Ferdinand - '85 Bronco 351W XLT "Phoenix" rebuild project...

[Bruno2]

http://web.archive.org/web/20100309034811/http://www.aircondition.com/dsmobileac/ford_truck.html

[Bruno2]

Be sure to get an O ring and gasket set for your truck. The 134a uses PAG 46 oil. Put some oil on all of the O rings and threads of the fittings when reassembling them.

READ THE INSTRUCTIONS for the new compressor.  Some of them have no oil in them,  some have a couple of oz's and some have a full system charge. You need to be sure you have the right amount of oil in the system.  More and less can both ruin the compressor and give you fits trying to properly charge it.

You need a set of 134A guages and a vacuum pump.  Dont try to do this without a vacuum pump or a set of guages. You will need a can tapper also.

[Bruno2]

A chart like this essential. This is what your guages should be reading when charging the system. Go by thiscas well as the capacity reccomendations I posted above.

Then after you think you have it right after your guages are reading right and the vents are blowing nice and cold you shut it off with the guages still attached and let everything go back to whatever the ambient temperature outside is. I reccomend letting it sit an hour for everything to go back to ambient temp.

Then you use this chart to see if your charge is on the money ir not.





Both guages (high and low) should read the same pressure. If they dont read the pressure listed on the ambient temp chart then your charge is either over or under.

[Bruno2]

This is the ambient temp chart since everything on the post is screwed up

[Bruno2]

This is the chart you use fir charging:

[Gary Lewis]

Thanks, Brandon.  

You too, Dave.

Ferdinand - Does that give you enough to get started?

[FuzzFace2]

Bruno2 wrote

This is the ambient temp chart since everything on the post is screwed up

Bruno2 wrote

This is the chart you use fir charging:

So what chart do you go by?
If I am reading them right the top psi is that high or low side?
Also if you pick a temp of say 65*F the 2 charts do not match either PSI's?

I was going to ask this "ambient temp" is this measured at the condenser or just out in the open?
Dave ----

[Bruno2]

The top chart is for after you have charged the system . Turn the truck off and let the refrigerant and all of the components warm back up to whatever the temperature is wherever you are doing the AC job. Outside if it's 99 let the system warm up to that temp. If your in the garagemahal and it's 72 the same. The pressure on the top chart is for both guages. They will balance out and read the same on the high and low.

The bottom chart is for charging with the system operating.

[FuzzFace2]

Bruno2 wrote

The top chart is for after you have charged the system . Turn the truck off and let the refrigerant and all of the components warm back up to whatever the temperature is wherever you are doing the AC job. Outside if it's 99 let the system warm up to that temp. If your in the garagemahal and it's 72 the same. The pressure on the top chart is for both guages. They will balance out and read the same on the high and low.

The bottom chart is for charging with the system operating.

Ok now I got it.
So if I was starting with a new uncharged could I pull a vacuum like normal then fill it to the Temp / PSI of the top chart and then do the final "tuning" use the bottom chart?
Or will it not work that way?
Dave ----

[Bruno2]

You couldnt get the refrigerant into the system without it running. A vacuum will only pull about 10 oz without the compressor running to suck the rest in.

[FuzzFace2]

Ok so you use both charts to check across each other to make sure the system is charged right.

Think I got it just never heard of it done this way, only the high / low psi and weight, but again I have not done any car AC charging just a lot of arm chair reading
Thanks
Dave ----

[Ferdinand]

Holeeeeeee Cow! Man this is awesome guys‼️

Thanks a million!!!

This gives me a ton to get started reading. I have only quickly browsed the responses so for but I never imagined I would get this much serious feedback! I now have plenty of research and reading for the weekend.

I will keep you all posted on any questions that come up and the progress

[Ferdinand]

I was fortunate to have a father who was a refrigeration technician in a steel mill for 17 years and he helped a lot of people along the way and did many a car ac fix/charge/repair/replace work. Grateful I got to help as much as I did but rarely ever paid any attention to the process of pulling vacuum, collecting residual gas or nitrogen (when checking for leaks) or even the gauges when he was charging the system unfortunately. He passed unexpectedly in late 2017 (only 63 years old...). That being said, I have a half a dozen bottles of a variety of gases (probably at least one of R12), and 3-4 sets of gauges. I do remember him telling me about the one set of gauges for 410a (I think) because I believe it is the one gas that runs at ta much higher pressure than the others.  

