I was waiting by the body shop that's going to put new hinges in the driver's side door. Here comes Andi and the little one. She stops in the parking spot with burnt smells coming from under the hood and a little (a lot) bit of smoke coming out.
Total damage report is I'm going to need a new A/C compressor :(
That's nothing.Put on a smile and be glad there wasn't an under hood fire,engine damage,bent up body panels or other major event. Compressors cost,but it could be worse.
I know. I'd have much rather the compressor go there than on our way to Central City in a few months.
She seems to have all the luck with my 'bird. The upper radiator hose
finally started leaking when she drove it. Now the compressor, although it may just be the clutch and bearings. Hopefully it's the latter so it doesn't damage the pocket book, too much. The door's already enough, but at least it's an awesome shop that's going to e doing that work.
Glad you're having a shop do it.I have to do it all myself.LOL. That reminds me,I need to get a new upper radiator hose.Thanks for the reminder.
I did the hose. A body shop's going to do the door hinges. I'm probably bringing it by a shop I use all the time for the clut..well, hopefully it's only the compressor clutch.
Ehh,, A/C is overrated LOL. I have been driving without A/C for a very long time, (other than when I drive my ram, which is hardly ever). Too cheap to have a shop do it (well poor really :D) and don't know enough about them to fix it myself......Oh well
Bring your bird up here ...the Chilton book said, "Repair or service is not covered in the manual, because of the risk of death or personal injury, and legal ramifications blah blah blah."
I'm sure if the two of us got together on it, we'd have the a/c's going awesome by the end of the day :headbang:
In my C-1500, I have never used the a/c, but the 'underbird has gotten me spoiled a little bit.
AC working is the last thing on my list right now. My parents said that it was working when it was parked 10 years ago but it is not working at all now. So I will get to it when I get to it. Too much other stuff needs to be done!
What's air conditioning? :hick:
Oh, right....yeah, have central air/heat in the house, and the loaner 'Yota Camry we've been using for the family hauler has good air, but the Sport, and "Ole Blue" don't have air at all....lol
Don't need it in either, really. Someday though, I'll probably get the parts from a Muskrat (thanks Oldraven! :bowdown:;)) and set it back up...but for now, hell, I need to do 40 or 95 thing more important. Besides, summer will be over in about 2 months and 3 days around here, lmfao
:rollin:
Now, if this were a project 'bird that I was going to be running at the track, I'd be asking where to find the a/c delete stuff.
'underbird should be at the shop in a few hours, hopefully it doesn't get me behind on other things. The door's already over budget.
I just got the quote from the shop. They'll be replacing the water pump, too, as well as using all Motorcraft parts & I won't be getting another Thunderbird :(
??? That makes no sense? I won't get another one either but it isn't because of some small maintenance issues of parts wearing out after 13+ years. In my experience, Tbirds are some of the more reliable cars out there when maintained properly (and not expensive).
Anyways, the water pump sucks in pretty much any vehicle and can be costly. Shops will charge for twice the amount of labor as one could do in their own driveway if they have the know-how already (we got very good at pulling all the accessories and heads off of my motor when the rebuilt motor was a lemon).
So is it AC compressor, water pump, A/C charge, and coolant flush?
I won't be getting another one because I don't want to push my luck with this one :rollin:
I never planned on Project 'underbird costing so much, so to make it up to my wife, I'm going to invest what money I
would be investing for a 94/95 Thunderbird SC into a 55/6/7 Chebby Bel Air. But, I'm not going to tell her until I have the Shoebox in the driveway.
After we've got the Bel Air taken care of, I'll go back to looking for another Thunderbird project to work on.
The water pump is just a preventative measure on my part. Considering I'm already spending 1200$ on the A/C, I might as well spend another 400$ on the water pump, so I don't have to worry about it (and the head gaskets) later.
I was driving (my work truck) when the shop called, and I had to pull over when the girl told me how much it was for the A/C ...haha! My wife about laughed her butt off when I texted her the quote.
Like I said, she's taking care of me through this deal, so I'm gonna make sure she's taken care of, too ;)
And yep, it's the a/c, water pump, coolant flush, and charge the a/c. On top of that, I need to get the door hinges on the driver's side completely rebuilt and a new set of Firestone tires. So, like I said, she's dealing with this 'underbird stuff very well, so I'll take care of her when we get things straight.
My 88's hinges/bushings are still stock after 22 years :p
Yes, I should replace them soon too.
