Hi Folks,
Last winter I purchased a 1987 fj60 from a member of these forums... had it shipped across country (after sending mobile inspection service to look at it), and been trying to enjoy it since. Shortly after she arrived I noticed that engine performance was significantly poorer than when it arrived - one thing lead to another and I discovered that at least 1 cylinder of the chevy 350 had bad rings/piston walls, and was massively burning oil and fouling plugs. I have since had a brand new crate 383 stroker dropped into it to which the garage bolted all the existing accessories (200amp alternator, compressor, edelbrock fuel injection + manifold). They said to me after the motor install "hey this AC doesn't seem to come on, what gives, was it ever working before?"... Turns out the compressor wasn't ever connected to the factory AC button. So at this point in the saga I have no A/C (it's not hooked up) but I have a brand new 345hp/415ft/lb 383 stroker, and it _rocks_. Next problem that came up was heat... the existing setup was not sufficient to cool the new motor. I got a new 3 core aluminum radiator from CruiserCorps, and a flex-a-lite Syclone puller fan. This helps, but she still runs hot. Fan comes on at 195, thermostat pops at 180. In the meantime I hooked up a relay to the factory A/C button, and now the clutch engages on the compressor ... Checked and charged the refrigerant, and it blows reasonably cold, but causes the heat level to go uncomfortably high (over 230).
At this point I have a couple of planned actions -
1. install a 10" pusher fan in front of the condenser
2. fabricate an aluminum shroud for the puller fan (it's bolted right to the radiator frame right now, about 1/2" away from contacting the core fins) - pretty sure I'm losing a lot of puller efficiency the way it's setup now.
3. clean or possibly replace the condenser core
4. maybe replace hardline in the front of the condenser core (make room for more fans)
So... today I take the truck out for a quick spin and turn on the A/C. 60 seconds later a loud pop and hiss, and smoke starts spilling out of the dash. Pull her over and find that something on the back side of the compressor erupted refrigerant all over the place.
So I'm looking for advice - I have no experience with A/C systems - I have rebuilt pretty much every part of my 72 V8 FJ40 so I'm not helpless mechanically speaking - but it has no A/C... and I'm not (yet) intimately familiar with the FJ60.
Should I take this opportunity (since the system is now presumably empty) to replace the condenser and possibly the hard-line that runs across from the driver side to the passenger side (make room for another pusher fan if I need it)? If so, where do I source a new one? As for the line I found a thread here discussing a non-rigid replacement that could be made, but open to options there as well. Is it worth having the neck on the condenser cut off and welded back on at a 90 degree angle to free up more space for fans?
What blew off on the back of my compressor? It's an AC Delco 1134344 (you can see in the video). Should this be replaced or is it likely a high pressure line failed? Do they have some kind of blow-off mechanism?
So - here it's pushing September and I've got about 8k into a truck that still has issues - which I paid a _lot_ for. I guess this also serves as a warning to others - mobile car inspection isn't sufficient to ensure you don't get screwed. Still needs TRE's, clutch master/slave, etc. Priority is on the heat issues and fixing the A/C for now (moving to Florida).
Any help appreciated -
Here's a short youtube video of my setup as of right now (pre-shroud and pre-pusher).
Thanks,
Ed
Last winter I purchased a 1987 fj60 from a member of these forums... had it shipped across country (after sending mobile inspection service to look at it), and been trying to enjoy it since. Shortly after she arrived I noticed that engine performance was significantly poorer than when it arrived - one thing lead to another and I discovered that at least 1 cylinder of the chevy 350 had bad rings/piston walls, and was massively burning oil and fouling plugs. I have since had a brand new crate 383 stroker dropped into it to which the garage bolted all the existing accessories (200amp alternator, compressor, edelbrock fuel injection + manifold). They said to me after the motor install "hey this AC doesn't seem to come on, what gives, was it ever working before?"... Turns out the compressor wasn't ever connected to the factory AC button. So at this point in the saga I have no A/C (it's not hooked up) but I have a brand new 345hp/415ft/lb 383 stroker, and it _rocks_. Next problem that came up was heat... the existing setup was not sufficient to cool the new motor. I got a new 3 core aluminum radiator from CruiserCorps, and a flex-a-lite Syclone puller fan. This helps, but she still runs hot. Fan comes on at 195, thermostat pops at 180. In the meantime I hooked up a relay to the factory A/C button, and now the clutch engages on the compressor ... Checked and charged the refrigerant, and it blows reasonably cold, but causes the heat level to go uncomfortably high (over 230).
At this point I have a couple of planned actions -
1. install a 10" pusher fan in front of the condenser
2. fabricate an aluminum shroud for the puller fan (it's bolted right to the radiator frame right now, about 1/2" away from contacting the core fins) - pretty sure I'm losing a lot of puller efficiency the way it's setup now.
3. clean or possibly replace the condenser core
4. maybe replace hardline in the front of the condenser core (make room for more fans)
So... today I take the truck out for a quick spin and turn on the A/C. 60 seconds later a loud pop and hiss, and smoke starts spilling out of the dash. Pull her over and find that something on the back side of the compressor erupted refrigerant all over the place.
So I'm looking for advice - I have no experience with A/C systems - I have rebuilt pretty much every part of my 72 V8 FJ40 so I'm not helpless mechanically speaking - but it has no A/C... and I'm not (yet) intimately familiar with the FJ60.
Should I take this opportunity (since the system is now presumably empty) to replace the condenser and possibly the hard-line that runs across from the driver side to the passenger side (make room for another pusher fan if I need it)? If so, where do I source a new one? As for the line I found a thread here discussing a non-rigid replacement that could be made, but open to options there as well. Is it worth having the neck on the condenser cut off and welded back on at a 90 degree angle to free up more space for fans?
What blew off on the back of my compressor? It's an AC Delco 1134344 (you can see in the video). Should this be replaced or is it likely a high pressure line failed? Do they have some kind of blow-off mechanism?
So - here it's pushing September and I've got about 8k into a truck that still has issues - which I paid a _lot_ for. I guess this also serves as a warning to others - mobile car inspection isn't sufficient to ensure you don't get screwed. Still needs TRE's, clutch master/slave, etc. Priority is on the heat issues and fixing the A/C for now (moving to Florida).
Any help appreciated -
Here's a short youtube video of my setup as of right now (pre-shroud and pre-pusher).
Thanks,
Ed