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AC Load on engine 82'

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Old Feb 1, 2021 | 07:56 AM
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Mikey1339
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Default AC Load on engine 82'

When I bought my 82' the vacuum source and heater vacuum line to the firewall pass through snapped week 1. This lead to a big vacuum leak/stalling at low RPMs/rough cold start. I connected vacuum source directly to the heater line (bypassing AC controls) and this seemed to fix idle. I drove the car this way for a year and in this time I never saw the AC compressor spin. Car was running fantastic (quiet prr at cold start) with the bypass.

I recently replaced vacuum lines and hooked AC control back up. AC works but compressor always seems to be on and at cold starts car sounds like it is running with the air cleaner is removed (chuggles at 700-900 RPM for 30 seconds during cold start before dropping to smooth 550 RPM). I suspect the load of the compressor being on at ignition is enough to make cold starts funky. Cycling through the AC controls I am able to get Off (compressor still spins), Max AC (upper vents blow cold), AC (50:50 upper/floor vents blow cold), Vent (raw fresh air comes in), didn't go farther right as heater core is capped off (leaked). I seem to have discrete modes of operation so I think vacuum AC controls are good. I am suspecting there is an electrical aspect to AC system that I need to service to get the AC to be truly off when in the off position?

When driving the AC seems to be a noticeable drag on performance. Is this normal? The car is more sluggish and sounds more like an SUV. Specifically with my foot on the pedal applying steady pressure driving in town at a consistent speed, in WinALDL I will see the RPMs go 1300, 1350, 1300, 1350... You can't hear the RPM change but like I can feel the car pulsating/hunting/pecking. Anybody think I still have vacuum leaks?

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