Snowball 94 Limited

[willindsay]

Finally put the running boards back on the car a couple days ago. You can barely see where I patched it unless you know where to look. My wonderful girlfriend helped me put them back together as they were completely apart and she offered. She even crawled under the car and helped bolt them on I was really surprised. She has basically no knowledge of tools/cars but she caught on quick and did a good job. She even asked me to teach her how to change the oil next time I do it!
Here's a pic of the 2 of us before goin out for Valentines Day.

Also placed an order at Rock Auto bout 10min ago for a temp sensor, 180 Thermostat, AC Drier, and Orifice tube. Also some parts for the Rangers cooling system. Hopefully get all the parts mid next week and put on by the weekend.

 

[CDW6212R]

Good for you William, more car tasks done, and the lady helped you do it. Those are the keepers.

 

[willindsay]

Been doin some work on the car lately. I repainted the roof cross bars and door pillars and cleaned the inside a bit.

In between chasin problems on the gf's car I have been workin on the A/C system. But I've ran into a issue. I cant get the Nut off the accumulator.

The nut in the left side of this pic.

Not my pic borrowed from KPT

First I didn't have a wrench big enough so I got a 2$ 1'' wrench and ground it to 1-1/8". I can't get that darn thing to budge. I had the gf hold the pliers on the accumulator side while I pulled with all my might on it. It just won't budge I've soaked it in PB blaster for a day or 2 and nothing.

I've got to get this off as my dad is houndin me to get the AC fixed since he decided to pay for the parts and the recharge. So unless someone has a trick to get it off I'll be callin local shops to see what they'll charge to take the accumulator off. I just hate takin my truck to a shop though.

 

[CDW6212R]

You are talking about the evaporator to drier connection yes? The black part is the drier, and its "nut" on the end shouldn't turn, that should be one piece.

The larger aluminum nut of the condenser will turn, that's what you want to loosen. Hold the black "nut" still while pushing on the other tool towards the driver's side. It's a right hand thread.

 

[willindsay]

You are talking about the evaporator to drier connection yes? The black part is the drier, and its "nut" on the end shouldn't turn, that should be one piece.

The larger aluminum nut of the condenser will turn, that's what you want to loosen. Hold the black "nut" still while pushing on the other tool towards the driver's side. It's a right hand thread.

Ya I knew which one to turn...I just can't get it to turn.

Started a Thread on it.

 

[CDW6212R]

Cool, just making sure. The evaporator side, the pipe etc is fragile, so don't pull in a way which twists or bends the aluminum piping.

Ideally you want the two wrenches on each nut in such a way that they are close together. If you can put them on so that you can almost put your hands around both at the same time, squeezing the handles together, that will protect the lines the most. If you can use the wrenches that way, it also gives you the strength of both of your hands in the same place. You might have to buy a whole wrench set to get the right two sizes.

I just bought cans of R 12 to be able to recharge my old 91 Lincoln. I miss air conditioning.

 

[willindsay]

Ok finally actually achieved something on the truck today.

I replaced the temp sender(one for the gauge) and painted the water neck since it had to come off and also put in a 180 T-stat.

Now a few little issues. While taking the neck off I noticed that one of the bolts was different it had a 8mm head instead of a 10mm. After being confused for a bit I figured out where it came from. It's one of the bolts that hold the TB cover in place. I'm guessing either someone lost one before and just used that or mixed them up and when they realized didn't want to go back and change it. I made sure to put it back in the same hole so I didn't mess up another.

Also while resembling I snapped the head off one bolt. Now I was in a rush so I decided that if it didn't leak after burping the system I would leave it alone till I have a little extra time. I didn't leak so I'll fix it later. Any tips to get it out? I'm thinking vise grips will get the job done.

And now the really puzzling/maybe simple one. Now my gauge use to ride right on the line for cold and I figured it was just the sensor but with the new sensor it rides a bit below the N in Normal. Now I know 180 isn't stock thermostat temp(think stock is 195) so my question is... would 15degrees make it ride at that spot or do I have another issue to track down??


Oh random question also How may gallons of coolant does the rad hold? I'm thinking I might flush it in the future.

 

[CDW6212R]

The 180 should make it show a little lower on the gauge, near the "NO" area is good. The only thing to wonder about is heat in the Winter. I've had a 180 in two of my vehicles for ages, plenty of heat. I'm going to a 160 in my next engines, but you have to reprogram the PCM to still go into closed loop, at a lower temp.

You might get 3 gallons in it. I use less than one gallon of antifreeze here in TN. I add 3/4 of a gallon first, then a bottle of Water Weter, fill it with distilled water, and put a 50% mixture in the overflow bottle. That should test well to about zero degrees.

 

[willindsay]

The 180 should make it show a little lower on the gauge, near the "NO" area is good. The only thing to wonder about is heat in the Winter. I've had a 180 in two of my vehicles for ages, plenty of heat. I'm going to a 160 in my next engines, but you have to reprogram the PCM to still go into closed loop, at a lower temp.

You might get 3 gallons in it. I use less than one gallon of antifreeze here in TN. I add 3/4 of a gallon first, then a bottle of Water Weter, fill it with distilled water, and put a 50% mixture in the overflow bottle. That should test well to about zero degrees.

I'm not worried about heat it had a 180 in through last winter and I was fine.

I thought maybe it just needed a little break in run but it's still showin a below the N. Guess I'm lookin for another issue now. Maybe its the actual gauge? Debating on just installing an after market one so I know exactly what I'm at.

Is there any benefit to runnin it like you say instead of the regular 50/50 mix?

Back outside I go to finish up putting the stat in the Ranger.

