My 1987 Two Door Crown Victoria AKA THE BROWN BLOB

[87gtVIC]

Little video with a couple neat photos and a sound bit or two of the rumble at idle on a quite Saturday Morning...

[87gtVIC]

This morning my dad and I installed all of the new ac components I have accumulated for the ac rebuild.

List includes new hoses (3) new compressor, new receiver drier orifice tube and condenser.

I flushed out the evaporator with a flush kit and after that was done we installed all of the new components as well as adding oil to the necessary ones and vacuumed out the system. It held near 30 inches of vacuum for over 30 minutes afterwards so we then started to add refrigerant.

I added roughly 44 ounces of refrigerant. That coupled with the oil added brings the system up to 51 ounces total...That is if you take into account the oil...if not I would need to add more r 134a. Seems to be working okay. Vent temps just touch 40 degrees.

I have to do some research to see if things are working correctly. I will say that the drier is getting VERY sweaty and so is one of the lines off of the compressor.


See video for low and high pressure readings with compressor engaged and not engaged.



I am just happy to be rid of the old leaky compressor and the ugly hoses.



After:







Compressor engaged:

[Kodachrome Wolf]

Given almost humidity around 50% and a warm day, sweaty lines aren’t going to be uncommon. That’s par for the course down here. If they were icing up, then I’d be concerned.

Pressure looks fairly normal as well for running at max cool if that’s what you had it at.

[87gtVIC]

Given almost humidity around 50% and a warm day, sweaty lines aren’t going to be uncommon. That’s par for the course down here. If they were icing up, then I’d be concerned.

Pressure looks fairly normal as well for running at max cool if that’s what you had it at.

I was making mention of the sweaty lines as a positive sign of things working.

Pressure readings were taken while temp selector was at max cool and fan on low.

To be honest I was expecting better performance. I have yet to drive the car though.

This was simple at idle for a couple of hours with a fan in front of the condenser to prevent the car from overheating. Temps were just a hair over 210.

[Kodachrome Wolf]

I was making mention of the sweaty lines as a positive sign of things working.

Pressure readings were taken while temp selector was at max cool and fan on low.

To be honest I was expecting better performance. I have yet to drive the car though.

This was simple at idle for a couple of hours with a fan in front of the condenser to prevent the car from overheating. Temps were just a hair over 210.

Cool but not ice cold symptoms at idle?

[87GrandMarq]

The readings are slightly low but not too far off. The biggest issue is the mechanical fan not being able to pull enough air through the condensor at idle. I bet it would cool down when driven. Though Im not fully convinced the fan cant pull enough air. Maybe someone should do some math to figure how much air gets pulled through the stock fan shroud and compare it to say a later panther with an electric fan.


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[sly]

The mechanical fan pulls more air when RPMS are over 2000 IIRC... The e-fan pulls more air at idle. I do know that my 93 is much better suited to the hot climate and crap traffic with the e-fan than the mechanical fan. The 88 I used to have, I did an e-fan conversion on as well and that one did better with the e-fan too (used cougar/contour/mystique v6 dual fan on that one). If the fan clutch is shot on a mechanical fan, it won't work for crap either. With the car up to temp, pop the hood and turn the engine off. If the fan freewheels, the clutch is shot. If it stops within a couple rotations, it's fine.

[87GrandMarq]

I had a suspicion that was the case. I prefer the stock fan over an e fan for simplicity but if I need to go to an e fan once I get my ac up and running I will.


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[sly]

There's also the option of a small pusher fan out front controlled by the AC Clutch power. I'd run the fan relay off the power before the low pressure switch so the fan stays on and doesn't cycle with the compressor though.

[BigMerc96]

There is a reason Ford added an electric auxiliary fan to the Panthers in 1995 that comes on with the AC or if the engine begins overheating. It is the same reason a lot of newer trucks use them. At idle, there simply is not enough airflow from an engine driven fan to keep them cool while running the AC.

