A/C in a non A/C equipped Aerostar van.

[sdj]

Greetings every one! This is my first post. I have acquired an '86 Aerostar, 2.8L, 5spd with only 43K miles on it, in real nice shape, but the down side is, it did not come with a/c. Has anyone installed a custom a/c unit in one of these, or transplanted one from from a donor Aerostar that had a/c? If yes, how involved was the project and how expensive? There is a company out in Canada that make roof top units that run on 12V and draw 80amps, but they are expensive. I was quoted $2500 for a factory blem!
If anyone has info or ideas/suggestions, it would be greatly appreciated, as I need this van to hall my mobility scooter and also to flat tow it behind my RV. Thanks!

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum! Where did you find an Aerostar with such low mileage? Post a few people when you have time. As far as the A/C, it's a lot of work to repair an A/C so I would assume that installing one in a vehicle which didn't have it from the factory would be even harder. I remember seeing advertisements from JC Whitney about aftermarket A/C systems for a few hundred. I think that over all you would be better off with the roof mounted version since it's easier to install & repair. Do you live in a warm climate?

 

[sdj]

Welcome to this forum! Where did you find an Aerostar with such low mileage? Post a few people when you have time. As far as the A/C, it's a lot of work to repair an A/C so I would assume that installing one in a vehicle which didn't have it from the factory would be even harder. I remember seeing advertisements from JC Whitney about aftermarket A/C systems for a few hundred. I think that over all you would be better off with the roof mounted version since it's easier to install & repair. Do you live in a warm climate?

BrooklynBay,

Thank you for the welcome! I found this van out of the blue in the Catskill or Kingston Craigs List. For about a year prior to that, I was watching an '89 Aerostar 5spd on CL in New London CT area, but the guy wanted way to much for it (out of my price range). This van was a nice passenger van witha a/c and all, mine is a base model cargo van. Well, wouldn't you know, about 2 weeks after I bought my van, this other van was re-listed at a much lower price, it was still high but with in my price range, but now that I bought my Aerostar, I was short on cash and didn't act quick enough. It sold fairly quickly once he dropped the price.

As for climate, I live in the northeast, but I do not do well in the heat, especially with humidity, and being that this is a cargo van, its also not insulated, so I will probably need to do that too.
As for the rooftop a/c unit, I was thinking along the same line, but was hoping someone had a different experience. I guess I would at a minimal, have to get a monster alternator that can handle the abuse.

If anyone has a nice Aerostar 5spd that does not need or care for a/c, I would consider swapping. Mine has low miles and tons of life in it, its a great little runner!

The few pictures I have aren't the greatest, and the van is in storage for the winter, but I will try to post the pictures that I do have anyway.

 

[Josh P]

Adding a factory A/C really wouldn't be that hard. Worst part of the job would be changing the box under the dash for the evap. On my ranger I did the exact same thing that you want to do. I found the parts at a junk yard, installed them and had a shop wire it up with new wiring. Parts and shop labor came out to 1K.

 

[BrooklynBay]

It looks like new. You don't see too many older models in this condition anymore. I had another idea about the A/C but it might be too much work. Get a small portable A/C (the type for a house which sits on the floor), make a window adapter for the vent hose, and connect a 120 volt AC inverter to the A/C. You could take it out for the winter, and put it back in for the summer.

 

[Josh P]

It looks like new. You don't see too many older models in this condition anymore. I had another idea about the A/C but it might be too much work. Get a small portable A/C (the type for a house which sits on the floor), make a window adapter for the vent hose, and connect a 120 volt AC inverter to the A/C. You could take it out for the winter, and put it back in for the summer.

The compressor won't handle the vibration and my friend tried the portable a/c in a semi truck. 2000 watt inverter hooked up to 4 batteries wouldn't run it.

 

[BrooklynBay]

They make higher wattage inverters than that. What was the BTU rating of his portable A/C? A company called Danfoss makes 12 volt compressors for refrigerated trucks. Maybe the 120 volt compressor in the portable A/C could be swapped for the 12 volt compressor? It wouldn't need an inverter. Compressors have rubber bushings under the mounting bolts to dampen vibration.

 

[sdj]

It looks like new. You don't see too many older models in this condition anymore. I had another idea about the A/C but it might be too much work. Get a small portable A/C (the type for a house which sits on the floor), make a window adapter for the vent hose, and connect a 120 volt AC inverter to the A/C. You could take it out for the winter, and put it back in for the summer.

Thanks! It runs and drivers like new too. It was actually weird to drive a vehicle so old that steered so straight and tight.

As for the portable a/c unit, its a pretty good idea that I didn't think off, but the issue with those is, they pull the conditioned cool air out of the vehicle to cool the system. So instead of cooling the cabin down and lowering the cooling load, it is constantly cooling hot air that is coming into the cabin. If I do go that route, or the roof top route, I would still need a monster alternator under the hood and a big inverter/batteries. I wish I had room underneath to mount a generator to run a smaller roof top unit. Any ideas on big durable high amp alternators? At this point my thoughts are a high amp alternator that is common on over the road trucks and customizing brackets and pulleys for it, those you usually can get between 160-300amps.

Please keep the ideas coming!

 

[sdj]

Adding a factory A/C really wouldn't be that hard. Worst part of the job would be changing the box under the dash for the evap. On my ranger I did the exact same thing that you want to do. I found the parts at a junk yard, installed them and had a shop wire it up with new wiring. Parts and shop labor came out to 1K.

