Anyone got details on Adding AC to my festi?

[jonnyg]

I got a 1993 festiva, auto.

I'd love to have a/c in this little car as i hate the heat.

Is this a fairly simple thing to do or should i leave this up to a mechanic.

Any idea on what parts id need etc...

or a link to another forum discussion that explains this would be great help too.

Thanks,

[25Horseplay]

It is really easy if you have all the parts off a doner car. Its basically plug and play. I am adding it to my 89.

[mechanicaldj]

find another festiva / automatic / with a/c

and swap the entire a/c system , harness and all

[Tim]

Look in the articles section. I wrote an article on installing A/C in a Festiva..

I've done it before and can answer just about any question you may have.


Regards,

Tim

[David88]

I just installed a/c on my '90 5spd. Its relatively simple to install most components of the system.

The most problem I had was the a/c pulley on the crank and the long bolts for the compressor. Not enough room to get these on without removing the center bolt from the left motor mount and lifting the engine about three inches up.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I have found that all 88 & '89s have the a/c pulley. '90-'93 non a/c cars don't have the pulley.
I have 2 carbed engines in my garage and the both have the pulley and both were from non a/c cars. I haven't yet seen a non a/c '90-'93 with the pulley.

Another problem I have found is that the aluminum tube fittings on the steel receiver/drier have a tendency to corrode and break over time. These are on the aluminum high pressure line. I've ran into this twice. Problem is the line has a special flare for an O-ring and the fitting is permanently on there. I took mine to a local radiator shop and they had a guy there that does beautiful work with a tig welder. He cut off the end, put on a new fitting and welded the end back on the line for $20.

No other pitfalls I can think of off hand. I had to make a couple of trips back to the car in salvage lot to get stuff I didn't know about.

I installed new O-rings on the connections I had apart. I think if I had it to do over I would have taken the time to loosen and replace them all when I had the chance.

I had a camera handy for my install, so I have some pics to post and share of the parts and before and after pics of the under hood and dash areas. BTW. Could I post a reply with pic-links in the articles section under Tims a/c how-to?

[canlboater]

ISomeone correct me if I'm wrong, but I have found that all 88 & '89s have the a/c pulley. '90-'93 non a/c cars don't have the pulley.
I have 2 carbed engines in my garage and the both have the pulley and both were from non a/c cars. I haven't yet seen a non a/c '90-'93 with the pulley.

I have a 93 man. with no a/c pulley. So it would seem that non others do

[Tim]

I've never seen the pulley on a non-A/C Festiva. I've had several '80s models that didn't have the pulley.

Maybe your cars had A/C at one time but it was removed.



Regards,

Tim

[Tim]

I had a camera handy for my install, so I have some pics to post and share of the parts and before and after pics of the under hood and dash areas. BTW. Could I post a reply with pic-links in the articles section under Tims a/c how-to?

Certainly!

It would help many of us out, and I haven't had time to take or post pictures.


Regards,

Tim

[David88]

I've never seen the pulley on a non-A/C Festiva. I've had several '80s models that didn't have the pulley.

Maybe your cars had A/C at one time but it was removed.



Regards,

Tim

Thanks for setting me straight on that. Must have been the case. Wish I had 'em now.

[25Horseplay]

I have a 89 LX that I know never had A/C and it HAS the A/C pulley on it.

[jonnyg]

Thanks for the quick replies

:wink:

[freshtiva]

Before you do anything I would check the condition of the threads in the engine block where you mount the a/c compressor and the idler pulley bracket. If the car didn't have a/c prior it a good bet your threads are rusted beyond use. If they had spent 50 cents at the factory and put a threaded plug in empty holes this could have been prevented. May be able to clean out threads or re-tap to larger size bolts. You'll have to re drill brackets to accept bigger bolts though. I just went through this and got it to work but its a pain with the engine in. Not much room. Good luck !!

[David88]

I have a 89 LX that I know never had A/C and it HAS the A/C pulley on it.

Interesting. I'm going to start looking closer now.

[Tim]

Before you do anything I would check the condition of the threads in the engine block where you mount the a/c compressor and the idler pulley bracket. If the car didn't have a/c prior it a good bet your threads are rusted beyond use. If they had spent 50 cents at the factory and put a threaded plug in empty holes this could have been prevented. May be able to clean out threads or re-tap to larger size bolts. You'll have to re drill brackets to accept bigger bolts though. I just went through this and got it to work but its a pain with the engine in. Not much room. Good luck !!

Very true. I had to re-tap the threads before I could bolt the bracket on.

I was able to find a metric tap so I was able to use the stock bolts, though.

[69shelby]

m10x1.25 is the bolt size by the way.