[Kodachrome Wolf]

There's also the option of a small pusher fan out front controlled by the AC Clutch power. I'd run the fan relay off the power before the low pressure switch so the fan stays on and doesn't cycle with the compressor though.

That’s exactly how I have the wagon setup. Certainly helps.

[87GrandMarq]

Hmm thats not a bad idea. Ill look into that, thanks for the suggestion.


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[87gtVIC]

Took the car on a 5 hour cruise. Air conditioning seemed to work flawlessly. It made me cold despite vent temps only dipping to ~50 degrees at max cold. Don't want to fret too much on the readings when it is making me cold so I will call it a win. I even had to turn it down at times.



Quick video with an idling walk around of the car.



When I got back from my drive I swapped out a lower radiator mount for a proper police spec one as I am running the larger police radiator as well as changed out my hood hinges for paint matched ones I painted over the winter. Just makes it look a bit cleaner having nice and shiny hood hinges that match the cars exterior finish.

[gadget73]

charge amount does not include oil.

if the compressor isn't cycling its probably about right though. I've taken to charging and pressure testing with a dime stuck between the throttle screw and the blade. That puts it around 1800 rpm or so, and you get a better idea of what its going to do at highway speed. I also run the blower at full go. You also want the drier to get cold enough to condense, otherwise there isn't enough in the system to fully flood the evaporator.

[87gtVIC]

charge amount does not include oil.

if the compressor isn't cycling its probably about right though. I've taken to charging and pressure testing with a dime stuck between the throttle screw and the blade. That puts it around 1800 rpm or so, and you get a better idea of what its going to do at highway speed. I also run the blower at full go. You also want the drier to get cold enough to condense, otherwise there isn't enough in the system to fully flood the evaporator.

If that’s the case then there is only 45ish ounces of Freon in the system. Compressor is not cycling a lot. Can be viewed in the video. May add more if it seems necessary

[87gtVIC]

I have decided to hook up the gauges tomorrow and reference my low and high pressure readings to a chart similar to the one pictured:



I will then decide if more freon will be required. Mathematically I do not have the proper amount at this point in time. I am a couple ounces shy of a fully charged system. I have one 12 oz can left at my disposal to see what I can accomplish.

[sly]

I need to check the fill of my 93. I saved that chart to make sure. It's gonna be 104F most of this week down here.

[gadget73]

Ballpark for high side pressure is 2.5 - 3x degrees Freedom so 90F can be up to about 270 psi. Monitor the vent temps though, stop adding when it stops getting colder. If its over-charged the temperatures will go up along with the pressure. I like to do this with it above idle speed just because thats what it will see while driving, especially if you don't have an electric fan. E-fans help a lot at idle but the compressor speed does affect pressure too. I'm running underdrive pullies so it really plays with the pump speed. Keep in mind the high side pressure is very dependent on airflow, so its going to be lower when actually moving. The lower the high side is, the lower the low side is, and the lower the low side, the colder the vent temps will be, provided the pump isn't cycling.

[87gtVIC]

Id say everything is as good as it is going to get given that information.

I will say thought that both schrader valves are leaking according to my leak detector. High side is just a port around the hole deal to make it adapt to r134a low side is a valve ontop of valve. I took the adapter off the low side and still detects a leak. Ill see how long this holds and once it all seeps out I will replace the schrader valves. I suspect that both were damaged by overtightening the manifold quick connects onto the valves. I am pissed. I tried exercising the valves to hopefully seat better but noluck.

[gadget73]

over about 85F I wouldn't expect the compressor to cycle if the blower is on full go. If yours is, it probably wants a little more juice. It does usually want a couple minutes of run time before things settle though. You can see that on the gauges if you turn it on from sitting.


Are yours the fittings that have the push rod that just pokes at the valve in the R12 port? Those seem extra prone to leaking. I like the kind where you pull the stem out of the R12 port and the 134a fitting has it's own.