Josh,

The trick is finding a donor old enough where all the parts will match, especially in my region where Aerostars are becoming extinct because of the road salt. I think, mine would have to be an '86 or '87 only. I think the plenums changed after that and also the brackets for the a/c compressor are different for the 3.0L vs the 2.8L that I have. Anyone have an '86 donor sitting in their back yard that they would be willing to sell all the a/c parts out of it???

 

[Josh P]

Josh,

The trick is finding a donor old enough where all the parts will match, especially in my region where Aerostars are becoming extinct because of the road salt. I think, mine would have to be an '86 or '87 only. I think the plenums changed after that and also the brackets for the a/c compressor are different for the 3.0L vs the 2.8L that I have. Anyone have an '86 donor sitting in their back yard that they would be willing to sell all the a/c parts out of it???

I don't have any hands on experience with the 2.8 but something to check is if the 83-85 ranger 2.8 brackets would work for the compressor. I know the ranger is v belt but if it is the same bracket you can buy a new compressor with the correct pulley and get the rest of the A/C parts off another van that is newer

 

[BrooklynBay]

This link has information about aftermarket 12 volt DC add on A/C units: http://www.seanhylandmotorsport.com...r-how-can-you-decide-if-one-is-right-for-you/

 

[sdj]

This link has information about aftermarket 12 volt DC add on A/C units: http://www.seanhylandmotorsport.com...r-how-can-you-decide-if-one-is-right-for-you/

Thanks for that link. This is really neat, but pricey. It looks like, by the time all would be said and done, it will be about the same as a 12V roof top unit, but I will continue to do my research.

Josh, thanks for the bracket suggestion, I will look into that.

 

[BrooklynBay]

There's an easier way to do this with thermoelectric modules but it won't get that cold. They are used in some portable refrigerators, camping coolers, and even some air conditioners. I once saw some air conditioners advertised online many years ago with them but I've never seen one in a store.

 

[Josh P]

I got out my repair manuals and based on the pictures you must use the aerostar bracket cause the ranger didn't have a belt tensioner.

These yards have 1986 aerostar air conditioning parts listed. Most yards will box it up and ship it to you.
Corona's Auto Parts 860-296-2528
B & B Auto Salvage 407-322-5044
Kelty's Auto Parts 1-800-367-0238
***an Auto Parts 1-800-331-5282
M and M Auto Wrecking 1-951-845-4315
Lajoie's Auto Parts 203-866-6650
Gates Salvage, Inc 802-472-5058
Roy's Auto 1-402-924-3211
Archies Auto Recyclers 219-981-0122
Mittag Auto Salvage, Inc 1-713-697-1208
Myer's Used Parts 1-423-639-4949

 

[sdj]

I got out my repair manuals and based on the pictures you must use the aerostar bracket cause the ranger didn't have a belt tensioner.

These yards have 1986 aerostar air conditioning parts listed. Most yards will box it up and ship it to you.
Corona's Auto Parts 860-296-2528
B & B Auto Salvage 407-322-5044
Kelty's Auto Parts 1-800-367-0238
***an Auto Parts 1-800-331-5282
M and M Auto Wrecking 1-951-845-4315
Lajoie's Auto Parts 203-866-6650
Gates Salvage, Inc 802-472-5058
Roy's Auto 1-402-924-3211
Archies Auto Recyclers 219-981-0122
Mittag Auto Salvage, Inc 1-713-697-1208
Myer's Used Parts 1-423-639-4949

Josh,

Thank you! I will start making calls next week and see where I get.

 

[sdj]

There's an easier way to do this with thermoelectric modules but it won't get that cold. They are used in some portable refrigerators, camping coolers, and even some air conditioners. I once saw some air conditioners advertised online many years ago with them but I've never seen one in a store.

I'm not familiar with thermoelectric modules, what are they, what is their BTU output capacity in this type of application, and how much amp draw?

 

[BrooklynBay]

This is also known as solid state cooling. There's no compressor, freon or moving parts. Heat is drawn from one junction to another but you have to use a large heat sink with thermo transfer compound on each side. Heat & cold transfer will reverse if you reverse the polarity of the voltage going into the module so it could be used as a heater until the engine warms up. Another use for these modules is for power generation. Heating them up will produce a small voltage but this isn't relevant to your application.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Another method of producing cold air without moving parts is a vortex tube. You will need a compressor with moving parts to produce the compressed air so this might not be as practical as the thermoelectric cooler. There's a video on Youtube with somebody that made his own vortex tube. Readily available coolers are expensive.

 

[rv4fun]

If there was an easier, cheaper or more economical way to air condition a vehicle, it would be in use already. I've been repairing residential a/c units for over 45 years. The capacity of the typical auto a/c is 3 tons or better. There is no way you're going to use a window unit running from an inverter to do that. The thermoelectric unit use electric like it's going out of style as well - not at all practical for cooling a whole vehicle and can only make lunch box about 20 degrees cooler than ambient.

Best to look for a hang-on aftermarket unit or find someone handy enough to install a used unit salvaged from a junk yard. Don't waste your money or time on those other ideas.

 

[BrooklynBay]

What about the electric A/C which is used in a hybrid vehicle?