air conditioning help....

[turbo96max]

i have a pretty thick intercooler upgrade, looks about 4-4.5 inches thick. autozone radiator from 92 camaro, stock fan. i took the car into ac shop, they did a flush, 2 new hoses, fill with freeze 12, car didnt cool. so they recommended real r12 but it was very expensive. but i did it, still didnt cool. the pressure where too high, so they told me i needed a fan on the condenser bc the intercooler was not allowing it to work properly. so i did, and it got alittle better but its not cooling really still. i hae 72 degrees air coming out of the middle vents at noon. any suggestions? could it be the stock fan? any one else gone through this issue?

 

[84GNGary]

What were your system pressures and what was the ambient temp. For R 12 the high side pressure is around 250 -300 psi. If you are restricting the air going over the condenser it will cause your high side pressure to run higher. If you start getting over 350 psi I would be concerned and it will stop your a/c from working properly. Also does it get any better while driving on the highway? Higher than normal high side pressures can also be caused be air in the system or being grossly overcharged. Did they evacuate the system afetr working on it ?

 

[brohr01]

A quick easy check for airflow across the condenser is to spray it with a garden hose with the car running and the a/c on. if the temp at the center vents start to drop to a more acceptable level then the issue is poor heat transfer at the condenser. make sure it is free of debris and maybe a good after market fan on it to keep it cool. Posting the pressure readings, both high and low side would be helpful. freeze 12 is not going to cool as good as r12. as long as the system was pulled into a vacuum and evacuated and charged properly you should be seeing better temps. have you considered a retro fit to r134a, im not saying that will fix your problem but with the cost of r12 is might be an option for you.

 

[turbo96max]

a/c

the pressures where about 320 on the high, and 75-80 on the low side. we did grab a hose and the pressures did start to come down. so i put one 15 inch fan on the condenser, and made sure there was nothing on it. The car id cool better at night and when cruising on the highway. After all that it still was not cooling in the hot 94 degree weather in miam iduring noon. So the last thing I did was seal the vent system bc it was stating halfway open and hot air from the engine area and outside kept staying in the system. I was told this hot air constantly passing through the evaporater could also cause the pressures to climb.The system id filled with r12. it has been raining so i cant really say its working, but i am getting 38 degrees out the vents at night and in the rain. today will be the test.Does anyone sell one of these underbody scoops to divert air into the condenser and radiator?

 

[87GN_70GS]

Ouch, 75-80 on the low side says to me that it's overcharged. You should be seeing about 30.

 

[84GNGary]

Your suction pressure is way too high and discharge is slightly high. If you were that overcharged to cause your suction to be that high your discharge pressure would be through the roof and probably in the 400 -500 psi range. Also you would be flooding back to the compressor with liquid refrigerant and damage the compressor.

If you are bringing in hot air from the engine compartment in that will put an excessive load on the a/c system. It will result in higher than normal suction and discharge pressures. Leave your charge alone for now , fix all your vents and also make sure your heater valve is not passing either. Then recheck your pressures, suction should be around 30 psi, discharge 250-300 psi, air temp out of center vent on max a/c @ 2000 rpm should be about 30 degrees less than ambient temp.

 

[turbo96max]

thanks for all the help, sealed duct letting hot air in, car has only 3.12 lbs now after all the checking lost alittle bit. and pressures are stabilized. Seems that the car needed a couple things after all. The fan , and the hot air duct is now sealed. Seems to be cooling very good. Thanks for all the advise.

 

[turbo96max]

well thought was well, but i guess 10 degrees hotter weather and no ac cooling. Took the car out to lunch today and the cle temp was 212 on the scanmaster, there is a setting that flashed " hot " i think it was atp or ait. also the air blowing out of the vents slowly climed to 72-72 degrees, got cooler while i drove but parked, didnt get any cooler.So now im thinking. either buy the dual fan set up sold in gbodyparts.com, or have a local shop make me a custom fan using a fold fan assembly that they swear by, but that option id like 400 bucks as apposed to 150. could the fan be the problem not allowing the ac to cool and the car to run warm or hot? shouldnt the ac cool no matter what?

 

[BlackBandit]

No AC won't cool no matter what. You're taking heat out of the air and putting it into the AC system when you turn it on (sort of). If the system can't get rid of that heat (via the condensor) then it won't cool. If you're not moving enough air to keep your engine cool you're probably not moving enough really make your a/c work.

 

[turbo96max]

No AC won't cool no matter what. You're taking heat out of the air and putting it into the AC system when you turn it on (sort of). If the system can't get rid of that heat (via the condensor) then it won't cool. If you're not moving enough air to keep your engine cool you're probably not moving enough really make your a/c work.

ok i have put a 15 inch fan on the condenser as a pusher, this is not enough yet? another one fits, should i go for it? should i go with the dual fan set up sold on gbodyparts.com? do i need the hi lo fan relay kit? or should i go with the 400 dollar custom fan? the thing is the car usully heats up only with the ac on, otherwise its about 10 degrees cooler?

 

[G. Price]

I had the same type of problem a while ago. I installed the dual fans. My coolant temps never go over 167 degrees. The fan kicks on and it goes back to 160. My air was blowing hot when my temps went over 210. No problems with the air now.

 

[BlackBandit]

If you run hose on the condenser for cooling what kind of AC temps do you get? If you get a good drop over ambient, you need more airflow over the condenser. Also, pusher fans are not as efficient as puller fans and you definitely want your fans running on high.

 

[turbo96max]

I had the same type of problem a while ago. I installed the dual fans. My coolant temps never go over 167 degrees. The fan kicks on and it goes back to 160. My air was blowing hot when my temps went over 210. No problems with the air now.

did you use the hi-lo relay kit? or just baught them with the adapter? also what radiator are you using?
help is much appreciated

 

[turbo96max]

If you run hose on the condenser for cooling what kind of AC temps do you get? If you get a good drop over ambient, you need more airflow over the condenser. Also, pusher fans are not as efficient as puller fans and you definitely want your fans running on high.

so i dont need the hi-lo kit that they offer, will the one stock relay be good enough?

 

[BlackBandit]

I don't have experience with the dual fans. If I went with them I would get the relay kit. (or build my own) What fan are you using now? If the stock one it's probably not up to the task. Do the water test. That will tell you if improved fans are going to make a difference. Just curious, what t-stat are you running? Your water temp shouldn't make a big difference in AC function as the condenser is in front of the radiator (so it gets the air first) but it is an indicator of overall cooling system condition.

 

[turbo96max]

I don't have experience with the dual fans. If I went with them I would get the relay kit. (or build my own) What fan are you using now? If the stock one it's probably not up to the task. Do the water test. That will tell you if improved fans are going to make a difference. Just curious, what t-stat are you running? Your water temp shouldn't make a big difference in AC function as the condenser is in front of the radiator (so it gets the air first) but it is an indicator of overall cooling system condition.

stock fans, autozone radiator, car has the 160 thermostat. this issue is kiiling me, i will have to sell the car if ac doesnt cool. GGGGGRRRRRRR will try the hose today , bc at night the temps are below 40, so its frustrating