|
Air
Conditioning Work
July 19, 2008
As planned,
I worked on the air conditioning system. The goal was to replace the
original compressor by a modern and more gentle one (for the timing
chains), replace the drying cartridge and then try to put the system
back in working order.
| |
|
|
|
I'll
install the Sankyo compressor that was installed in my other
SM, that way I'll know if it works
|
After
cleaning, it's better
|
Here
is the original York compressor. Even in good shape, it has
to be replaced, but this one is jammed
|
A
few minutes are enough to get rid of it
|
| |
|
|
|
This
is now a useless and defective item ;-)
|
|
|
This
is the bracket that was made for the Sankyo compressor, after
a "chocolate brown" paint
|
| |
|
|
|
|
I
initially thought that the exit pipe (here on the left, not
yet connected) would be too short, but finally it was long enough
|
Here
is the compressor installed and connected
|
The
hard work was the adjustment of the compressor position to get
a good belt alignment
|
I also
had a problem with the air conditioning fan, which was working only
when he wanted, and he usually didn't want to. I quickly found the problem,
it was a bad contact on the connection of the capacitor associated with
the fan, because when I connected the fan directly, without the capacitor,
everything was working correctly.
| |
|
|
|
The
problem is here, the right front fender has to be removed
|
Here
is the connection of the capacitor
|
I remove everything and I take a plug from a wire I have in
stock
|
Here
is the result, with new wires and connections reinstalled
|
Once the
compressor installed and the fan back in working order, I went to see
an air conditioning specialist. He couldn't find the right drying cartridge,
which must be replaced, but he found me a part distributor who let me
search in his catalogs and I found the right part using the catalog
pictures. The day after, the cartridge was delivered and a few days
later I was back with the air conditioning specialist.
| |
|
|
|
He
started by lifting the car. Then we removed the front grill
to have a good access to the drying cartridge
|
It
gave me a good opportunity to inspect the under body (see some
pictures in the body section)
|
Removal
of the old cartridge
|
Installation
of the new one |
| |
|
|
|
|
Then
came the time to fill the circuit with Nitrogen, to search for
leaks
|
As
soon as the pressure grew, we heard a leak on the compressor
exit pipe
|
|
It shows
some progress but it doesn't work yet. I'm glad that I found a drying
cartridge quickly, it's not easy here because of course local part distributors
never find any reference to the SM in their part catalogs. But there
is a leak, fortunately this one was easy to locate.
So I need
to replace the leaking pipe, I'll probably replace all pipes, but the
problem is that I'm not able to remove this pipe for the moment because
its connection on the evaporator is made of brass and could brake easily
if I apply the required force with a wrench.
|
