|
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. |
Air
Conditioning Work, Continued
August 24, 2008
Because
of the leak discovered earlier when testing the circuit, I decided to
replace all the pipes, hoping to fix the leak and increase the system
reliability.
| |
|
|
|
I
start with the connections close to the evaporator, they are
the most difficult to access
|
Disconnecting
is not simple because space is very limited
|
I
had all new pipes prepared, for my two SM, but it was a mistake
because each modification had then to be made twice!
|
Once
all pipes ready, I start installing them
|
| |
|
|
|
One
modification example, on the compressor, this 45 degrees connection
doesn't fit very well
|
Here
the condenser and dryer pipes
|
I
had to replace the brand new dryer for one with both screw-type
connections because modern pipes cannot be installed with bare
pipe and clamp
|
I
take the opportunity to paint the dryer holders and do a clean
installation
|
| |
|
|
|
Because
pipes are more rigid and fittings are longer, I can't connect
as it was made originally, I have to use two 90 degrees angles
|
On
the compressor, it's easier because space is available
|
Around
the condenser and dryer, new pipes were very difficult to install
|
After
numerous pipe modifications, I'm finally able to connect everything
|
Modern
air conditioning pipes are a lot more rigid than the old ones because
they are not made with rubber only, they have an inner pipe made of
a plastic material like nylon (or something like that). They will be
significantly more better, for sure, but having some new pipes made
exactly like the old ones doesn't guarantee a good fit. And connections
or fittings are longer and reduce the installation possibilities in
limited-space situations, like there are many with a SM. So this installation
required numerous adaptations and fixes, regarding the length of pipes
and the angle of connections and fittings.
Finally,
I came back to the air conditioning specialist to do one more leak test
and, guess what, we found two leaks! The first one is located one one
compressor connection. We disconnect and connect again with care and
the leak disappears. But the second leak is more tricky. It's located
on the dryer and it's due to an insufficient length of the thread, which
cause a bad connection. I don't have a solution yet to fix this problem.
I used a "soft" pipe instead of the original rigid one, it
was perhaps not a good idea. So I'll try to convince my pipe specialist
to make a rigid pipe by re-using the original connections, but when
I first asked this question he told me that he could not do that. I
can't simply reuse the original pipe because it's damaged (bent).
|
