Great Idea for tranny cooler!

[B.T.O'Rourke]

I'm in the process of changing eng., trans, and susp.,
and I'm getting rid of the A/C. So I thought, hmm, make the A/C condenser the tranny cooler! Has any body else done this? It would probably hold an extra court of fuild, and alot more surface area to cool. Would the fluid pump fast enough though? Just trying to get your feedback. Thanks

 

[Alec]

A/C into onboard air and the condenser into a tranny cooler? Could work

 

[B.T.O'Rourke]

I brought up the thought of using the a/c comp. as an onboard air pump, with my buddz just today, actually.
I think that would be pretty cool!! Anybody know what I got to do to make an a/c comp. into a air comp.?

 

[RiverRat]

Gas flows through the condenser. I'm not sure how liquid like ATF would do but maybe.

If you use the ford compressor you will need to figure out a way to keep oil in it.

 

[SVO1]

There was a tech article on like the Big Bronco site that had about turning an a/c comressor into an air compressor.
IIRC they used an earlier (like 70's) ford compressor

 

[Sallad420]

Originally posted by RiverRat
Gas flows through the condenser. I'm not sure how liquid like ATF would do but maybe.

Isn't it's a liquid flowing through the condenser? Hense the name! It condenses the gas back into a liquid and cools it down again? I'm not 100% positive, but that makes sence to me.

 

[njsjfonline]

i will get a lot of feed back

What about using the AC in the air box to make a cold air inducts ion. Say putting the condenser in the air box?
I don't know how i'd do that, but i've been thinking of that.

 

[Positive Vibes]

Do a search. I brought this up a while ago and there is a link that describes what to do. I still collecting parts to convert my a/c compressor to an air compressor.

 

[RiverRat]

Originally posted by Sallad420
Isn't it's a liquid flowing through the condenser? Hense the name! It condenses the gas back into a liquid and cools it down again? I'm not 100% positive, but that makes sence to me.

I got confused. You are right. High pressure gas enters the condenser and leaves a high pressure liquid.

 

[Bill H]

BT...I brought up the thought of using the a/c comp. as an onboard air pump, with my buddz just today, actually.
I think that would be pretty cool!! Anybody know what I got to do to make an a/c comp. into a air comp.?

Yes it can be done,did it to my'91 EX
Do the following:

Remove the A/C connection at the back of the compressor,making sure the A/C charge is drained.

Get another connection from a yard or reuse yours,modify in 1 of 2 ways...1) cut of the hose leaving enough to attach the air line to,one side sucks put an air filter on it,the other is the pressure side,attach your air line there.2) seal the cut offs and drill and tap for NPT fittings.

Get an air pressure switch rated for what you want to do.Mount the pressure switch nearby.I built an I shaped bracket mounted to the fender wall.with the switch on the outside.

Get a connector to fit the compressor,wire the compressor to the pressure switch,use 1 wire to penetrate the fire wall.( I got power from the cig lighter and put the lighted on-off switch in the ash tray** I dun smoke)That switch I used a 20 amp switch.A/C uses 10amps.

Decide if you want to use air tools,if so mount an air tank(mine went under the passenger front seat floorboard)If you just want to inflate tires,a tank isnt needed.

Oiling...yes the rotary style needs oil and either style its best to put an oil coaelscing filter on. I give mine a shot of oil when I use it,some use the "miracle" lubes or synthetics.

Parts I used....grainger pressure gauge 1X754,SAFETY VALVE 5A709,1/4" drain **** 6D910,pressure switch (square D 90 to 125 psi) 5A537,coalescer oil filter 6D805,Vi air air tank 2 & 1/2 gallon,air line,air connectors various(sears)a spool of wire,crimp style connectors, a grommet(through the fire wall), a number of brass plugs on the tank. I spent about $240.00 to do it. Ex's run at a slow idle,so it takes a bit of time to fill my tank,boosting to 2500 RPM is great! Hope that helps Bill

 

['95Xplorer]

Any pics?

 

[B.T.O'Rourke]

Hey Bill, Way Cool!! Thanks for the info, you wouldn't happen to have any pics?

 

[dogfriend]

Originally posted by B.T.O'Rourke
So I thought, hmm, make the A/C condenser the tranny cooler! Has any body else done this? It would probably hold an extra court of fuild, and alot more surface area to cool. Would the fluid pump fast enough though? Just trying to get your feedback. Thanks

The only problem that I can forsee is that the tubes which make up the condensor core are smaller in diameter(about 1/4 in OD on mine) than the trans cooler lines (about 3/8 OD), so it may cause a lot of restriction and make the pump work harder. The aux trans coolers that I have seen usually have bigger tubing.