:flip:
My door is twice as heavy, but you make up for it with the hood :D
Really? I find our doors quite heavy - carrying it one person, it feels about the same weight as our hoods. I now also have a roll of sound deadening in each door too, adding another huge 20lbs or something. The thing is - it didn't even help as much as it should have! The tops of our doors is where all the noise comes from!
man I had no ac in the coug since I got it and I'll tell you what down here in FL with the 100* summers and 90% humidity, its nice to have. I'm so glad the bird has it now. ...come to think of it....It could definitely use a recharge...
Perhaps I don't know enough about A/C but to me, this makes no sense. Adding refrigerant to the A/C system would increase the pressures. Unless the A/C is continuously cycling on a hot day due to low pressure (low pressure = colder refrigerant), adding refrigerant will make the cooling system run HOTTER, not cooler. Why do people typically claim they need to "recharge" their systems?
I need a remove a little refrigerant from my A/C as I don't get as cold of vent temperatures as I could be on normal hot days. The system runs continuously at cruise on a 80 degree day and doesn't hit cutout so the pressure is a few psi and up to 10 degrees warmer than I could get it if I were to have less refrigerant, not more.
Most of the time when I hear complaints about A/C performance, I tell people to leave it alone - it's usually in your head.
recharged to the optimal pressure
Aft 22 years mine are fine, a little oil goes a long way... Hell the door hinges on my '69 Fairlane are still tight...
The problem is adding ANY refrigerant will cause poorer cooling - again, UNLESS the A/C clutch is cycling on and off when it shouldn't, due to low refrigerant. Less refrigerant/pressure = colder A/C in liquid side. I don't think people who "recharge" are pulling anything out and charging it back up - they're just adding addition r-(your flavor).
I hear the "recharge" thing from half a dozen people every summer, yet the a/c eventually blows cold and the compressor keeps on running. In these cases, no A/C work will improve anything other than stalling larger condensers, evaporators, adding stronger/more condenser fans, and replacing inline parts with more optimal ones. I've wasted so much money on stupid things that were pointless, I'd like to help people not make the same (expensive) mistakes.
I hope someone can say I'm wrong and it's certainly possible with variable output compressors and what not, but the basic rules of liquid/gas phase change don't change.
The hinges may be find but my old bushings were fun to play with when we had to replace the passenger side door. It'd bolt up and work but an hour later, the door was sagging.
I dunno much about how it works , All I know is I have a gauge that I can hook up that has a yellow, green, and red range and a gauge that has an adjustable temperature range . You set the temperature part to the outside temperature and check to see where the needle is ... It has worked great for me so far :D
Do you charge it with the engine at idle or revved up continuously? If you charge it at idle, the clutch will rapidly turn on and off at any sustained speeds but you will get good cooling at idle. This should kill the clutch a lot sooner than otherwise. If you charge it when keeping the rpm's up, your idle won't work as well but cruise will cool great.
Keep in mind that at lower temperatures, the clutch will cycle more often due to the entire system being cooler/lower pressure. In winter with your defroster, the A/C cycles on quite rapidly so I don't think charging the vehicle with it at idle will harm anything too much but the system may be a little undercharged (which is why it can cool better at idle).
I have always checked /charged at idle , but never in "cooler" weather, it's always been 90 or above whenever I have done any A/C checks/work .
I'm kinda chubby and I don't like being hot in my car . So I usually just make sure the needle on my gauge is in the green zone and call it good .
Yeah, I'm guessing that you have a leak and the compressor is being cycled on and off rapidly, causing the evaporator to get to like 40 degrees, then 90 degrees, then 40 degrees, and so on. Over time, this comes out to something stupid like 80 degree vent temperatures. The cycling would likely turn on for about 10 seconds, then off for 5, then on for 10 - or something similar. Normally it takes a car a couple minutes of solid ~30 degree evaporator temperatures before you start to notice it actually cooling the cabin down.
Just pop the hood and look at the a/c clutch - it'll tell you all its dirty secrets.
I have actually only had to add refrigerant to any of my cars one time .
It was on my 88 Mark VII back in 2008 and have since sold it to my brother and it is still blowing cold :D
When I bought my Bird it had a new compressor, accumulator and low pressure line and a wonderfully working climate control system .
But you are absolutely right the clutch will tell you lots of things .
you can just have the shop do pins and bushings instead of
hinges. ive done it a couple of times.involves using gm parts.
there might even be a kit from total automotive for this now.
hinges are a pain in the a-- . just a thought --irv
any body shop can get this kit from total automotive--TAI-FDHK02
[total auto.com]
according to my mitchell the last prices i have for hinges is
85.43 upper & 180.48 for lower and probably at least 2 hours labor
This thread is why I do my own work. I don't think any repair is justified, when it costs more then a new car.
I'm gonna find a shop to put in the rebuild kit I bought from SuperCoupePerformance.com ...the hell with a 400$ bill. shiznit, I may get brave and do it over a weekend.