Well hello to all out there . I have a 78 S.A that is in really nice driver quality condition . I would say a solid number 3 car . I have had the car for about a year and a half . So far I have done the normal maintenance stuff including new front carpeting . Runs and drives very nicely but I have one little ongoing issue .

A/C blows warm . When I bought the car I made sure the air worked and even made the person I bought it from put in a new compressor . A/C was fine for a while then what do you know - started blowing warm again .

Moving on I have a mechanic that I trust and he checked everything out and put dye in the system . The air blew cold for maybe a half hour and that was it . I took it in and he ran his test light to see where the problem was coming from and low and behold the evaporator was bad . He showed me the unit after he took it out and you could see it had seen it's better days . I had this done about 5 months ago . It is cool here in florida so I usually rode around with the t tops off .

Today it was raining and I had to use the A/C and guess what , blowing warm . I called my mechanic up and I am bringing it in monday but I am slightly perturbed about this .

Can anyone point me in the right direction as to where he should be looking . It cost me $350 for the evaporator and another $325 or so to put it in . I just want cold air for the hot Florida summers but I don't want to keep throwing money at the problem . I figure I will give him one more shot .

Also , can anyone recommend a good A/C mechanic in the south florida , fort lauderdale , west palm region .

Sorry for the long post but I want to get this handled over the next week or two . I don't want to go around the Mulberry bush .

Cheers and Thanks to all . I will be monitoring this post like a hawk .....

 

Early on look into a Vintage Air system. It replaces the entire A/C and heat system with modern electronic controls blows strong and as new. You could easily go over the cost of an entire new Vintage Air system if you keep chasing the problems with the old system as you add and change out parts. With what you already did you spent half the price already.

Maybe in your case you can have your system gone through one more time and get a long term fix but get a quote for the work first and consider a complete change out of the system before overrunning the price of that and still not getting near new car quality heating and A/C.

I know in my case I could have paid for two Vintage Air systems just about with all the problems I had finally getting it to run decent. Had problems with two shops that didn't know what they were doing before finding someone competent which was part of my issue.

 

That's good advice . My mechanic is a nice guy and I think he really thought he nailed it with the evaporator . I have an appointment monday to replace my front calipers and brake lines with a brake flush . I am also replacing my shocks as my rear shocks were leaking . I am going to talk it over with him and I know he will not screw me around . He will probably do it on his dime but if I need parts I will have to pay for them . I get a good discount on parts because I work in a body shop .

On another note , if this does not work out who would I contact to install a new vintage a/c unit ? I really like the way this sounds because i would rather just bite the bullet and get it done the right way and enjoy my car this summer . One more shot and it's vintage air for me . I just need a good recommendation . Thank you for your reply , this is a great help .....

 

Check out their website vintageair.com from there you can find authorized installers based on the first three digits of your zip code.

I bought mine online for about $1285 and am doing the install myself while it's parked for the winter. I was quoted around $1800 for complete installation. I'll still need to take it to the shop to evacuate and charge the system. I'll probably have nearly $300 in expenses to complete the job. VA was an easy choice for me (non-AC car with heater core bypass); you're situation differs. All in all, I'll have a modern AC system for under $2k and was able to restore a few components once disassembled.

Good luck,

Eugene

 

thank you for the info. I am hoping that my mechanic gets to the bottom of it . All the components were there when I bought the vehicle and like I said there is a new evaporator and compressor . I am crossing my fingers . The car is a solid original vehicle with pretty low miles and looks to have been well maintained , so l am chalking that up as a plus . Going back in on monday and I am crossing my fingers . I will see how it goes . I am hoping someone will chime in with a good A/C mechanic so i can give it the ole college try one more time . If push comes to shove , it's vintage air and I am done . Thanks again . Chris .....

 

Locating A/C problems can be a headache...even for a good mechanic.

Here are some of the problems that I encountered when trying to save my original system:

Is the compressor actually turning when the warm air is blowing?

Could one of the pressure-sensing switches be faulty causing the compressor to stop turning even though the dash switch is on?

Could the ?orifice valve? be clogged?

Is it a "pancake" compressor that you now have installed (which cannot cool as well as a true Sanden compressor)?

Does an electric fan need to be installed in front of the condenser to help it cool off faster (not the cause of the problem--but it can help in traffic situations)?

