a new accumulator/dryer, and a new orifice tube. NOT the OT for your car; instead, get the Frod orange one, ask for about a 96 Crown Vic.

Pour about 2 oz of 75 or 100 PAG oil into the dryer (NOT 50, NOT 150) and about 3 oz into the suction port of your NEW compressor (the port that the larger line will connect to). Don't futz with a used one. Assemble the rest of the system with new O-rings and seals, using PAG oil on the O-rings to seal them. Don't overtighten the fittings.

Evacuate the system to 28" or more; the closer to 30" the better. Keep the pump on it for an hour or so on a hot day out in the sun. Shut the valves on your gauge set and turn off the pump; it should hold vacuum for at least a half hour without losing more than an inch. If it does lose more than that, find the leak and fix it before moving on.

Short the low-pressure cutoff switch connector so the compressor will run even with too-low pressure. Add one can of R-134A. Start the engine. With the engine running, turn on the AC to MAX and high-speed blower. Add 2 more cans of 134A. The large (suction) line should have been icing up when you first started the engine, it should by now be merely sweating profusely. With your pocket thermometer, check the temp of the air coming out of the vents; it should be around 40 - 50°F colder than ambient, but not very much below about 40°F absolute. It may need more than the 3 cans, but that should at least get it going. It won't need 4 full cans. Plug the low-pressure shutoff back in.

Your cooling system is ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL to the AC. Think of AC not as something that "generates cold", but rather, as a conveyer belt for heat: heat jumps onto the belt in the evaporator, is transported to the condenser, and there the air passing through the condenser, takes it off the conveyor and dumps it out into the world at large. If the condenser doesn't have good air flow through it, it can't dump the heat out of itself, and the AC doesn't stand a chance. Which is why we started with the fan and all that.

Re: A/C reinstall questions Help
 

I think I saw you mention this before and looked around and found a bunch of different examples. If you don't mind me asking, do you have anything specific that you would recommend for this?

Re: A/C reinstall questions Help
 

This is what they look like... they have that tab thing to locate them at the correct distance from the end of the rubber... they're also wider and thicker material than the cheeeeeeeeepie heater hose ones you always see.

Not sure this is the best source to get em from; (not sure there's any others any better, either) only, they put up a great pic.

Re: A/C reinstall questions Help
 

Ok, thank you. :thanks:

Re: A/C reinstall questions Help
 

Great reply thanks!
I will probably dig up from cash to do this.