80 Series AC system Question (1 Viewer)

[swamp-thing]

I'm making a wheeler rig out of an 80 series that had an impact that ruptured the AC condenser in the accident, all freon and whatever else was in the system is gone, lines are off and free to atmosphere currently.

In rebuilding this beast for service again, I have no plans to try to rehab the AC system other than just reattached lines and replace AC condenser so that all the parts are there should I or anyone else choose to rehab it down the road.

All that stated, can I just bolt this all together and go on my merry way or do I need to DO anything extra for this to be a dormant/non-op system on the truck?
ie, do I need to keep the compressor belt on and running, or should I take it off, or will the compressor being idle do more harm than good, do I need to do anything else to the system or the lines or the compressor?

Or if I'm asking the wrong questions & there are any other insights y'all could share with me about this approach, I just don't use or need AC and don't want to spend any extra cash on a truck that is going to be wheeled a bunch. I'd rather spend it on 4x4 upgrades etc.

Much appreciated, thank you for reading.

 

[jpoole]

You can seal up the system the best you can and hope for the best as an easy approach.

Another step further would be to vacuum it down to get the moisture out of the system since stray moisture in the system, and internal corrosion may be the biggest risk for a long term dormant system. Pulling the vacuum could include making sure it holds that vacuum and fixing leaks if it doesn't but you probably don't want to go this far.

If everything is there and good except the condenser I'd personally put a condenser and a new dryer in it and then do a recharge. Even if you don't get the charge just right (ie you just use cans from the auto parts store and don't flush/reseal/re-oil/etc.), and the system is a little funky, if it works at all it can come in handy for drying the interior out, defogging the windows and of course for comfort on those really hot days. Unless you are removing the cabin and rolling open air a functional AC seems like it's worth the minimal effort that it sounds like it may take to get it going again.

 

[greentruck]

If you're going to keep a belt on it, the compressor and clutch have to be good and functional, If either seizes/fails, it can blow the fuse. This will then take out most of your dash instruments, as well as the blower fan in the cabin. This happened to me on the way home from a wedding party in Indy, IN on the hottest day of the year awhile back. It was a miserable ride home.

 

[swamp-thing]

@greentruck that sounds awful!! I am fine keeping a belt on it, just wasn't sure if its spinning nothing in the system if that was a bad thing... Im guessing there are many, many cars on the road today with AC lines that are dry and belt driven compressors just wailing away like the system was full. I don't think any parts of mine are actually damaged, just the condenser taco and the resulting loss of cabin pressure in the AC system, so my original plan was just to seal it all back up since I literally do not use the AC button ever. But the above post suggesting I add some cans to the system, albeit a cheat and not really ideal, might be the way to go assuming I have no leaks anywhere else, otherwise just pissing away money on cans of recharge.

 

[jpoole]

If the belt is in place and the AC compressor clutch isn't powered up then the pulley on the compressor is just spinning on a bearing and isn't turning the pump internals/etc. You should be able to see this if you look at the pulley on the compressor while the engine is idling and the compressor is not engaged.

I think there are pressure sensors in place that will prevent the clutch on the compressor from engaging if the system pressure is too low or too high so you may not have anything to worry about regarding spinning an empty compressor. The bearing for the compressor pulley can go out and if it does it will likely include it spinning on the nose of the compressor and damaging it.

I'm impressed that you never run AC. I assume you are at altitude? I drove cars without AC for decades but think it's pretty essential these days in the humid, hot South driving an 80 with warm-to-hot floors.

 

[swamp-thing]

I live at 7500 feet - it can get warm, but I just put windows down, I'm old fashioned. We ran Kokopelli this year and my copilot wasn't too pleased with my AC stance but we made it out alive! haha

Thank you for the additional comments, that makes me feel better about tightening it all back up and sending it.