Hi. I have a 1989 Coupe. It sat for four years before i bought it. I got it running and have been driving it. Now I'm trying to get the A/C to blow cold (I live in FL, it's a must have!). For what it's worth, according to the guy I bought the car from, the A/C/ did work before the car sat .

Here's what I've done so far. Bought the R-12 to R-134 conversion kit at Autozone. Installed the fittings. There was about 10psi pressure when I first checked - I let out all the pressure. Next I hooked up a can of 134 and charged it up to 55psi. The compressor does not appear to kick on. The fan blows hot air.

Can I test electrical to the compressor or otherwise check and test the compressor to see if it works? I can turn it by hand but it doesn't seem to cycle on at all.

Thanks in advance for the help!

David

 

Update... I got power hooked directly to the compressor switch at the top of the compressor and the compressor clutch does engage and spin. While it's running, the psi pressure goes down to zero. When I turn it off, the pressure goes back up.

Help, please!

 

I am not sure about 89 , but I just went through this on my 90. So there may be some differences.

First off, I don't know what your kit consists of, but if you opened up the system you will need to pull a vacuum to see if it has any leaks and to see if it will hold about 28lbs for a while.then you need to find out why the clutch didn't engage before you jumped it. There is a little more to converting than just putting on the fittings.

 

The pros tips are here: http://www.autoacforum.com/messagevi...&threadid=7927

You obviously didn't get much gas in it and it's probably still leaking wherever it was before you started, so you should at least try to find that first. A shop is a good place to get that done (and most do it for free or a minimal charge). Unfortunately, now that it's got a mix of R134, mineral oil and maybe R12, it might be hard to find someone to even look at it. Shops aren't going to risk contaminating their equipment, even if they stand to suck a grand or two out of you making it right. So check on the hood - above the compressor - for a/c oil. The Nippondenso compressor often loses it's shaft seal and if you find oil, that's probably where it's leaking. Otherwise, examine the lines (where they're joined) and the service ports for oil.

Rebuilding and getting cold again isn't difficult once you know where the leak is and then you'll simply be replacing something that can be done with common hand tools. You can flush lines with brake fluid cleaner. Put a towel/rag over one end and squirt until the fluid comes out clear. The Condensor is more problematic and pretty much impossible to flush, but cheap enough if you want to replace it. The orifice can be cleaned or replaced. Do replace the Accumulator/Drier. Unfortunately, the main hose is sometimes rust welded to it and if that's the case, you'll need that hose - about $100 from GM.

Some times you can rent a vacuum pump but you should buy a manifold gage set. Good ones are about $80 to $100; lousy ones (if the hoses aren't leaking out of the box, they probably will the second time you use it - OR - the Quick Connect will pop off while you're pulling a vacuum on it and it'll suck in a bunch of air) quite a bit less.

Do count on spending a few bucks for this - a complete rebuild, doing it yourself, will run $800 to $1000 plus your manifold gage set plus gas and oil. Speaking of which, if you want to stay with R12, get your license for $25 at www.epatest.com and buy all you want. Even if you fork over $15 to $20 per can, it'll be one of the cheaper parts of whatever it needs to be cold again.

 

I am no A/C expert. As a matter of fact, im not an expert on anything. JMO................The pressure thing might be a bad compressor. My pops is dealing with this same issue right now. He seems to think its the compressor. Good Luck.

Corvette Mike

 

I did mine (86L) last weekend. I replaced the compressor, drier, flexible hoses and seals. Got the majority of parts from the partsladi (ebay). I then took it to a GREAT local mechanic for evac and fill. Long story short, he discovered that I destroyed the three switches last sumer when I tried just putting Freeze 12 in the system with no preparation (yes, my bad). Bottom line is I have an entirely new system except the aluminum pipe on the fender well. Total of all I did was ~$700 parts and labor (not my labor of course!). It is so cold I think I can hang meat in there now! I never thought I'd be able to do something like this, but lots of research, lots of corvetteforum searches, and lots of corvetteforum questions made it doable. Oh yeah, warning all about the d-shaped head on the Torx 40 bolt under the compressor.....

 

"Oh yeah, warning all about the d-shaped head on the Torx 40 bolt under the compressor..... "

Doesn't exist on the '88 up which uses a different (Nippondenso)compressor.