 

[CDW6212R]

You want to use as little anti-freeze as you can get away with. Water transfers heat better than A-F, the more A-F you use, the warmer the engine will run. The water cools quicker(transfers heat faster, so unless you are pushing the limits of freezing or boiling the coolant, less A-F is best. I'd guess I'm in the 25-35% range as I set mine. The Water Weter also transfers heat better and it lubricates the water pump, seals etc. That's money well spent, get that and use less A-F.

 

[willindsay]

Well this whole week has been a bust. Parents and sister went on vacation for the week leaving me with the house and carport to my self. I had planned to do a little work on our Ranger to get it summer ready and then spend the rest of the week on my Explorer.

I changed the thermostat in the Ranger and all went good then I went to refill the radiator and it dumps all the coolant on the ground. So by looking at the leak it looks like a lower Rad hose. Simple enough Figure I could get it done after work. Well the next day I drive moms van cause I figure free gas to run around since she's not home, Well the next morning I go out and it has a puddle of coolant under it. Figure lose hose clamp. Took me 3 days to get a good clamp on it (AutoZone hose clamps are complete crap!) and guess what it still leaked so I took it to a mechanic I had enough of it. Turns out it needed a waterpump. So back to the Ranger today I finally get the lower hose replaced and go to fill it up and guess what it dumps coolant everywhere also. I'm guessin water pump also so it's prob headed to the mechanic Monday.

Rant over on to the topic of this thread.


I did get a little time to work on mine. I picked up a bottle of Purple Power at BigLots and used it on the engine bay. SO much cleaner I was doubting on the power of that stuff but it's amazing.

Also I finally got the right wrenches for the A/C (had to buy a whole 22piece set to get the right ones only $13 though and I look at them as an investment) and tried again to get the accumulator off. No Luck so I'm gonna call around and see how much they'll charge to change it and the refill the system. Hoping it's under $100.

 

[willindsay]

Been workin on a project for the Explorer for a while. Bout a month back my Girlfriend picked me up 2 sets of driving lights from Wally World. So I decided I'd make a $10 light bar and mount them on the roof.

And here is what it looks like...

I got some nylon caps to fill the ends they were just being painted when I took the pics. Painted them orange for a pop of color.

Pretty good light output for 10$ lights.

Routed the wires through the felt at top of door frame then through fender to under hood.

Fabbed a Relay board to hold the relay plus future ones.

And wraped all wires in split loom for a stock look (need a little more to finish it)

 

[willindsay]

Oh Random question..Would it be ok to remove the under hood insulation as it's falling apart? Or is there something I could replace it with? I don't want to hurt the paint from the heat as it's in very good condition for its age that's why I ask.

 

[CDW6212R]

It pulls off easily, try not to breath it in. You can find a better one at a salvage yard, or pay about $75 for an aftermarket upgrade version. I bought one for my Mark VII a while ago, it's a better solid material, from eBay.

 

[willindsay]

Picked this up a couple days ago for $20. Tire's no good but doesn't matter cause I'm gonna get my spare 31" thats in the shed mounted on it for now and hopefully by end of summer a matching 31" so I have 5 tires to rotate through so they will last longer.

Also tonight I did a little off-roading. Got in a little hairy situation while climbing a hill and ended up half in the woods and had to back down it. I attribute it to it being very wet still and that I had my tires placed in the wrong line. Didn't try again but I did decide to go play in some mud holes (I'm sure I'l regret it next time I crawl underneath to change something). Most holes were very shallow so I wasn't payin much attention and only in 2wd. Then Ihit one and the drivers side sank up to the doors. Startled me for a second cause I though I was gonna get stuck but I just pressed the gas a bit harder and sent straight through.

Now the trucks covered in mud and I dropped it off to get the A/C system worked on tomorrow while I'm working. So with any luck I'l have A/C tomorrow night.

 

[mr cribb]

Now the trucks covered in mud and I dropped it off to get the A/C system worked on tomorrow while I'm working. So with any luck I'l have A/C tomorrow night.

Atleast you weren't dropping your mud covered truck to get new shocks of something related....

 

[CDW6212R]

Good fun, just pull out the water hose and climb under it before it dries.

Let me know if you want another set of the wheels. Mine have typical cracks in the clear coat now, and I have the center caps that are tough to find.

 

[willindsay]

Ugh well got a call from the shop this morning. Got the Acumulator off no problem but removing the oriface tube it broke and a piece of it got lodged in the evaporator. They said for 130$ they would pull it and try and drill it out or punch it out somehow. I said no thanks and had them just leave the Accumulator off so I can fix it my self. 55$ later and I still don't have A/C. I have to figure out how to get the O-Tube out and put it all back together to get it recharged.

Now is it worth it to try and get the piece out or should I just fork out the $100 for a new one?

 

[CDW6212R]

The drier needs to be changed once the system is opened to the air. You may have been better off to have them do it, to save the drier. Take your time with it now and get a drier to install on the day freon is added.

 

[willindsay]

The drier needs to be changed once the system is opened to the air. You may have been better off to have them do it, to save the drier. Take your time with it now and get a drier to install on the day freon is added.

Accumulator and Drier are the same from my understanding cause on the receipt that had description of the work it said they removed the drier. So I have a new one of those and a O-Tube.

The thing is part of the old O-tube is stuck in the Evaporator core so I needs to be removed and replaced if I can't remove the part of the O-tube.



Now I did some research before I had decided to tackle this project and never found a good write up for a first gen, Found a good one for the second Gen and it showed the location of the O-Tube under the Drier/Accumulator. But looking at mine today I don't see a A/C line runing under it so after a little looking I think I've figure that it has to be in the tube circled in red below.

Please correct me if I'm wrong.


Now looking on Rock Auto I see they have a Evap Core repair kit for $10. Would this solve my problem? Link