opeth13

I can not find anything in the FSM on the A/C system, is it in there?

10AEturboII

I searched through the FSM and it is not in there, kinda weird.

opeth13

ok, I've come to the conclusion that its not in there, anyone know where to find literature on this? Its not in the FAQ either, my face is getting pWnzored. Plz help!!

mike_merryguy

iTrader: (8)

Is not written b/c these cars came with an R12 system. You have to be licensed to deal with R12 b/c of the saftey issues with it...

What are you trying to find out about your A/C I am sure someone can help you.. snap some pics if you are having trouble identifiying something and it will be quickly labeled by the thousands of knowledgeable mechanics that use this site....

opeth13

thanks mike, I don't know if I should start a new thread with a different title, but here goes:

I bought this car off of some kid that said the A/C works and there is nothing wrong with the compressor or any of the other a/c components, he told me he had recharged with a can of r12 he had lying around and used it all up (lived in Arizona, crazy insane hot) and the compressor doesn't turn on because there is not enough r12 left in the system.

I've refilled a couple of my friends r134 (newer) cars with r134 and on their cars the a/c clutch would cycle if the r134 was low, basically the clutch would start to spin and then it would stop, and as soon as I'd connect the r134 the clutch would start spinning and would stop cycling.

Now, my car never cycles, so I thought as soon as I connected a can of r12 it would start to spin as it filled up. Heres the deal. I figured just by referring to laws of physics that the tube larger in diameter would be the lower pressure tube. I connected a 12oz can of r12 to the port, puntured the can and waited with the a/c on full blast, the clutch didn't engage. I left the can on for a total of 25-30 minutes and it still feels like theres a lot of liquid in there (when I shake it around I can feel it slosh and its heavy). My idle gets higher when I hit the a/c button, but the clutch never starts spinning.

At this point I want to manually jumper the something or other to force the clutch to spin to make sure it works. Let me mention that I have little experience with electrical stuff, I've replaced shocks, springs, bushings, installed camber kits, swaybars, control arms, I know a lot about suspension and suspension setup (camber, tow, caster, roll center, scrub radius, slip angle, etc. etc.) I know very little regarding engine work. I have learned how to diagnose a battery/alternator issue and have changed a fan clutch and starter. If I have instructions in front of me I can pretty much do anything.

That said, I'm an A/C nubcake. How do I force start the a/c clutch to engage? Why does my bottle of r12 still feel full after being connected with the valve opened for 30 minutes? What is the next step here? I know I can do this myself with some guidance, I hate paying shops $400-$700 to get my car back only to realize they did a half - a%%ed job where I end up doing the repair myself anyway. Should I start a new thread? I appreciate your help, I've spent the last 9 months researching a/c on and off and I concluded I don't want to do an r134 conversion myself, and I don't trust any of the shops here to do a conversion thoroughly (taking out compressor, evaccing all the oil, replacing all of the bushings, etc. etc.)

T2 vert

iTrader: (5)

In my '90 FSM section U "Heating and Air Conditioning Systems"

hanman

What I do on my cars is, take it to a shop and get them to troubleshoot it. Then take it back home and replace the parts that are not working, i.e. the compressor or whatever. I always replace the drier, the expansion valve, and ALL of the rubber orings in the system. Then I take it back to the shop and have them pull a vacuum on it. Then if it's not leaking, I have them charge it with R12. It's worked for me on my cars.

mike_merryguy

iTrader: (8)

You may have to vacume the system if there was air in the system it won't suck the r12 from the can b/c they would be at equal pressure...

here is what i did..

i had a hose for charging and the can piece busted off so i cut the hose
buy a 50.00 vacume pump brake bleeder kit from kragen

purge a/c system, but do it slow so that oil doesn't leak out (do it legaly if its R12)
shove vacume pump in hose connect to low side port, pump to about 25 in vag and let set for 30 min min, if the vac has held you should be good to charge system, just disconect your rigged vac pump from service port and attach a good charging hose w/can

get yourself one with a gauge on it too make sure the pressure is correct, the r134 systems run at about 25 not sure about r12, when i charged mine the compressor kicked in at about 10 on the pressure gauge


edit: i hope that kid didn't mess anything up, if the car was converted to r134 and he put r12 in it may have bad results, basically the two systems use different oils and don't mix well

opeth13

ok, I'm going to have a shop pull a vac on it because now when I try to hook the hose up to the low side port pressured gas comes out of the low side port (Im assuming its the little bit of r12 that made it in that is coming back out, so I dont want to be venting r12 into the atmosphere). Before I take it to a shop, I want to make sure the compressor/clutch works, so anyone know how to manually switch it on? I know I can only so this for a couple of seconds or it will mess up the compressor, but I just want to know if it works or not before someone tells me I need to replace it. Thanks again for all the info everybody.

HAILERS

Like the man said, for a/c, look in the series five FSM. Even if you have a series four.

opeth13

I've been drinking. I would say I am drunk right now. The reason I'm drinking? Celebration! Ice stinkin cold a/c. Un-friggin believable. I'm still in shock and awe. Today was a great day. Not only did I get my $600 lets take money we dont have and give it to rx-7 owners (stimulus) check today, I done fixed my a/c in my 1986 rx-7!!! So, what was the culprit? I did a search for compressor clutch (I think) and found this thread https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...per+compressor and guess what, the CIGAR fuse was blown, plain as day, and guess what? I had a 10a fuse chillin in my arm rest compartment. Plugged in it, hooked up the r12, turned everything on, clutch spinning, r12 can freezing cold, 10 minutes later, ice cold sweetness. I'd like to thank God, my fans, my producer for believing in me, and most of all, the rx-7 community. I can't stinkin beleive it. Let me tell you a drunken story:

About a year ago, I wanted to buy a rex, found the one I wanted in Arizona (I live in Vegas), bought a plane ticket to AZ, picked up the car, and tried driving it back home. I got stuck in AZ traffic in 120 degree summer heat with no A/C and almost had a heat stroke from dehydration (no joke, I almost had a stroke, I was blue in the face and my limbs were numb and I was trembling from nerves going bad). I had to cool down at a mall for 4 hours until the sun set so I could continue my journey home.

I took my car to a shop here in vegas that did r12 recharges (most shops said I had to convert to r134 and it would cost anywhere from $150-$280. The shop that agreed to fo the r12 fillup made me wait 1 hour, then about 30 more minutes later came to me and said, "your compressor wont turn on, we are going to charge $100 for the r12, $20 for the diagnostic, $60 to figure out why your compressor won't turn on, $120 to do a U/V dye test for leakage, and $100 for the rest of the labor." So $400 is what they wanted, and I was like "OMFG!!! No thanks" so they charged me $20 because they looked at my car after making me wait an hour and a half (I was referred to these guys because they are one of the most reputable A/C shysters in town) and drove my car home with no A/C. I lost $20, a couple of hours of my life, and a lot of hope that day.

I remember when I was driving the car back from Arizona to Vegas, the first time and only time I had taken such a trip, thinking to myself I hope the cigar lighter works in this car because my cell phone battery is about to die and this was what I was counting on to charge my phone so I can have contact with my family/loved ones. I plug my phone charger into the cigar lighter and nothing. I'm like "wow, damn you Murphy, damn you to hell." So it turns out it was one fuse. One stinkin fuse. Who would have thought.

mike_merryguy

iTrader: (8)

heh go figure LOL