Vintage Air is great/I have one in my '34 streetrod truck....
BUT...I would hate to see it in an original car (unless you saved ALL the original A/C parts (and you did not cut out any of the firewall to install it).....Then put a V.A. in now (instead of putting more $$$$into the old system) with a TRUE Sanden compressor (NOT a knock-off "Sanden-style" compressor!).

 

It seems like you and your mechanic are not too far off from getting everything to work. The VA system is great and I installed one in my 76. They are not too difficult to install and if I was a little closer to you (Pensacola) we could probably knock an install out over a three day weekend.
Good Luck,
Bill

 

I don’t think I would bail on your original guy if you trust him. He replaced the evaporator core, probably as instructed… I wouldn't go aftermarket at this point either.

Your guy probably didn't replace all the O-rings in the system, the compressor or one or more of many other items that could cause a failure. You could have a bad front seal on the compressor (common, and this was installed by the other guy that owned it), a stopped up orifice, and/or drier... or one of many other things.

Give him a fair chance to look at the car and see what the problem is, it might be something simple.

IMHO,

Willcox

 

I went to vintage airs website and it looks like the 1978 is not one of the vehicles they make the unit for . Are their any other companies ?.....

 

THANK YOU , BTW , I bought the evap. from you guys . Very nice quality product . I am going to show my mechanic this email and perhaps we can finally get this licked . I think it's gonna work out soon .....

 

I agree with Willcox, what else have you changed on the car's a/c system??? If you did not replace all the o-rings, you messed up. You can check the system out for leaks, not using dye, but with a leak detector(electronic) or using soap bubbles. The leak might be the hose connections or anywhere else. Since it sounds like you are loosing freon. Are you still using r-12??

 

Converted over to the new stuff . We are going to replace the o rings . I just spoke with him . He is very confident that we will get to the bottom of it .....

 

He sounds optimistic....

 

No sense in throwing money at aftermarket systems at this point. See what shakes out after Monday.

 

My guess would be the flapper door and the hot water valve. If this door does not shut completly, it will let a trickle of hot air in past the heater core.

The plastic connection on the door will sometimes break too.

You might want to replace the hot water shut off valve. Some of us have even installed a 90deg. ball valve to completely shut off the water. I open mine in October and close it in April.

 

my thoughts...

bad and or none working heater valve located on passenger side wheel well..

bad insulation on flap door that directs air from heater core or A/C core

 

Thanks everyone , I am sure with all this info. my mechanic is gonna fix it in no time . Thanks , Chris .....

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems to me this entire fiasco is centered around a leak. We'll know on your next visit to your mechanic if you end up adding any refrigerant. I'm not much of a fan of things like UV dye or magical stop leak formulas either. And for good reason, but that's another story. Any qualified repair facility I would think should have an electronic refrigerant leak detector. These detect in PPM (parts per million), i.e. they are VERY sensitive and should be able to locate your leak in a jiffy. Also note if the leak is on the low side, (evaporator) it will leak faster when the system is not running (pressures equalized). If the leak is on the high side (condenser) it will leak faster when the system is running. (High pressures) It's also a lot easier to find a leak on the high side. When it leaks it pushes refrigeration oil out as well. Dirt and dust stick to it. Easy to "see". A car A/C system is what is called a "semi-hermetic", meaning they leak by design. (Charge held in with O Rings and gaskets) This said I wouldn't think you'd lose an ounce a year, or in a perfect world, lose little to nothing. The LAST thing I'd do is scrap a factory air. That would be the LAST thing I would do. One more time...LAST THING... Anyway, moving on. I'm guessing yours is a VIR (valves in receiver). If so, these metering devices were HORRIBLE when they were new so you can imagine my opinion after 20 or 30 years of use. The good news is they can be converted with a much more reliable system of metering refrigerant. Once converted, they can also run 134a AND a much newer, much more efficient compressor than either the A6 or an R4 ever were. And you'd STILL have your "factory air".

 

It is a 78 so it does not have the VIR system. They stopped the VIR mid 77, my early 77 had the VIR and I changed to the more modern orifice valve system.

There are only so many parts to check out and you did the hardest one to get to already. Check leaks then check the dryer and orifice (Change those) and while it is apart flush flush flush all the lines. Could be it is clogged with pieces of an old compressor somewhere.

 

I will be forwarding all this info to my mechanic . I will also see if he has a leak detection meter . I am pretty sure he does . Last time he put the dye in and that's how he found the evap was bad . BTW , we put in a new orifice tube already .

thanks for everyones help. I will update Tuesday ..... Cheers .....