Z34 Air con conversion kit and primary cooling fan

[Sbb]

Hey Folks, my 92 Z34 finally needs the AC serviced, when I picked up a Napa retro kit, there was only one fitting that fit the high pressure line, I wanted to service the low pressure side with the new 134, but I don’t see any way without more adapters, also my primary cooling fan is not working, I could use a clue on how to disconnect the plug when I can only feel where it connects…thanks for any advice 

[jiggity76]

I can't help you with the AC question, sorry.  

The cooling fan connectors are under the radiator support or around there.  They are grouped together with the main harness that also runs along the radiator support.  It will have a single clip that you will need to lift over the tab and then slide it out of the female side of the connector.  It will be somewhat tight but not too hard to disconnect.  For me, it was easier to jack the front end up on my car and go in from below.  The wiring harness for the fans and their connectors might have a convulated loom around them.  The wiring harness for the fans are mounted onto the X shaped framework by round plastic clips.  Just follow them down from the motor and you should see the connectors around the radiator support/main wiring harness like I mentioned.  The wiring harness for the fans can stay with them should you need to pull the fans out of the engine bay.  I can take pics if you need me to.

 

Edited June 15, 2021 by jiggity76

[55trucker]

Hmmm........I'm going to take the position of.....seeing as you're asking what to do then you have no experience servicing an A/C system.

Don't feel as tho you're being flamed because many do not know what to do

The first things you will need are tools

1. set of A/C manifold gauges

2. vacuum pump

there's no getting around these items....they are mandatory

3. flush kit

since you have a 93 the a/c system was/is R12

when *converting* and I use that term loosely to 134a there are procedures that need to be done.

134a does not mix with mineral oil, all R12 systems made use of mineral oil, 134a makes use of Pag or Ester oil or an equivalent.

Since 134a doesn't like to play with mineral all of the mineral oil has to be flushed from the system.

 

Has this been done yet?

If not do so.....

you'll need a flush kit.....

also when doing this procedure the a/c receiver/dryer will need to be replaced & the orifice tube should be replaced as well.

One does NOT flush the compressor, it comes off the engine & is drained separately, the amount of oil in the housing is drained into a measured beaker and the same amount of Pag/Ester is poured back into the compressor.

Seeing as the system has now come apart new O-rings are needed to seal the system up again.

Are you disillusioned yet?

 

A set of R12 manifold gauges can be had for a relatively inexpensive price.....get the R12 set & then purchase the 2 134a quick disconnect fittings that will screw onto the ends  of the hoses.

A vacuum pump will run you near $120us for a decent 1/3hp 5cfm 2 stage pump.

 

Now, there is another way of doing all of this without *converting* to 134a.........purchase an R12 substitute, if the system oil is still mineral then you have that option of going in this route.

 

Food for thought........

 

 

 

 

[jiggity76]

1 hour ago, 55trucker said:

Hmmm........I'm going to take the position of.....seeing as you're asking what to do then you have no experience servicing an A/C system.

Don't feel as tho you're being flamed because many do not know what to do

The first things you will need are tools

1. set of A/C manifold gauges

2. vacuum pump

there's no getting around these items....they are mandatory

3. flush kit

since you have a 93 the a/c system was/is R12

when *converting* and I use that term loosely to 134a there are procedures that need to be done.

134a does not mix with mineral oil, all R12 systems made use of mineral oil, 134a makes use of Pag or Ester oil or an equivalent.

Since 134a doesn't like to play with mineral all of the mineral oil has to be flushed from the system.

 

Has this been done yet?

If not do so.....

you'll need a flush kit.....

also when doing this procedure the a/c receiver/dryer will need to be replaced & the orifice tube should be replaced as well.

One does NOT flush the compressor, it comes off the engine & is drained separately, the amount of oil in the housing is drained into a measured beaker and the same amount of Pag/Ester is poured back into the compressor.

Seeing as the system has now come apart new O-rings are needed to seal the system up again.

Are you disillusioned yet?

 

A set of R12 manifold gauges can be had for a relatively inexpensive price.....get the R12 set & then purchase the 2 134a quick disconnect fittings that will screw onto the ends  of the hoses.

A vacuum pump will run you near $120us for a decent 1/3hp 5cfm 2 stage pump.

 

Now, there is another way of doing all of this without *converting* to 134a.........purchase an R12 substitute, if the system oil is still mineral then you have that option of going in this route.

 

Food for thought........

 

 

 

 

You never cease to amaze me!  Wow, very thorough and beneficial information.  Thank you.

[Schurkey]

1 hour ago, 55trucker said:

A set of R12 manifold gauges can be had for a relatively inexpensive price.....get the R12 set & then purchase the 2 134a quick disconnect fittings that will screw onto the ends  of the hoses.

A vacuum pump will run you near $120us for a decent 1/3hp 5cfm 2 stage pump.

Combination R12/R134a gauges aren't that much more, and might come with the adapters you'd need to connect to the system after you install the 134a fittings onto your existing R12 service ports.

A vacuum pump for $120 will be Communist Chinese, bottom-feeder stuff.  But maybe that's all you want.  "I" would get a "loaner" vacuum pump from a parts store, CHANGE THE OIL IN IT with proper vacuum pump oil, and then return the thing when you're done.  Then the only expense is the vacuum pump oil.  For example:

https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c/evertough/tools---equipment/rental-tools/rental-tools--air-conditioning---cooling/12095d53bcad/rental-tools-evertough-vacuum-pump/ren1/67128

For that matter, I bet you could get the gauge set as a "loaner" tool, also.

 

When the primary fan quit working on my '92 Lumina, the fan motor itself was toast.  But there could be problems anywhere in the electrical circuit--relays, wire harness, temp sensor, etc.

