Air Conditioning

[jakt]

I live in AZ with no A/C and summer is coming. It works okay for now but i would like to know what makes A/C so ice cold in my dads Avalance. Is it a different kind of refrigerant or the fact that he has a new condensor or....or... Basicly my question is "What can I do to make my A/C work like a champ?"
-Dan
'88 Blazer

 

[rjfguitar]

I live in AZ with no A/C. It works okay for now but i would like to know what makes A/C so ice cold in my dads Avalance.

I'm confused...does your A/C work or not work?

If it doesn't work at all and hasn't for a long time then it will probably be fun trying to get it to work again. my A/C hadn't worked for years when I bought my K5 and the condensor had a hole in it, pump was bad, and I had a heck of a time getting the orifice tube out of the evap.

First check to see if your pump is good or not. Grab on to the pump pulley and try to turn the pump itself, not the pulley but the center where it's connected to the pump. It should turn with a fair amount or resistance like trying to turn over an engine by hand. If you can't get it to turn at all it is froze up. If this is the case you will need a new pump.

I can not stress this enough, don't waist time buying a rebuilt pump! Spend the crazy $400 or what ever it is on a BRAND NEW pump because it will be CHEAPER in the long run. I bought a "premium" napa rebuilt pump, it lasted one season and blew up, Napa warrantied it and I then had to pay a shop to change the pumps, orifice tube, dryer, vaccuum, and recharge on me, not Napa (I went through hell trying to get my A/C going the first spring and wanted to just pay someone to do it the second go around). My second rebuilt pump lasted HALF way through the following summer. It sits now full of freeon but with another blown up Napa pump. It would have been cheaper, and saved me a TON of trouble, just to have paid for a new pump in the beginning and only would have had to buy freeon and labor once.

As you have gathered, I have HATE rebuilt A/C pumps. After my little A/C "adventure" I had numerous people give me the same story and say they wished they would have just bought a new pump also.


YOu may need a later model condensor to handle R134 freeon so you can get maximum heat exchange. I just use the stock '85 parts, (besides a new evap because I destroyed the line trying to get the orifice tube out) and had it charged with R134 and worked great. It was just as cold has my dad's '98 Burb after I installed HUGE electric fans, if not colder than the burb. Also your dad's Avalanche pulls more air through the condensor and radiator than your truck, that makes a big difference too, and helps make the pump live longer with lots of air over the condensor.

 

[1-ton]

I live in Las Vegas where even the best maintained A/C driven off the engine is worthless on a 120 degree day. I am going for this self contained roof mounted A/C from a company called Red Dot. It cost around $1200.

Here is a link with more info. http://www.rdac.com/Pages/product_pages/units_pages/6100_unit.html

 

[dirtwarrior17]

Dont' know about worthless..... I live in redding ca where it gets 125 in the summer and the stock ac seems to do the job.

 

[rjfguitar]

I live in Las Vegas where even the best maintained A/C driven off the engine is worthless on a 120 degree day. I am going for this self contained roof mounted A/C from a company called Red Dot. It cost around $1200.

Here is a link with more info. http://www.rdac.com/Pages/product_pages/units_pages/6100_unit.html

We have an earlier version of that Red Dot system on our bank out (pictured) It works fairly well but my favorite part is it never changes temperature hardly because the condensor isn't being cooled by an engine fan that is constantly pulling different amounts of air. The one thing I don't like is that it's an amp sucker....it has three electric motors in it.

 

[mxfireman]

I was having problems with mine too and after dumping close to a grand in it, I just dumped mine when the compressor finally gave out. The money it takes to replace it is better served else where in the k5 ie: lockers, rock sliders, roll cage... you get the idea but in my case it is not my daily driver either. I usually drive mine with the doors and top off during the summer. It's the best A/C that money can buy.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[BobK]

There are ALOT of variables when it comes to haveing a properly working A/C system.

Of course there is the obvious,the refrigerant charge.Too much or too little will effect the cooling.

Compressor condition,evaporator condition(they often get plugged with debri like leaves and such),condensor condition(rad like thing in front of the radiator),All of these components will effect how effective your A/C will cool.

There are also pressures that need to be measured and adjusted within the system.

Unless you have the proper tools and diagnostic equipment you might as well just burn your money if you decide to work on it yourself.

Unfortunately,the majority of a A/C repair is labour charges.

 

[BIG*RED]

i live in nor cal also where its know to be 110-117 in the summer, and my a/c works great, i did have it converted to the new freeon 134? and i also bought a hevy duty compressor with an extra large oil reserve...and i learned a cool trick..when i went to get my a/c fixed the first time it was in the summer and they about 1100 bucks, so i sweated it out that summer, and when winter came, and snow was on the ground i went back, and business was slow, cause not to many people want a/c when its snowing, and got my entire system re done, pump, hoeses, condensor,,you name it, for 410 bucks...he gave me all parts at his cost and 40 bucks labor..

 

[1-ton]

We have an earlier version of that Red Dot system on our bank out (pictured) It works fairly well but my favorite part is it never changes temperature hardly because the condensor isn't being cooled by an engine fan that is constantly pulling different amounts of air. The one thing I don't like is that it's an amp sucker....it has three electric motors in it.

Today 03:47 AM

Your right about it being a real AMP sucker. The specs for this unit is (33 amps @ 13.4 VDC), which I bet is a conservative estimate under perfect conditions.

 

[jakt]

thanx for all the help. I will see what I can do with this info.
Thanx again,
Dan