A/C Issues Help, Help, Help

[boostmaster]

m715: Thank you so much for posting some pics!

I'm still not sure what I have. It looks like aftermarket from what you describe but, the lower hardline that comes out of the evaporator at the firewall (the lower line) is a shiney metal line that had no rubber covering or anything.

So, I guess I'm still a little confused as to what I have or what I still need to complete this project. I was hoping someone would just have some old hoses that I could simply buy and hook up and then get this thing ready to go. I guess that there aren't many festy's wit A/C...

[FB71]

Can anyone else chime in with info on the small caps on the back of the compressor and the "nipple" at the bottom of the back of the compressor? I am really at a loss here...

Don't worry about those things on the back of the compressor.

The two ports up top are for factory charging of the system. They did not use the service ports (the ones on the hoses).

The "nipple" at the bottom is a pressure relief valve. If the head pressure ever gets too high, the valve vents refrigerant to the atmosphere to prevent blowing off a hose. The head pressure would only get that high in the event of a gross overcharge, a blocked high pressure hose, or blocked airflow across the condensor.

[m715]

I'll take some pictures this weekend of the other systems, and this may clear up some of your questions. It's a shame you could not have had the donor car next to yours, and been able to swap the system from one to the other.

Michael

[boostmaster]

I actually found the donor car in the jy. I was shocked that I found a festy much less one with A/C. We pulled everything we could get. AS I stated earlier the interior is done perfectly with all of the wiring, fuses, and modules.

The problem was that the Condenser had been pulled from the car and the hose that attached to it had been cut.

After asking on this board about the condenser, I bought one off ebay as well as the additional hoses that the guy said came with the condenser.

When I got the stuff, well, you say the difference in the ends, I went to my shop manual which jsut happend to be missing the precious few pages on A/C and thus I could not discern what my issues would be.

This seems to have gotten much more complicated than it should be. I did not realize that there where so many optional A/C systems for these cars.

Hopefully, I can use what I have and just buy or make a hose with the proper fittings soon so that I can get the system ready to go when it gets hot here...

Thanks for all of the infor and advise. It's greatly appreciated. If anyone has the hose I need, let me know. I'd rather buy it right once than to have to go through more hassle...

[m715]

I have pages 36-01-25 thru 36-01-74 in my 88-89 manual. I would be happy to send you copies of the missing pages if you need them. Maybe Jim can clarify this further, but the manual only covers factory installed air systems as far as diagrams are concerned, with the general information on filling, troubleshooting, etc that could be considered more "universal" for most systems. Was the donor a FI or carb car? I do not know if a dealer installed system (the one from Ford) will work on a carb car or not. The one here is on a FI system, and I do know that there were wiring differences in the factory air systems (I have one of each of those, and the fourth system I have is the Aftermarket I showed you pics of yesterday) I will take some pics of the Dealer system here in a few minutes, and post them.

Michael

[m715]

Dealer System

more pics to follow

[m715]

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Note the compressor type behind the stone shield. I will add that this air system took CONSIDERABLY less time to install than the Factory installed system as I remember.

HTH
Michael

[boostmaster]

I think mine looks more like the dealer system as you can probably compare the pics I posted earlier.

The donor car was a carbed 88 LX like mine.

I did not see a stone shield off the donor.

Basically everything is wired up. All I need to do is have the proper hoses to connect the different pieces together.

I have held off on installing the condenser in order to make sure that all the hoses will fit...

Thanks for all the pics. I was wondering how I'd install the condenser.

[m715]

Good luck!

[boostmaster]

Besides repairing my current broken hose, is there a source to purchase the hose I need?

Also, what is the procedure for prepping this system properly?

[boostmaster]

I was re-reading all of these posts to try and make sure I understand, when I reviewed 93 Festiva's post with routing instructions...

From what I understand the routing is as follows:

1. Large (top) line from Evaporator (at firewall) to the large inlet on the compressor.

2. Out of the smaller inlet on the compressor to the Condensor (Not sure if I am to route to the top of the condensor ot the bottom- The fititng sizes are different and since my end was cut off I do not know)

3. From the Condenser to the receiver/dryer (again not sure from which port on the condenser to which port on the receiver /dryer?? One side says "IN" but has a black hardline previously attached and cut off so I don't know where it goes to)

4. Small (lower) line from Evaporator (at firewall) to the receiver/dryer (again not sure which side. I think from what I can extrapolate- that it should be on the "Out" side {ie; not the "IN" side})

I am also wondering why there is a black hardline that goes from the receiver/dryer to??? I noticed that in my pics it was cut very short and in another pic posted by m715 on the yellow festiva you can see the black hardline going down -but to where? Do I need to have a hardline here too?

I hate to drag this out but I'm pretty confused since I don't really have much to go on and have no idea how A/C is supposed to work.

Thanks to everyone who has thus far chimed in. If anyone can clarify my remaining issues I will be able to take my parts (which are in the my other dd and ready to go ) so that I can stop by a hydraulic shop and have the proper hoses/lines made up.

Thanks again.

[m715]

OK, let me see if I can clarify what is on the Dealer installed unit I sent you the pictures of.... looking at the engine compartment from the front of the vehicle:
1) Top line at the Evaporator core (at firewall) to left fitting on Compressor
Large rubber hose
2) Lower line at Evaporator to Left fitting on Dryer canister (mounted to the Condensor)
hard line like a brake line is that runs by the strut tower and air box
3) Right side fitting of Dryer to lower left fitting on Condensor
this is built on the Condensor, and is a hard line
4) upper right fitting on condensor to rear fitting on Compressor this is a rubber hose that is routed in front of the condensor behind the bumper

Keep in mind....
Proper description of which side is which identifies the passenger side as the Right Side of the vehicle, and the drivers as the Left using perspective of you sitting in the drivers seat. I have described this as you will be looking from the front of the vehicle to the back, standing in front of the engine compartment with the passenger side being Left, and drivers side being Right with front being closest to you, and rear being toward the firewall so you can keep things straight.

HTH
Michael

[boostmaster]

Got it. Thanks!

The connections ina nd around the condenser were my sticking point as the stuff I have doesn't have proper ends and so forth. Is it a requirement that the black hardline from the dryer to the bottom of the conderser be an actual hardline or can it be a hose? If you look at my pics in the 1st page, my hardline was cut so I'd need to have one remade. Just curious.

BTW, can you tell me what sort of procedure I need to perform to properly prepare the unit after I have all of my lines connected?

I have already purchased new o-rings and I have a can of A/C oil and some freon. The guy at the parts store just told me to put the retro fittings (for r34) onto the existing fittings, pipe in some oil and then add freon.

Sounds too easy and I cannot recall when I ever saw an A/C guy do just that. Please bear in mind that I am in a small town and am not familiar with any A/C type facilities. Additionally, I don't trust mechanics much anyway... They'll probably want to tell me that my flux capacitor needs replacing...


Of course I would know that's a lie because I just had a new one installed a few months ago...