Stock A/C not so bad

LWJ · 07-20-2009, 03:36 PM

So it is 90 outside and my wrench just finished the charge on my stock a/c. Car is an 80 SC with the factory front condensor. First impression? Blows cold and strong! The car is on jack stands currently. I will bring it down for a drive tomorrow in the 93 heat for a real test.

I did a Duracool charge and also removed the bowtie. While the venting is certainly marginal, I would say that it blows far better than my expectation. I also think the front condenser fan is not working. If so, I have even better performance ahead.

Larry

Mike Thomas · 07-20-2009, 04:09 PM

Glad to hear it. I had a similar experience. Last time my car was in, I had them recharge the system (if it would hold any). It did, and the air blows reasonably cold (much better than I expected given all the talk regarding 911 A/C). My front fan is not working either, so we're in exactly the same boat.

JMH82SC · 07-20-2009, 05:02 PM

Stock A/C not so bad x2

I have a stock system with new hoses and a Sanden 508 compressor running 134A. In this FL 95 plus heat I'm seeing vent temps in the low 40s with fan on high. If fan is on low I see mid 30s vent temps.

wieringa@mcn.ne · 07-20-2009, 06:14 PM

Just to add my two cents I just finished the same recharge on my 82 SC with the old York. Biggest problem was getting access to the low side port and valve on the compressor head. Had to remove the compressor, hook up the recharge line, and re-install. AC worked great for a couple days and then everything quit. Looked at all the fuses and also checked voltage on each one - all good. Tracked down the specific fuse and wires in the manual and did a closer inspection. Seems the AC fans were drawing too much amperage and the fuse block near that fuse got HOT. Hot enough to take all the temper out of the fuse holder and partially melt some wire. Seems this wasn't the first time and someone had done a little wire repair and, of course, put in a 25 amp fuse instead of a 20. Fuse was still making contact so it would show voltage but connection was so poor amperage turned into heat. Fuse holder was shot so I installed an in-line 20amp and repaired all wire issues with soldered joints. Seems when the blower motors get old the bearings start to fail and they start drawing more current. With both the evap and condenser fan running I was about 18 amps so I thought i was OK. Thing I screwed up on was the fact I didn't have the car running when I did the amperage test so my voltage and amperage readings were low. Haven't had time to re-test but so far so good with the new wiring and fuse. I hope to get through the summer before having to deal with fan motors. KW