A/c is finally charged...now its running weird
#1
A/c is finally charged...now its running weird
SO i just got done battling it out with my car with the cooling system, ive got a 160* t-stat and its been running at 180*-200* consistently for a while, only thing is i never had A/C for the 2 years ive owned my car... Spent a good deal of money fixing the a/c, new hoses, accumulator etc, retrofitted it, got it charged and it worked for like 2 days then the seal on the back of the compressor gave out, so birdtojag gave me another compressor and i finally got it charged today, now heres the issue(s)
1. Compressor is making alot of noise, its a new compressor and i primed it with pag oil and turned it by hand before even putting it on the car, could the bracketing be loose? its a very noticable sound, hood closed with the car running you can hear it and ive never heard any a/c system make this much noise. It sounds like a rattling when the compressor cycles.
2. The car is running alot hotter now, which is like a slap to the face since i finally got it to run cool enough for me, before i could beat the throttle and keep it at 180*, now with the A/c charged its running anywhere from 210* to 235* (im aware thats a stock range but living in arizona i prefer better than stock) before doing the a/c i had my HVAC control to max all the time to keep my fans cycling which is how i could keep it at 180* but now if i turn the HVAC control to off the car heats up and wont go back down even if i turn the a/c on. Also when the a/c IS on the car sits at about 200* moving and then rises to 215* sitting still. I figured there would be a temp changed but 35* seems like way to much.....
3. The compressor is putting a HUGE draw on the motor, every time it cycles i can feel it, its especially bad when im accelerating in first from a stop and it kicks in because its like the pedal isnt even being applied, i know there is a bit of a loss when it cycles because the compressor loads the belt more but this is a little ridiculous
Any insight would be great, im really worried about the temp though, i was running it at night and it was still gettin up there, i hate to imagine it in the daytime when its pushing 106* in the shade
1. Compressor is making alot of noise, its a new compressor and i primed it with pag oil and turned it by hand before even putting it on the car, could the bracketing be loose? its a very noticable sound, hood closed with the car running you can hear it and ive never heard any a/c system make this much noise. It sounds like a rattling when the compressor cycles.
2. The car is running alot hotter now, which is like a slap to the face since i finally got it to run cool enough for me, before i could beat the throttle and keep it at 180*, now with the A/c charged its running anywhere from 210* to 235* (im aware thats a stock range but living in arizona i prefer better than stock) before doing the a/c i had my HVAC control to max all the time to keep my fans cycling which is how i could keep it at 180* but now if i turn the HVAC control to off the car heats up and wont go back down even if i turn the a/c on. Also when the a/c IS on the car sits at about 200* moving and then rises to 215* sitting still. I figured there would be a temp changed but 35* seems like way to much.....
3. The compressor is putting a HUGE draw on the motor, every time it cycles i can feel it, its especially bad when im accelerating in first from a stop and it kicks in because its like the pedal isnt even being applied, i know there is a bit of a loss when it cycles because the compressor loads the belt more but this is a little ridiculous
Any insight would be great, im really worried about the temp though, i was running it at night and it was still gettin up there, i hate to imagine it in the daytime when its pushing 106* in the shade
#2
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Re: A/c is finally charged...now its running weird
How much oil did you put in the system when you converted? Sounds like you could be low.
A properly functioning air conditioner will make your engine run hotter than an undercharged or no charged setup......If it's all working properly (pumping cold air into the cabin), then you'll get a corresponding large amount of heat going to the condenser. In Arizona at this time of the year, you might be getting 160°F condenser temps (just a random guess). Your radiator has to get rid of that heat along with it's own heat.
With the A/C off, the condenser should be ambient outside temperature. 100°? Much easier for the radiator to stay cool. A low charged A/C that is putting only a small amount of cold into the car would only put a small amount of heat out to the condenser.
Now with the system empty, turning on the switch to MAX A/C should turn on your fan while at the same time putting no heat in the condenser. Car will run super cool. If you have a dual fan setup, only the driver fan would turn on because the passenger fan relies on A/C high side pressure to reach a certain point. With no or little refrigerant in the system, it won't build up the pressure high enough to turn on. Thus you'd have to depend on the fan switch alone to turn it on.
At this time of year with 100° weather, it's hard to keep any car at 180° with the air conditioning running. You have drier weather than I do in Texas (makes a big difference, drier = colder radiator/condenser). But still 100° is nothing to sneeze at.
A properly functioning air conditioner will make your engine run hotter than an undercharged or no charged setup......If it's all working properly (pumping cold air into the cabin), then you'll get a corresponding large amount of heat going to the condenser. In Arizona at this time of the year, you might be getting 160°F condenser temps (just a random guess). Your radiator has to get rid of that heat along with it's own heat.
With the A/C off, the condenser should be ambient outside temperature. 100°? Much easier for the radiator to stay cool. A low charged A/C that is putting only a small amount of cold into the car would only put a small amount of heat out to the condenser.
Now with the system empty, turning on the switch to MAX A/C should turn on your fan while at the same time putting no heat in the condenser. Car will run super cool. If you have a dual fan setup, only the driver fan would turn on because the passenger fan relies on A/C high side pressure to reach a certain point. With no or little refrigerant in the system, it won't build up the pressure high enough to turn on. Thus you'd have to depend on the fan switch alone to turn it on.
At this time of year with 100° weather, it's hard to keep any car at 180° with the air conditioning running. You have drier weather than I do in Texas (makes a big difference, drier = colder radiator/condenser). But still 100° is nothing to sneeze at.
