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I put the endoscope in the blower hole and found this:
It looks huge, but remember those white things are parakeet seed food. I was able to vacuum some things out but not very well. I am going to pull the housing. Dub, I hear you and agree; first I need to get it apart without causing a small disaster. Sprayed some nano-lube to loosen the nuts.
'68 doesn't have any grills in place to block debris. I'd appreciate it if one of you could post a picture showing specifically where the inlet is and where the grills need to be placed. It's a black box at the moment.
Jeff,
GM did not install these screens to stop debris from getting pulled into the area where the blower motor can pull in leaves and crap. Your car is a 'wiper door car' and they had not yet been though of.
In order for you to install these screens....the wiper door assembly would need to be removed to gain access to the area where you can install them and make them work as needed.
YEP..I agree...it looks like parakeet food and a mouse got hold of it.
AS stated...pulling out the blower mort can allow you access with a vacuum hose to try to suck out off of the jute insulation the mouse used for a home.
I myself would take it all apart due to a mouse set up a home there and I would not want any of that crap now being blown into the cabin on a regular basis AFTER I found out that mouse crap is in this area for sure.
And as bad as it may seem. I would pull the dash and CLEAN all of the duct work and heater box also just as a precaution..
Also...while I am at it.. I check the fresh air vent door in the right hinge post area and CAREFULLY pull out the door and clean out the obvious crap that has collected in the bottom of the plenum for 50 years also. Because I have found mice nests in there also.
You're right, Dub. Moisture + freon = bad news. That said, I'd like to pressure test the evaporator to see if it will work. To test it, I presume I need to remove these two valves (POA and Expansion?). Are these nuts (example 'Nut' below) supposed to turn around the pipes to which they are applied? My only experience with fittings like these is with water plumbing; those nuts turn, spiraling around the tube. On one of the other fittings (not shown), I had to cut the rubber hose and twist the nut and pipe flange off at the same time because the nut was 'frozen' to the tube; holding the tube and turning the nut only twisted the soft aluminum. Have these almost 'frozen' in place? If they are to swivel, can they be loosened somehow? What about that small tube I'm pointing to (coming from the expansion valve)? Should I remove this entire assembly for testing? Is it important to keep these valves upright? I know the bigger one (the POA?) has liquid in it.
Can I pressure test this myself? If so, how? (I have a hand vacuum pump, but not an electric high capacity pump.)
How am I supposed to clean the evaporator? It is not corroded. Just dirty and impregnated with more bird seed. If one isn't to get water near these parts, what do you use?
BTW, it took me about four hours to get it out. '68 was a little different. For the record, attaching the right side of the housing to the firewall, there was one stud on the top right held with a nut, one screw on the lower right (accessible from the engine compartment), and one screw through the firewall from the passenger compartment at the bottom (there are two in the firewall, but one must hold the other half of the housing). The housing was held together with six bolts (two top, two side, and two bottom). I also had to remove a bracket holding the POA valve.
This is what I found when I opened the box. It was 3/4ths full of mouse next and seed. There was enough stuff in there to fill the bread pan in the picture. I'm thinking of fabricating a small filter to install between the blower and the evaporator, mounting it within the portion of the housing where the blower sits. That's more accessible than the evaporator and could be periodically inspected for debris.
I take them to my radiator shop guy and let him test them under pressure. Even though I have a tub that can hold enough water so I can check for bubbles...I let him do it and it gets me out of the shop and I do not mind that at times.
As for the expansion valve,...I put new one on it. With my luck it would be bad and would need to be replaced.
The black gooey tape that is used to cover the end of the tube of the expansion valve, I get new stuff and let my A/C guy put the tube where it needs to be and put that sealing tape on it.
I am not worried about the outside of the evap core in regards to corrosion...it is what is going on on the inside of it due to the system being open for so long.
Trying to get these nuts and fitting to break loose ans spin can take some time ...and they still might want to come off and twist the tube. Sometimes I use heat. If I find that the fitting will not let loose or a problem begins to show up..I stop and let the customer know that me wasting my time on trying to save parts that may already be bad is pointless due to the cost of me trying to save them is just making teh cost of the new parts be higher and higher. Knowing when to 'cut bait' is wise. But it depends on how much you value your time.
As for trying to keep things upright. I would not worry about it due to who ever is going to charge the system will determine on how much oil they will want to use. This is why I also start with a fresh system so there is no guesswork on how much may be where.
Keep in mind I may have a completely different perspective on this than you might have. I do this for people...and they will expect me to be able to guarantee what I am charging them for. SO...they will not consider than there is no way to 100% guarantee that the amount of oil is actually what is needed and that is when professional experience comes into play wand I leave it up to my A/C guy. So is the oil down an ounce or two...who knows. I have been rather blessed that the A/C systems I work on do not go crazy or parts detonate due to problems that were not considered during the repair initially. What is funny is that advice is given and some parts are not replaced and in a month or two that part fails and the customer expects me or the A/C shop to pay for a new one when they were advised to replace it when the system was down for the initial repairs. It is not like I have a crystal ball..
In the photo below...the yellow arrows show all of the fittings that will spin. They have to due to the nuts are steel and the tubing is aluminum.
Makes complete sense. When I was working my time was worth more. . I have applied some nano-oil to help with loosening. If I apply heat, can I just use my small propane torch used for plumbing?
I'm sure I will end up replacing some of these parts but it's been fun working through it. (All except the 95 degree heat and high humidity here in St. Louis.)
Just keep in mind that heat EXPANDS things...so heating up the NUTS is what you would want to do but the top of the POA where it threads into it...you would want to heat up the POA instead.
IF you use the heat too much...then you are heating everything up so it is all expanding and may not do jack squat. So get it warm/hot and try it and take the heat off of it. Sometimes getting it hot and then putting a wet towel on it will aid also due to rapid cooling can aid in how the part is seized.
07-05-2018, 07:25 PM
. I have applied some nano-oil to help with loosening. If I apply heat, can I just use my small propane torch used for plumbing?