A/C work, twists and turns

Post date: Sep 7, 2015 10:18:25 PM

Got the A/C condenser mounted - part 20007XC at ackits.com. That required a fair bit of work - a jumper line from the bottom outlet to the receiver/drier plus a short extension out the top outlet, then bolted it to the back part of the stock brackets. Without thinking, I charged up about 3.5 lbs of 134a - stock is 4lbs. Well, the condenser is much smaller, so that was massively overcharged. Started venting and got acceptable pressures - 35 low, 250 high and the evap sweating. Outlet temps were still poor - only about 70 degrees on a 95 deg humid day. I'll likely evac and recharge again and go much slower so I can stop once the pressures look good. It might only need 2 to 3 lbs now.

It took a while to get here, as I had to break and reassemble a bracket, plus some grinding, to fit the engine properly. Of course I also painted all the bracketry with some good paint. That was an adventure - I picked up a new gun from Harbor Freight, but it clogged while test spraying and ended up a complete mess. I also replaced the ceramic seal on the compressor with a double lip seal - acdelco 15-30948, drained out the mineral oil to put in ester 100. I put 1 oz ester in the drier, the rest in the compressor. This is a new compressor purchased from ackits.com back in '10. It's actually an Omega compressor but I put a Frigidaire sticker on there. It'd be great except the metric threads. I contemplated putting the new guts in an old case and even disassembled an old compressor to check out the idea, but recognized I'd more likely mess something up. So stuck with the new - metric - case. But I used fancy allen socket head bolts to spruce it up.

Getting all the A/C ducts installed was an expletive laced job. But they're in there.

Also discovered that the early A/C idle kick-up solenoid doesn't actually connect with the later throttle arm. As in it doesn't line up and it's far too short. I'm hoping some kind of rod or something can make up the difference. Right now I just have the idle turned up a half turn.

In other news, the A/C pulley rubs against the fuel line and tranny cooler line. New fittings (and line) to guide them out of the way are in the mail.

Onto the power steering. I finally noticed the steering gear - from O'Reilly's - was leaking profusely from all the seals. So that came out to be replaced by at Atsco unit from Pep Boys. This one works fine and the pump whine had gone down significantly! The O'Reilly guys had a hell of a time finding my purchase. Turns out I had the wrong unit - this one was from a 96 Grand Cherokee instead of a 95. One digit in the part number. Who knows what the internal difference is.

Then I finally noticed there was a leak from the pump itself. The N pumps have a plug in the side of the body. I had removed that to bore out some passages, and clearly it didn't get reinstalled properly. So I start futzing with that and see that it's just the right size for 3/8" NPT. Perfect! Well I put in a steel plug then figure I should pressure test before I install.

#$%#@$%#@$%@#%@%# good thing I did, too. I installed a special plug for the Olds engine that has a hole in it.

Yup, I installed a plug with a hole trying to fix a leak.

Good thing I noticed before I bolted everything back together. It certainly would have leaked then!

Getting it back out didn't go well. Heat, vice grips and drill bits were involved. But it finally gave way and I put in a new brass plug (without a hole).

The hydroboost had a really high and hard pedal. Significant internet searching time showed some folks talking about using the manual brakes hole in the brake pedal instead of the power assist hole. Sure enough, that make a HUGE change. That hole is easily 3" up the brake lever. Now the pedal can go to the floor and is pretty soft, but the wheels lock up less than half way down. I think something in the middle would be perfect.

Errata:

Replace fuel line, replace tranny cooler line fitting (45 degree to replace the straight)

Swap the tranny shift cable so the seal can actually be bolted to the floor

Try to get the A/C to cool decently

Get A/C idle solenoid to work

Install wiring harness with superheat and thermal fuse connectors

Drill a "Hydroboost" hole in the brake pedal. hah!

Prep and paint second dash pad and dash

Final mount of the computer

Wire an IGN1 signal for the O2 sensor

See if the PS system is done leaking and whining.........