my 90s compressor is not turning continuously when i turn the air conditioning on. ( i know its for sissys but i have a 6 week old son and its hot in utah)it spins for a few seconds then stops, then spins again. is there any way to service or rebuild this without draining my r12? thanks
air conditioning
- Thread starter snair
- Start date
TbirdSCFan
Registered User
You probably have a low charge of r12. Since you probably don't have A/C guages, there isn't a simple way to check it, so I'd advise you take it to a shop and have it leak tested and topped off. Do this BEFORE you have a compressor failure.
Fixing a Ford FS10 compressor failure basically requires you to replace most of the A/C system. Trust me, you don't want to do that if you can avoid it.
I'd also advise you stay with r12 until there is some need to open the system up. If they offer to retrofit your system to r134a, ask how they do it. If they don't say "dissassemble, flush, new O rings, new fittings, new accumulator, oil, vaccuum, charge" then they are taking some shortcuts. Thats the only way to do it right, otherwise the risk is a future breakdown sometime.
Oh, and I live in Texas; drove for the past 5 years without A/C because of compressor failure
finally said enough-is-enough and fixed it this year; so happy now that I don't know how I lived without it.
Good luck
Fixing a Ford FS10 compressor failure basically requires you to replace most of the A/C system. Trust me, you don't want to do that if you can avoid it.
I'd also advise you stay with r12 until there is some need to open the system up. If they offer to retrofit your system to r134a, ask how they do it. If they don't say "dissassemble, flush, new O rings, new fittings, new accumulator, oil, vaccuum, charge" then they are taking some shortcuts. Thats the only way to do it right, otherwise the risk is a future breakdown sometime.
Oh, and I live in Texas; drove for the past 5 years without A/C because of compressor failure
finally said enough-is-enough and fixed it this year; so happy now that I don't know how I lived without it.Good luck
fastsc92
Registered User
low
sounds like you're low on freon. The system has a low pressure switch and wont let it run for a long time when its low. It should cycle for about 2 min...then shut off....and cycle again. Mine was cycling on and off ever 2 sec. and i juts bought a cheap conversion kit for 35 bucks that converts the R-12 to R134a. They dont make R-12 anymore so you really dont have any other choices. The way i did it really isn't the right way. You should replace your condenser and o-rings because R-134a is much higher in pressure or something. I'm new to all this A/c stuff but what i did worked...i know the condensor will like a shorter life span though..but i rather sit in the cool air for the time being.
sounds like you're low on freon. The system has a low pressure switch and wont let it run for a long time when its low. It should cycle for about 2 min...then shut off....and cycle again. Mine was cycling on and off ever 2 sec. and i juts bought a cheap conversion kit for 35 bucks that converts the R-12 to R134a. They dont make R-12 anymore so you really dont have any other choices. The way i did it really isn't the right way. You should replace your condenser and o-rings because R-134a is much higher in pressure or something. I'm new to all this A/c stuff but what i did worked...i know the condensor will like a shorter life span though..but i rather sit in the cool air for the time being.
J
jpaitala
Guest
Recharge your system and it'll go away. At least that made my AC to work with similar problem.
TbirdSCFan
Registered User
R12 still made, just expensive..
The expense of continuing to use r12 vs a proper r134a retrofit is consumer's choice. A proper retrofit will preserve the life of the compressor by ensuring that the new refrigerant is both clean and dry, and that the system is leak free. The higher head pressure isn't so much of a concern if the system is properly charged using guages. Thats really the key and why the cheapo kits are shortcuts. They are the quickest way to get refrigerant (and moisture ) into the system with compatible oil, but do nothing about the moisture; note they provide no accumulator/drier.
The moisture is what will kill the system and the chain of events is:
1. Moisture (H2O) not drawn up by your old sopped up accumulator, which you didn't replace, combines with the PAG/POE oil (for r134a) and forms an acid.
2. Acid eats away at the aluminum interiors of the condensor and evaporator and compressor and eventually a leak forms.
3. Leak allows refrigerant under pressure to escape.
4. No refrigerant to carry the oil... no oil to the compressor.
5. No oil to the compressor... compressor seizes.
6. Ford FS10 (or FX15) compressor seizes.. black death occurs.
7. Black death occurs.. entire A/C (with some exceptions) must be replaced unless inline filter was installed. Even then, you're still left with the possible results of item 2.
So, for me, when I was offered a conversion kit, I thought "hey cool.. I can do this myself and save $$". But the more I looked into it and asked questions, the more I concluded that I had too much in time+repair costs to take risks with shortcuts in an area where I had no experience. After all my repairs were made, I took it to a shop to finish it up and paid close attention to what they were doing. I wasn't going to let them take any shortcuts either!
The expense of continuing to use r12 vs a proper r134a retrofit is consumer's choice. A proper retrofit will preserve the life of the compressor by ensuring that the new refrigerant is both clean and dry, and that the system is leak free. The higher head pressure isn't so much of a concern if the system is properly charged using guages. Thats really the key and why the cheapo kits are shortcuts. They are the quickest way to get refrigerant (and moisture
) into the system with compatible oil, but do nothing about the moisture; note they provide no accumulator/drier.The moisture is what will kill the system and the chain of events is:
1. Moisture (H2O) not drawn up by your old sopped up accumulator, which you didn't replace, combines with the PAG/POE oil (for r134a) and forms an acid.
2. Acid eats away at the aluminum interiors of the condensor and evaporator and compressor and eventually a leak forms.
3. Leak allows refrigerant under pressure to escape.
4. No refrigerant to carry the oil... no oil to the compressor.
5. No oil to the compressor... compressor seizes.
6. Ford FS10 (or FX15) compressor seizes.. black death occurs.
7. Black death occurs.. entire A/C (with some exceptions) must be replaced unless inline filter was installed. Even then, you're still left with the possible results of item 2.
So, for me, when I was offered a conversion kit, I thought "hey cool.. I can do this myself and save $$". But the more I looked into it and asked questions, the more I concluded that I had too much in time+repair costs to take risks with shortcuts in an area where I had no experience. After all my repairs were made, I took it to a shop to finish it up and paid close attention to what they were doing. I wasn't going to let them take any shortcuts either!