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Air Conditioner Project -- R-134a conversion, part 2
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Posted by Monster (more from Monster) on Sat, 13 Apr 2002 03:07:34 Share Post by Email
In Reply to: Air Conditioner Project -- R-134a conversion, Monster, Sat, 13 Apr 2002 02:00:37
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Once the compressor was in, there were two other parts left to install. I decided to tackle the expansion valve next.

The valve lives under a black plastic cover on the right side of the engine bay. You can see where the hose from the condenser comes up to the evaporator housing, and another hose attaches from there and runs to the compressor.

I removed the four Torx screws holding the plastic cover to the firewall. Next, I disconnected the hose leading toward the front of the car. With a little twisting, I was able to slide the cover away from the firewall and move it down the other hose toward the compressor, exposing the expansion valve underneath.

The expansion valve is a curious little thing with a couple of copper capillary tubes coming out of it. One tube plugs into a port, while the other ends in a coil which is clipped to the inlet hose of the compressor. I believe it serves as a frost detector and keeps the system from freezing up.

Removing the old expansion valve was fairly straightforward... one hose was already off it, since I'd needed to remove it to take the cover off. A nut at the bottom of the valve and disconnecting those capillary tubes freed it. I was careful to install the new O-rings provided on the new valve, and then seated it in place. It took some gentle bending and maneuvering to get the capillary tubes going to their proper positions... they came in neat coils with the new valve, and had to be partially uncoiled and bent around to get to where they needed to be. But it all went together without too much trouble. I slipped the cover back, attached it with its 4 Torx screws, then reattached the hose from the condenser with its new O-ring. Done.

Next I needed to replace the filter/drier. It's that black cylinder with a sight glass on top wedged in behind the right turn signal cluster.

It was not easy to replace this stupid thing. Looking down on it, it was obvious I needed to remove one of the car's horns. One 10mm nut held it in place, so I removed the nut, unplugged the horn, and took it out of there. The next obstacle was the reservoir for the windshield washer fluid, which, of course, was full. This turned out to be a mess.

Another 10mm bolt held a clamp which secured the reservoir. I removed the bolt, then the clamp, and started to wrestle the reservoir free. It was still connected to the car by the wires going to its pump, and also by the hose line leading to the washer nozzles on the hood. Try as I might, I could not get the electrical connector off the pump, and washer fluid was sloshing out the top of the thing as I fought with it. In exasperation, I pulled the pump out of the reservoir, put my finger over the hole, and carried the reservoir over to the deepsink. Quite a bit of washer fluid had splashed around down there in the fender well, and more drained from the fluid line from the hood. (I removed those anti-siphon valves years ago.)

By the way, for those of you who think you have a really clean engine compartment, take a look someday at what's underneath that washer fluid reservoir. I found various little missing pieces that had been dropped down there over the years, plus some Canadian maple leaf (hadn't been there in years!) and an inch or so of crud and other detritus. I also dumped my fluid reservoir into a bucket, and was really surprised at how dirty the fluid in the reservoir was. There was even sediment at the bottom of the reservoir, so I rinsed it clean in the deepsink.

With the reservoir out I could finally get to the filter/drier. The electrical connections were easy enough to remove (two spade plugs) but getting wrenches onto the hose fittings was not easy. Once I got the hoses off, the filter wouldn't budge. I discovered it was bolted to the frame... and the nut holding it on was behind the battery. Of course.

So... I disconnected the battery and removed it and its heat shield. Are you keeping a tally here? So far, in order to replace this simple part, I've had to remove the washer reservoir, horn, battery, and heat shield. What a pain! While I had the battery out I cleaned the top of it and checked the levels inside. It was good.

With everything removed, installing the filter was fairly simple. Put it in, new O-rings included, wrestled the battery and heat shield back in, reconnected the battery. (There went all the presets on my radio!) Then I got my washer fluid reservoir.

Here's a tip for you if you do this. Don't connect the wires to the filter drier (it's the plug for a pressure sensor, actually) until AFTER you get the washer reservoir re-installed. The reservoir is a tight fit and hits the wires on its way in if you already have them plugged in.

It's a little tricky putting the washer fluid pump into the reservoir, making sure the hose line is connected, and guiding the entire assembly back into position. It's easier than removing it, though, especially since it can be empty when you're installing it. I put the clamp back on it to secure it in place once it was down. Using a funnel with a filter pad in it, I poured my washer fluid back into the reservoir, except for the sediments that had settled out. At least I know my washer fluid is clean now!

Lastly, I put the horn back on and connected it. Done!

The final step was to fill the system with refrigerant, but before you can do that, you have to have the system vacuum-pumped down. I took it back to the A/C shop which had taken my R-12, and had them pump out the system. They left a vacuum pump running on it for a good 40 minutes, and charged me $55 for the service. Not too bad, I guess.

Finally, I drove home to put the R-134a in. The kit I bought for $30 came with three tall cans of R-134a/oil mixture, a tap and hose kit, and special new fittings to place over the old hose fittings. The new fitting they provided for the high side of the compressor did not fit on my car. The low side one, thankfully, fit fine. The only servicing you do is on the low (suction) side, so I was really glad the new fitting worked.

I stuck a temperature probe into my center dash vent outlet, started the car, turned on the A/C, and began to fill the system with R-134a. The compressor didn't come on at first, because the low pressure switch on that filter/drier keeps it from pumping when there isn't enough freon in the system. When part of the first can had gone in, the compressor kicked on and the system began working, as evidenced by the high side hose getting warm and the low side hose getting cold.

I checked the pressure on the low side after the first can went in, and it was still low, but the air coming out of the vents in the car was down to 60 degrees F. (Ambient was 72F.) I tapped a second can and installed it. As that can got lighter and the gas went in, the temperature from the vents in the car continued dropping. By the time the second can of fluid was in, the air coming from the outlet ducts was 48 degrees F, or 24 degrees below ambient. Nice!

I checked again with a pressure gauge, and saw that no further refrigerant was needed. So I only needed two of the three cans provided in the kit.

The bottom line on this project? My air conditioner is working great now. I spent $30 on the refill kit, about $395 on parts, and $55 to have the system vacuum pumped before refilling, for a total cost of $480. From now on, I'll be able to service my system with the environmentally-friendlier and readily-available R-134a refrigerant, instead of paying astronomical prices for recycled R-12. And... my windshield washer fluid is clean. Not a bad week's work!

- = M = -
'87 900T

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