Red Truck

[Russell]

I don't know how the clutch works but I can spin the pulley and the clutch independent of each other. The belt is still in one piece I took it off the compressor but not off truck. I did not notice anything wrong with it but did not inspect closely. As much as I want to learn how to do AC work I think its best I fix this one with my check book Jennifer drives it some if its not right......

I have the HF gage set. Both sides where low so I added a can. Low side pressure went up high was about the same. Temp did not change. I always though the compressor had a relief valve if over charged?

[Beagle]

The clutch is magnetic but pretty much like any clutch. It pulls the plate up against the pulley when it's on, disengages when it's off. It sounded like the compressor was hammering pretty hard though. If you look between the clutch and the compressor, you may be able to see the coils that activate it. Since it has purged itself, pull the hose off the dryer and inside there is a plastic orifice (expansion valve) between it and the dryer. See if it's full of metal? The stuff I worked on almost always was dang near clogged solid with aluminum flake. That's kind of a clue that your compressor doesn't like you any more.

Way back when I messed with GM stuff we did it by weight and let the gauge readings fall where they may. Somewhere under or around 40/240 (***R12, not 134a *****) if I remember on a good working system. I think 134a operates at higher pressures than that which is why retrofitting blew up so many compressors? There are charts for different refrigerants that chart it out for different temperatures. It looks like the relief valve was the hose in this case. The high pressure relief is crazy high pressure, north of 500 psi I think.

If you want to mess with this stuff yourself, beg borrow steal or buy a vacuum pump and pull a vacuum on it after you put an a drier, orifice, o-rings, and a hose on it. If it won't hold a vacuum, it won't hold refrigerant. The vacuum also boils out moisture. Lot's easier to fix leaks when you don't have to keep putting 15 dollar cans of goo in it to find the leak. O-rings on the lines were the big offenders when I was playing car tech.

I'd count on a compressor, drier, orifice,hose, evac, and oil/refrigerant charge. It's gonna be a little pricey if you get it done. It's a little pricey even when you do it yourself... it's not hard to do, though.

just saw this and thought it may be of interest to you...

I'm not gonna say the guy is a hack, but he's a little rough on the shafts. Hammer is not my "Go To" tool for a/c work. haha.

[Russell]

How do you know if they will pull enough?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00BXMRP4I/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1435620595&sr=1-1&pi=AC_SX200_QL40&keywords=r134a+vacuum+pump&dpPl=1&dpID=415CsMpwwvL&ref=plSrch#featureBulletsAndDetailBullets_secondary_view_div_1435625069704

http://m.harborfreight.com/25-cfm-vacuum-pump-98076.html#pr-header-back-to-top-link

[Russell]

No body? Maybe I asked the wrong question. Would you buy a elcheapo vacuum pump? Is so which of the two.

[RideTech_Ryan]

Definitely would not buy elcheapo pump. I worked in the parts world before my life at ridetech. I dealt primarily with commercial shops. The people that went with the cheaper A/C compressors were always coming back to get them warrantied. If your like me you will only want to do things once especially an a/c compressor job. I would recommend spending the extra money and getting the better compressor. IMHO

[Russell]

Definitely would not buy elcheapo pump. I worked in the parts world before my life at ridetech. I dealt primarily with commercial shops. The people that went with the cheaper A/C compressors were always coming back to get them warrantied. If your like me you will only want to do things once especially an a/c compressor job. I would recommend spending the extra money and getting the better compressor. IMHO

Just making sure you under stand my question I am talking about the vacuum pump to boil the system. Not the replacement compressor.

[Beagle]

the HF one is pretty decent.

75 micron is over 99.99% vacuum.... it's a lot stronger than the Amzon pump.

http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/vacuum-converter-d_460.html

[Russell]

Took me about 2.5 hours to get the compressor off. You have to back off the motor mount bolts and move the fan shroud out of the way other than that pretty straight forward. There is some trash in the orifice but not clogged. Not sure what the clutch should look like but more or less looks like metal on metal. The pump spins easily. If I get done with a couple things I hope to get off work early. Going to walk the JY see what I can find cheap!

[Russell]

Went to the jy Thursday got a bunch of AC parts and while I was there I found a rear door handle. I pulled the sun visors out of a Tahoe and got front bumper off a 1500.

[rightpedal]

Oh good I'm just in time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lglPJuBXVeE

He seemed just ghetto enough for you and I.
Steve

[Russell]

So I think I am going going to get a new condenser as well as a Dryer or whatever its called. I pulled the condenser out tonight and blew air through it and the flow coming out was pretty low I bet it clogged up. Not sure its worth trying to clean out.

[Russell]

This is what I have and plan on doing. Please let me know if I am doing something wrong

Parts List:
Junk Yard: Compressor, Condenser and lines / hoses.

Existing: Evaporator Core

New: Accumulator and Orifice tube

Plan:
Flush out the compressor, condenser, evaporator, and hoses. Let dry. Install compressor add 8oz. of PAG 46 oil to compressor. Install accumulator, hoses with new o rings coated in oil. Pull vacuum for about 45 minutes. Let it sit for about 30 minutes to make sure vacuum is holding. Add R134a the spec I found was 25.5oz thought I would try two 12oz cans and see how it does.

[Russell]

Had to buy a new pressure line the one from the yard was bad. Its together! It makes cold air! When I was pulling the vacuum I did not have one of the lines tight. I was trying to dehumidify the south. Once I got that the fog cleared quickly and built some negative pressure.


After the fill I was rewarded.
Hopefully the junk I bought was good and I did a good enough job flushing and sealing the system so it will last a while.

[DanStokes]

Yea! Now I know an A/C guy!

There was a guy who worked at EPA who was an electrical engineer and he got certified to do A/C work. He had a ton of kids and needed a side job to keep them all fed. The A/C work did it for him, at least in the summer. Just saying, there's work in this if you want it.

Dan

[Russell]

Dan thanks for the vote of confidence! We will see how long it makes cold. You really need a evacuation machine to do some work. Mine discharged it self so that was not required. It only took me about 2 weeks. So if you have a discharged system and can be with out your car for a while I might can help you out!