2000 AWD Xploder from Turbo back to NA

[Fix4Dirt]

Lol, I dunno man... this ac has been my Kryptonite for many years now, even well before I got the ZL1! LOL

ah then dunno! keeping ya away from the garage? cant be, these things love the space!

 

[CDW6212R]

Ok.. so.. I AM CURSED. Swapped the new new accumulator and BAM.. no more leak from the Shrader valve! AWESOME! Vac system down and have it hold vac... no leaks, holds it rock solid for an hour +... Go to charge system.. 3/4th filled from first can and... BAM!!! SAME F'ING connection blows out.. the quick connect between top of accumulator on the long hose over to the compressor. No clue what I must be doing wrong with this... Ugh :-/

Sorry to hear that. Is that a connection with a cheap OEM spring steel lock/clamp around it? Most AC quick connections have strong aftermarket clamps available. I used to always buy those and R&R the connector o-rings when I first bought a car. I'd have it done at my AC shop and fill it properly with freon and oil. I basically never had an issues with the AC on those vehicles after doing that minor easy task. The clamps stop the vibration of those connections, so the o-rings rarely would leak after that.

Here's an example of one size of those; Amazon product ASIN B000DCNDZE

 

[willzilla]

REFRESH25

Sorry to hear that. Is that a connection with a cheap OEM spring steel lock/clamp around it? Most AC quick connections have strong aftermarket clamps available. I used to always buy those and R&R the connector o-rings when I first bought a car. I'd have it done at my AC shop and fill it properly with freon and oil. I basically never had an issues with the AC on those vehicles after doing that minor easy task. The clamps stop the vibration of those connections, so the o-rings rarely would leak after that.

Here's an example of one size of those; Amazon product ASIN B000DCNDZE

That's interesting! I may need one of those but there is something else going on for sure. High side pressure went up to quick and to high.. didn't even fill a single 12 oz can and it spiked over 300 (99 degrees out so target pressure for high side according to chart is 315-325) and I quick cut car off and it kept going hit like 350 and blew line coupling.

 

[willzilla]

Haven't circled back to my AC yet.. I'm getting ready to go to Michigan for a week come Monday. May just wave the white flag and take it to a pro, lol. Kind of disheartening after so much work on it!

I did break out my new welder finally.. never welded before in my life and went and welded (mig with flux core) 3 1/4" square plates together (just at the edge corners) and grinded it down some to make some spacers to lift up some magnetic door stops for my office doors... it's ugly but works and the welding went pretty good for my first time ever, lol.

 

[willzilla]

Was in Michigan UP for a week. Got back late Sunday evening. Installed a sequential 3rd brake light setup on the ZL1...



Didn't have any fuse taps on me so wired it up with a vampire tap for the show mode. Switched to a fuse tap a few days later though

 

[XploderPhil]

Ok.. so.. I AM CURSED. Swapped the new new accumulator and BAM.. no more leak from the Shrader valve! AWESOME! Vac system down and have it hold vac... no leaks, holds it rock solid for an hour +... Go to charge system.. 3/4th filled from first can and... BAM!!! SAME F'ING connection blows out.. the quick connect between top of accumulator on the long hose over to the compressor. No clue what I must be doing wrong with this... Ugh

What is the low pressure doing? High pressure and negative low pressure could be a restriction. Did you replace the orifice tube?

 

[willzilla]

What is the low pressure doing? High pressure and negative low pressure could be a restriction. Did you replace the orifice tube?

Yeah, I replaced everything.. all lines, orifice tube, compressor, & accumulator. Low pressure was fine, then high pressure began to spike so I shut car off real quick and BOOM, line blew a few seconds later, lol.

 

[willzilla]

Hit up an event in Austin Sunday

 

[willzilla]

Kind of fell off the wagon from working on the Xploder... Lol. Kind of lost motivation with further failures with the dang AC system. I plan to take it to an AC shop or something and have them do a full flush and charge it and see if they run into any issues or not. Maybe will drain and fill the transmission this weekend if time allows

Picked up a drone a week or 2 ago and have been having fun with that Super cool.. plan to do some cool car videos with it as it has auto tracking and point of interest circling, etc.

Quick video I had done with it:



And testing auto tracking on my daughter, haha (youTube "short"):

 

[willzilla]

 

[willzilla]

Had some fun letting drone auto rotate around my ZL1 while I was hitting the car with the foam cannon, lol...

 

[willzilla]

Wife's Mustang is at the shop getting the rear quarter glass window regulator replaced (guess it's a super common issue with the verts)... Was going to drive the Xploder a bit and... Nope. I left the AC incomplete but figured it would be fine to drive with the AC off.. seems like my BRAND NEW compressor is messed up? Lol. Noticed it slowly kind of spins the clutch even with the AC turned off (and even when unplugged). Is this normal or is the new compressor shot? Gave up on the AC and will take it somewhere but now I wonder if they will need to replace the dang compressor as well? Lol :-/

 

[CDW6212R]

That compressor might be fine, the clearance of the AC clutch should be on the tight side when new. So if it drags a little when new, I'd watch it but not be worried.

 

[willzilla]

That compressor might be fine, the clearance of the AC clutch should be on the tight side when new. So if it drags a little when new, I'd watch it but not be worried.

Hope so! I have a guy in my neighborhood who is going to weld up my exhaust (have a small leak).. so he will grind it up, clean up the weld joint, and fix that, once that is done and I find a good reliable AC shop I'll just take care up and let them take care of it. This AC has been my Kryptonite lol.

The ZL1 just starting making a clicking sound in the back so I need to work on that today (heard it's common issue and need to pull wheels off and clean wheel and hub mating surfaces).

 

[willzilla]

Got my exhaust leak patched up by a buddy that lives in my neighborhood who welds for work I've been practicing and learning but am not up to trying to weld a pipe on a car yet, haha.

Solved a recent issue with my ZL1 with a weird clicking sound that was coming from the rear end at low speeds yesterday. Now to find a local legit AC shop to hopefully just finish my dang AC in the Xploder!

 

[willzilla]

Weird.. all of my YouTube links have vanished from the thread, lol, now they just are blank where a video preview would show, and my last YouTube post is kind of a mini link now instead of a preview as before. New forum change?

DISREGARD... Rick fixed the YouTube issue lol.

 

[willzilla]

Washed up the Xploder.. was covered in grime and gunk, lol.. turned out pretty decent:

 

[willzilla]

Had some fun with the new s650 Mustang during a conference call, lol:



Pretty cool Ford is continuing the muscle car... everyone else has abandoned ship sadly. The Dark Horse looks super nice

 

[willzilla]

For anyone looking some pretty sweet gauges... check out these Banks gauges. I added 2 to my ZL1 but they would work great in an Explorer or any other vehicle really I'm sure



Quick YouTube "short" of them:

 

[willzilla]

Going to replace my ABS wheel sensors in the front.. From the look of it I'll need to pull the wheels and calipers/rotors?