AC Repair

[Tifton81]

Have you ever had one of those days......had my AC recharged (1981) a month ago and got about 10 miles down the road and the compressor locked up. Bad smell, can't turn it by hand. I don't have the knowledge or tools to do this kind of work and living in a small South Georgia Town, finding a reliable shop is out of the question. Anyway, I purchased a New AC Delco Compressor and drier for the car. The number one shop recommended to me in town is always to busy, want's me to leave the car their (I travel Monday through Friday) and pick it up on Friday afternoon. I DON'T THINK SO!!! I made an appointment at another shop for 7:30am this morning. All week I've been thinking about getting it in and having cold air again. I get up, rush to get their at exactly 7:30am only to have the guy pop the hood and ask me if I could get it to him next Saturday morning. I then asked the question, I thought that's what I had done in making an appointment for today. Really *#@*# me off.....

If anyone knows of a reliable shop in South Georgia, a point of contact and phone number, I would be willing to pay an extra $100.00 just to get it in and done on a Saturday.....Can anyone help....

Tifton81

 

[photovette]

If I were you, I'd change the compressor and dryer yourself--not much worse than changing an alternator--then have any old place pump it down and add refrigerant. Or, invest $200, buy a vacuum pump, and do the charging yourself too; be cheaper and you'd have the pump. I really don't understand why more C2 & C3 Corvette owners don't do a/c work themselves; there's really nothing to it.

If I lived closer to you, I'd be happy to change it for you--I'd be done in about an hour or so.

 

[Tifton81]

Thanks for the reply photovette. When I bought my vette three years ago, I had some time on my hands to do some minor repairs, but now that I'm traveling quite alot during the week, those weekend projects at home are just too much...

Anyway, I had it replaced this morning at a very reliable shop in town. The guy who owns the shop, has restored several vettes in his day and his latest project (a 1963) sold for $75,000.00. He put three years into it and boy is it a killer car, new inside and out. I happy to have found someone in town who can help from time to time.

My next question is that everything is working great but the tempture in the car is not as cool as I would like it. Can someone point me to a thread on increasing the cooling tempture in the car.

Thanks

Tifton81

 

[photovette]

R-409a--you'll freeze your butt. My '77 has the coldest a/c of any car I've ever had now that I switched--heck, even on a 90F+ day, I have to switch the fan speed to "low" on the highway. The condensate puddle it produces reminds me of a race horse who's been drinking Miller Lite. At night I have to turn 'heat' lever warmer so my wife won't ***** (at least because of the temperature.)

Of course, since you just refilled with R-134a, that's probably not an option.

One easy thing you can do, that was successful on mine, is to pull off the a/c fan moter vent tube and spray WD-40 into the fan motor--that made a big difference in fan performance. Remember, your fan motor is probably decades old, so a little lubrication is not a bad thing.

But later on:

I put an a/c fan/moter assembly from a 1994 C4 in mine--that about doubled the airflow. What you do is get a 6" pvc coupler at Home Depot or Lowes. The ends are wide. Cut about 1 1/4" from one end and discard the rest. Then position it over the new fan flange and mark the holes. Drill through the PVC section and get longer bolts. Presto, the new fan fits perfect with the extension you just made--same screw holes even. Make sure you stuff a vacuum cleaner hose into the fan hole and clean the evaporator coils while you're at it.

 

[Robin7TFour]

photo, where do you get the r409a? also what is the fill capacity(how many pounds)? and last question what is the cost.
being in the heart of florida i need all the help cooling i can get..

thanks

robin

 

[photovette]

Any a/c supply house will have it--I think it's about $180 per 30lb jug. However, why don't you email me and let's see if we can work through your problem--it could be something else. I had an '81 for four years before I had my '77--I've been over every inch of the system.

I know a bit about refrigeration systems; the device below contains an ultra-cold refrigeration system that I designed and built.

 

[Tifton81]

Photovette,

Will that device fit in an 81 vette?

Tifton81