 

Edited June 16, 2021 by Schurkey

[55trucker]

22 minutes ago, Schurkey said:

 

A vacuum pump for $120 will be Communist Chinese, bottom-feeder stuff.  But maybe that's all you want. 

 

 

 

I have a small Robinair pump I purchased 10 years ago..........guess where it came from?...much to my displeasure.....but it's reliable, it's not as tho this device sees use every day as would be in a shop environment.

even those once notable domestic names we could put some faith in many are now chinese made...there's no getting away from it.

[White93z34]

yeah I get it I hate cheap junk too, but I'm not going to seriously sit here and tell someone to spend $2000 in professional tools to service a car worth half that. I got by just fine for ages on Horrible Freight junk. my manifold gauges eventually fell apart, but I got my $25 out of them whatever I have a nicer set now that I can afford it. And my vacuum pump is some random old unit from a Hospital?.Fact remains that cheap junk got me a functioning AC system 10 years ago that is still blowing cold air today.

Anyhow, yeah there's lots of ways to do it. I couldn't tell you what AC fittings I got to adapt the low side fitting now. and hell at the time I wasn't able to find a high side adapter. So I winged it and just charged based off the low side pressure. Good practice to replace the accumulator as junk likes to collect there as well as the orifice tube its in one of the lines nearby. In the past I've replaced the condenser as its usually taken a beating your mileage may vary. 

Its less then ideal but it is functional, just watch the low side pressure you're looking for about ~35psi on the low side on a 80* day and when off you should be seeing about 100psi

Granted it could all be for nothing, throw some UV dye in, add a bit of ester oil, no pag oil. its not comparable with the mineral oil. and see how many leaks you have, check the compressor half seals they love to leak there

as for your fan, my first test would be to pull the relay and jump power across it, and see if the fan turns on and troubleshoot either backwards or forwards from there, as others have mentioned the motors themselves are pretty old I had one go a few years back myself.

[pwmin]

5 hours ago, 55trucker said:

Hmmm........I'm going to take the position of.....seeing as you're asking what to do then you have no experience servicing an A/C system.

Don't feel as tho you're being flamed because many do not know what to do

The first things you will need are tools

1. set of A/C manifold gauges

2. vacuum pump

there's no getting around these items....they are mandatory

3. flush kit

since you have a 93 the a/c system was/is R12

when *converting* and I use that term loosely to 134a there are procedures that need to be done.

134a does not mix with mineral oil, all R12 systems made use of mineral oil, 134a makes use of Pag or Ester oil or an equivalent.

Since 134a doesn't like to play with mineral all of the mineral oil has to be flushed from the system.

 

Has this been done yet?

If not do so.....

you'll need a flush kit.....

also when doing this procedure the a/c receiver/dryer will need to be replaced & the orifice tube should be replaced as well.

One does NOT flush the compressor, it comes off the engine & is drained separately, the amount of oil in the housing is drained into a measured beaker and the same amount of Pag/Ester is poured back into the compressor.

Seeing as the system has now come apart new O-rings are needed to seal the system up again.

Are you disillusioned yet?

 

A set of R12 manifold gauges can be had for a relatively inexpensive price.....get the R12 set & then purchase the 2 134a quick disconnect fittings that will screw onto the ends  of the hoses.

A vacuum pump will run you near $120us for a decent 1/3hp 5cfm 2 stage pump.

 

Now, there is another way of doing all of this without *converting* to 134a.........purchase an R12 substitute, if the system oil is still mineral then you have that option of going in this route.

 

Food for thought........

 

 

 

 

I've been figuring out what I want to do to my 90 K2500 A/C as it still has all the old R12 stuff, but it's completely out of refrigerant, so this helps me out a lot, too.  Do you have experience with the propane/butane FrostyCool/RedTek/EnviroSafe/whatever other "brands"?

Edited June 16, 2021 by pwmin

[55trucker]

Here in Canada the sale of 134a is strictly forbidden to the average buyer. One must have a mechanics licence (310S, 310T, 310J) with a refrigeration endorsement (I still have my 310J) or one must have an HVAC licence.

The only way the product can be purchased is 30lbs. cylinders. But up here there are replacements for R12 (and supposedly 134a) that everyone can purchase, the most popular are Redtek, Ultracool is another, Envirosafe is a lesser known but the only distributor I know of is Frosty-Freeze (Wisconsin) who ships it into Canada. These are drop-in products that will mix with mineral oil as well as Pag or Ester. These do have propane in them, it has been a point of discussion for years on whether one should or should not use them. Both of these refrigerants are nearly twice the density of that of R12 or 134a so the volume introduced into the system is half of that of R12 or 134a. That's why one sees them marketed as 6oz. cans.

For my own part I don't see the point in using them seeing as I have already converted the GP to a 134a system. But it could be argued that they are not all that dangerous seeing as the new refrigerant on the block (and soon to be the only available) is HFO1234YF which itself also has a very low flammability rate but too low to ignite with a torch. But I suppose if I was dead set on not going thru with the procedure to convert the entire system to 134a I could consider them. 

Edited June 16, 2021 by 55trucker

[pwmin]

We can get it here no problem, but my dad's shop has all the certs and machines, anyway.  I did convert my 90 Grand Am to R134a, but not sure if I want to do that this time.   We can also get NOS or recycled R12, but I'm not sure I trust it.  People seem to be worried about the propane in them, but this is my beater pickup and it's always outside, anyway.  I suppose it might be worth the $70 gamble.  It's illegal to use it as an alternative to R12, but not as an alternative to R134a, or something like that.