showing off: doing the a/c right! 100 to 50 in 5 min

[POS carb]

It's 100 degrees outside in the shade, the car has been in the shade since 8am (no sun AT ALL)
I'll be doing a write-up in the tech section for anyone else wanting to fix their a/c correctly

Driving home:
5:06
http://carphotos2.cardomain.com/images/0015/71/06/15871760_large.jpg


5:07
http://carphotos3.cardomain.com/images/0015/71/16/15871761_large.jpg


5:08
http://carphotos2.cardomain.com/images/0015/71/26/15871762_large.jpg


5:09
http://carphotos.cardomain.com/images/0015/71/36/15871763_large.jpg


5:10
http://carphotos4.cardomain.com/images/0015/71/46/15871764_large.jpg


5:11
http://carphotos2.cardomain.com/images/0015/71/95/15871759_large.jpg


This is vent temperature. I need to re-check the refrigerant level to see if any has leaked out. By the time I get home the whole car is 50-60 colder inside than the ambient temp. It's not going to get much better than that, it's a 30 year old design, but it is comfortable. If this car had a bigger blower, condensor, and evaporator I could probably make it snow :thumbup:

[nswst8]

I get my sedan down to 38 degrees, I can only get the coupe to 44 degrees. I love my R12!

But hell yes 100 to 50 is a dam good job!

[Dr_Snooz]

A working A/C is a beautiful thing and a working 20 year old Honda A/C is no small feat. It seems like they just disintegrate at about the 10 year mark. I had to replace nearly every component in my Mom's 4g before I finally got the blasted thing working consistently. The 3g also required extensive repairs and still seems to leak. Keep it up brother and I'm looking forward to the how-to.

[2oodoor]

Great job ! Swing by Georgia and pick me up from work :cool:

[mykwikcoupe]

I call fake. Now come to washington and fix mine to prove its real. Theres an old how to fix the ac in the how to section. Not sure ifs still good with pic links and such but Id like to redo mine. I have a NIB stock dryer and condenser, I have pressure but the clutch wont engage. Thats all Ive tried so far. Very nice. To get that cold of air that quickly, Id never leave the car.

[Legend_master]

I call fake. Now come to washington and fix mine to prove its real. Theres an old how to fix the ac in the how to section. Not sure ifs still good with pic links and such but Id like to redo mine. I have a NIB stock dryer and condenser, I have pressure but the clutch wont engage. Thats all Ive tried so far. Very nice. To get that cold of air that quickly, Id never leave the car.

Have you tried jumping the clutch signal wire to the battery to verify the clutch is even working?

I need to get a temp gauge, I think we could have an A/C challenge lol. I just had to replace one of the A/C line due to it busting, and decided I would re-charge the freon myself with a cheap Auto-Zone kit. Surprisingly it worked like a charm, my A/C is blowing really cold!

[DBMaster]

Snooz is right about these things not being too durable. It's one of the few parts of the car that's not overbuilt. I had to replace my compressor at the 11 year mark and again at the 21 year mark. It would blow 40 degree air with R12 and then 43 degrees with Freeze 12 (put in with the second compressor replacement in 2010). It was adequate and that's about it. Still, when it's over 100 outside and you're getting air at anything below 50 you're not doing too badly. The best things to do beyond the A/C system are window tint (darkness not as important as IR and UV blocking) and using a windshield screen when you have to have it parked outside for more than a few minutes. The less heat you have to remove from the car the sooner you will feel less like a Thanksgiving turkey.

The tint shop guys used to say that leaving the windows opened slightly helps a lot. I never liked doing that because of blowing dust, rain, etc., but it does help, too.

[POS carb]

yea, the windows cause a greenhouse effect, the radiation gets in and can't get out, then everything inside the car is 120 degrees in no time and the interior keeps radiating that heat long after its out of the sun. cracking the windows does make a huge difference. I used to have the oem window vent visors but every set I had was cracked by someone leaning on them, I gave up on them.
From what I can tell the major problem is that the blower motor is not very powerful and all the seams in the ducts are sealed with foam which is guaranteed to be disintegrated by now, causing low flow by the time it gets to the vents on the dash. I sealed some of them off with a roll of foam from Home Depot (HD Performance :p). I also cleaned out the blower motor and poured some air tool oil into it while it was running and spent 20 min straightening out the bent evaporator fins and cleaning out dirt and leaves, it blows much better now. I think the blower motor, steering column, and rear window are the only original parts left on my car :lol:

Also, the fact that the compressor is less than two inches from the headers probably isn't good for it's longevity or efficiency.

[nswst8]

One of the biggest killers on these casr is that there is alot of radiant sunlight heating the interior therough the windows. All my windows are tinted (not supper dark) and I use sun shields when parked.