Like I said, lots of reading to do, but I am interested to learn a lot more about it!

P.S. All original parts, 51K original miles, but bought it in the winter and never thought to check the AC. The fire took care of the hoses so no refrigerant at all. Will have to start from scratch, but would love to re-use all original parts. I am now a bit leery of my compressor... More study to be had !

[Steve83]

There's no advantage to re-using those old parts, and several DISadvantages.  If you put in the R134a system straight out of a '94-96 Bronco/F, you'll have fewer problems, costs, & sweat.



Another big advantage is that you'll know exactly how much refrigerant & oil to put in it, because Ford published the charge in a TSB.

[Bruno2]

If you have a keg of R12 I would absolutely use that. As longvas it has 3 or 4 lbs in it.

[Ferdinand]

Good evening Gentlemen,

I have been "creeping" through the email notifications I get when folks post. I am really thankful so many are finding the site Gary!! (I re-did a friends C10 wooden bed and seeing all those posts brought back plenty of good memories that I had completely forgotten!!) It was about 18 years ago I suppose...

I keep anxiously awaiting a new member somewhere closer to me so we can connect and swap "war stories" but this platform has no geographical hurdles

Anyway, I have a new development on the Bronco build and I am curious to pick some expert brains so here goes:

I was taking the Bronco over to get a tune up on my front end alignment (it seemed to go way out of spec my last road trip, but I did get some maiden off road voyages in that it did surprisingly well on.) and am still battling the back firing problem. I pulled over to peak under the hood and noticed a coolant leak.

If you followed my project at all you know I am no stranger to coolant leaks to say the least

This one happens to be completely unrelated so let me show you what I have:




This outlet seems to be metal, and maybe a drain of some sort, but I never had anything coming out of it before. Honestly, I never even noticed it before 🙃

It is coming out of the firewall just below the evaporator assembly.
Any help, as always, is greatly appreciated!!

[Rembrant]

Time for a new heater core I'd say, coming from back there.

[Steve83]

Yep - just a common heater core leak.  Extra-common after fixing other leaks because the system gets back up to full (cap) pressure.  Fortunately, it's VERY easy to change the heater core - easier than changing a headlight.  Pull the hoses off, take the glove box out, remove the 5/16" (8mm) screws from the heater core cover, and it should come out easily.



The problem is finding a new one that actually fits & works...  Many people eventually get a junkyard heater core because the aftermarket ones are problematic.

[Ferdinand]

Well thanks for the feedback Rembrant & Steve83!

I went ahead and bypassed the HC for now since I have other gremlins I'm chasing. I had the hoses way too long anyway since I had the radiator support secured with utility angle at one point.



I drained just enough to do the bypass so I didn't make a mess.


I am glad to hear the HC is easy to change. Lord knows I have changed plenty that were NOT.
I also am impressed about that little drain port. Several of the HC's I've done in the past soaked the interior of the vehicles and it takes a while for that smell to go away! Steve83, I plan to go ahead and pull mine and take it in for a comparison to be sure I get the right one. I do hope it will last a while. It WAS the only thing in the heating loop (engine-wise) that I didn't replace... (Insert "I told you so" right here _____ 😉)

I also put in one of those headlight relays that Gary did that awesome write up on. I just am not sure if I see much of a difference, but I know the power route is 10x better!!



Before relay kit:


After relay kit:


Here is a pic of old Ferdinand out on top of a high point in Belmont County Ohio

[Gary Lewis]

Yep, you got good advice.  But the metal spigot is really for the A/C condensation and just happens to double as a overflow for the heater core.

But it is a really good idea to take your old heater core in to compare with the new one.  At one point in time the wrong part was consistently in the wrong Spectra box and it would NOT fit.

On the headlights, it is very difficult to take a pic of different lighting and see the difference.  That's because the camera automatically adjusts for any changes in lighting.  But you can put the camera on auto and take the "before" pic, then look at the pic and read the aperture and shutter info and put the camera to those settings in Manual mode.  That way it can't adjust and you may be able to see the difference.