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Car: LOWERED ♦ CRIMSON METALFLAKE
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KOOLNESS ON THE ROCKS
Put a gage on the system to make sure the hi&lo pressures are within spec.
Remove the belt.
Grab the compressor and see if you can shake it.
Re-torque all associated hardware. Make sure belt tensioner is not the source of the noise.
Dynamics change with the comp running.
Happy Racing!
If People Drove Any Slower They’d Be Going Backwards
Fog lights are not driving lights. They look dorky. Turn em off slow pokes.
How bout those dorks too scared to drive without headlights on in the daytime!
.
.
#4
Re: KOOLNESS ON THE ROCKS
when i charged it the first time i used the machine at mcc and injected the oil in along with the freeon, i put 8 ounces in i believe and then when i swapped the compressor birdtojag put about the same in, what i need to do for peace of mind is get my car back over to MCC and evac the whole thing and start from scratch now that the system is clean and sealed, ill go through and check the tensioner and everything today when i get a chance.
any ideas on the retarded draw on my motor? The easiest way for me to put it is its like when you let the clutch out just far enough and give it just barley enough gas to get it rolling but it tries to die, its like everything just stops for a second and kicks back in kinda like when you bump start the car you get that jolt when it fires for the first time to turn the motor over, should a cycling compressor effect it that much?
any ideas on the retarded draw on my motor? The easiest way for me to put it is its like when you let the clutch out just far enough and give it just barley enough gas to get it rolling but it tries to die, its like everything just stops for a second and kicks back in kinda like when you bump start the car you get that jolt when it fires for the first time to turn the motor over, should a cycling compressor effect it that much?
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Re: KOOLNESS ON THE ROCKS
Hey, Andy! Sounds about right. Was the Compressor new or rebuilt? How long have you had this compressor in the car? My ENTIRE A/C system in my IROC is new (Yes, even the evaporator.) And the compressor is new GM. Very noisy and pulls a lot of power from the motor. Add "Water wetter" to your cooling system and it will take the temp down about 10-15*. (Stuff really works, I use it in all my cars.)
Later! --Jason--
Later! --Jason--
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Re: KOOLNESS ON THE ROCKS
Make sure your air dam is on right. From your texts, sounds like it's a little messed up or put on backwards.
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Re: A/c is finally charged...now its running weird
I routinely perform Lincoln Mark VIII fan installs and AC retro-fits on these cars, and imo you need to use a brand new (not rebuilt) AC comp. for starters...then, I like to re-wire the charging system using a junction block and making better use of the heavy power draw for the comp. by using a HD relay to carry the load. As for the bogging down on your motor, it sounds to me as if your AC bearing is chewed up which will make a ton of noise as well as build up heat which can drag the motor down more than usual. The efficiency of a well designed AC system ina dry heat climate such as yorus is to pull a smuch heat out of the condensor as possible and imo the factory cooling fans just aren't up to it. From a thermal efficiency standpoint, going to a huge fan will drop your cooling system in line with that of new cars. I've got a lot of experience with cooling system designs/modifications so drop me a line and I can help you out.
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Re: A/c is finally charged...now its running weird
I routinely perform Lincoln Mark VIII fan installs and AC retro-fits on these cars, and imo you need to use a brand new (not rebuilt) AC comp. for starters...then, I like to re-wire the charging system using a junction block and making better use of the heavy power draw for the comp. by using a HD relay to carry the load. As for the bogging down on your motor, it sounds to me as if your AC bearing is chewed up which will make a ton of noise as well as build up heat which can drag the motor down more than usual. The efficiency of a well designed AC system ina dry heat climate such as yorus is to pull a smuch heat out of the condensor as possible and imo the factory cooling fans just aren't up to it. From a thermal efficiency standpoint, going to a huge fan will drop your cooling system in line with that of new cars. I've got a lot of experience with cooling system designs/modifications so drop me a line and I can help you out.
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Re: A/c is finally charged...now its running weird
Hey there, i got a 87 GTA with duel fans, can i upgrade to the 4th gen LS1 motor/ fan blades without much trouble????
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Re: A/c is finally charged...now its running weird
Do the 4th gen duel fans just bolt right in.....?
#11
Re: A/c is finally charged...now its running weird
The RS had a SINGLE fan approximately 16" diameter with a weak little motor turning the blades. It has trouble cooling a stock V6 running the air, much less a V8 in an engine bay as tight as a thirdgen. Definately upgrade that setup to a Dual Fan assembly and run LS1 motors/Blades.
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Re: A/c is finally charged...now its running weird
Now if you just want better fans, I don't know what's best. I'm running stock dual setup.
#13
Re: A/c is finally charged...now its running weird
well its obvious that my fan doesnt quite cut it, today i did a little research on it, i let the car warm up to 200*, started driving, temp rose a little bit to 210* and stayed, then when i downshifted it cooled down 10 degrees, and stayed, but once i stopped moving and getting air flow to the rad it heated back up, so when i downshift i run the water pump faster and cycle the coolant faster, so thats why it cooled down by 10*, so i need a dual fan set up, and i want to go with an electric water pump to get the coolant flowin faster.
Having a serpentine setup for my belts what can i do to run an electric pump?
Having a serpentine setup for my belts what can i do to run an electric pump?
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Car: 87 Firebird, 90 bird coming soon
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Re: A/c is finally charged...now its running weird
Check LS1tech.com. They have people selling the parts you would need. I can help you get the fans wired in correctly. It's really not that hard.
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