300D Air Con.

[mathuisella]

Hi all, well with summer here and it's very hot... I want to get the air con going.

I cleaned off the contacts of the compressor yesturday and with help from a friend applied 12v to it and with a "snap" sound, it's safe to say the clutch engages.

Time to find an AC belt to put on and see if she runs :D

[pina4greg]

Just having to replace mine on the w140 300se.....not cheap... but necessary here in Perth.

[mathuisella]

Okay, well the two belts according to Bursons and supercheap auto as well as autobarn that fit my car are the

13A1370
13A1345

So i read that as 13 wide A/V shape and 13**mm long, well i took an extension lead out to the car and put it into the grooves where the belt would go and it's 82.5cm, so i would need belt 13A0825, SCA has a 13A0825, so with a bit of adjustment it should fit :) Picking it up tomorrow.

I connected the compressor up and turned the car to "reds" or "accessory" and went to turn the AC/fans on to see if the clutch will engage, but i got a click from the relay box behind the passenger side headlight rather than the compressor itself, strange.

It was this relaxy box..

25590596_10212883848223775_703622182_o.jpg

Also, while i'm in this area, can anyone tell me where this goes ?

It doesn't seem to have a place to fit anywhere ? it's a gree wire and a black wire connected to a single pin/socket that's just loose behind the front passenger headlight area.

25593133_10212883848383779_484705269_o.jpg

[Kcodezd]

Hi Math, whilst i was taking to you this evening i pulled a cable from the bottom side of that box. Does it look like a bit like a rca cable? If it does try feeling the bottom edge (of the box) for a hole about 12mm in diameter.

[mathuisella]

Hi Math, whilst i was taking to you this evening i pulled a cable from the bottom side of that box. Does it look like a bit like a rca cable? If it does try feeling the bottom edge (of the box) for a hole about 12mm in diameter.

looks like it has come out of one of the plugs, the line goes to the glow plugs, will look further into it in the morning.


So, back to the AC.

Belt in the morning and hopefully that's all :)

[Tony From West Oz]

Okay, well the two belts according to Bursons and supercheap auto as well as autobarn that fit my car are the

13A1370
13A1345

So i read that as 13 wide A/V shape and 13**mm long, well i took an extension lead out to the car and put it into the grooves where the belt would go and it's 82.5cm, so i would need belt 13A0825, SCA has a 13A0825, so with a bit of adjustment it should fit :) Picking it up tomorrow.

I connected the compressor up and turned the car to "reds" or "accessory" and went to turn the AC/fans on to see if the clutch will engage, but i got a click from the relay box behind the passenger side headlight rather than the compressor itself, strange.

It was this relaxy box..
25590596_10212883848223775_703622182_o.jpg

That is the Glow Plug Relay. It turns the GPs off after a time delay, or after the engine starts.

Also, while i'm in this area, can anyone tell me where this goes ?

It doesn't seem to have a place to fit anywhere ? it's a green wire and a black wire connected to a single pin/socket that's just loose behind the front passenger headlight area.

25593133_10212883848383779_484705269_o.jpg

The connections to the GP relay are a heavy cable to the battery, a 4 socket plug (Ign, Temp sensor, Earth, GP lamp) and a 6 socket plug (5 sockets used) to connect to the GPs.

That cable is not part of the GP system.

[Thunderbolt]

Hi hope your aircon goes well. Mine didnt work when I got the car, had no belt on either but there was one in the boot so I put that on (pain) still no joy, so rang around ac places first guy just came up with endless reasons why it would be buggered and how it would cost a fortune, finally took it to a well known place who was willing to try but he wanted the car for 6HOURS! to keep it under pressure/vacuum as he was convinced it would leak. Turned out there was nothing wrong just needed regas. He got 4 degrees at vents wich he said was better than some new cars! Cost me $240 it gets very cold in the car now happy days!
Cheers

[MaXim]

Are you folks recharging with r134a?

I have heard bad things about putting it in these old York compressors even with a full system conversion. Has anyone had experiences with Hychill?

[Tony From West Oz]

If the system had R12 in it, then use Hychill or HR12 (same stuff IIRC)
If the system had been converted to R134a, then you may need to get advice on the lubricant and seal compatibility.

[tsharkey]

Are you folks recharging with r134a?

I have heard bad things about putting it in these old York compressors even with a full system conversion. Has anyone had experiences with Hychill?

Being a diesel, it will use the Delco compressor, I have recharged with R134a and seems to work OK (not icy cold, but cool enough....)

btw - I know I have been hard to catch - if you are around over the break, I will grab that spring compressor.

[mathuisella]

okay, so i got the belt on, went back and got 6 belts between 81cm to 95cm

turned out the 85cm was the go, and i'll return the others tomorrow.

Okay, so clutch engages when i apply 12v directly to the compressor clutch, but when i turn the fan dial on in the car as well as turning the wheel al lthe way to Max/blue so it clicks, the clutch doesn't engage.


Test 1, bridge the wires for the front condensor fan > fan runs
test 2, bridge wires for compressor, compressor clutch engages and runs.

test 3, Gas pressure low side. > pressed low side valve with a piece of bent metal so my hands weren't in the path. feels like about 5-10psi coming out, but it's the low pressure side.

test 4, Gas pressure High Side > Pressed small piece of bent metal in here so i didn't get my fingers in the pathway, Pressure was like 5-10PSI here as well.

what do i do now guys ?

[Tony From West Oz]

The W123 A/C has pressure sensor and temperature sensor on the dryer.
If you have low refrigerant pressure the clutch will not engage.
No point in feeling for pressure (unless you have calibrated fingers), get someone with a gauge to measure it
Looks like you have low refrigerant in the system. get it recharged and see if it works.

[mathuisella]

well, air con places are all booked out here :/ looks like after christmas when i drive back to brisbane... I was hopeful to get it done for the drive, but oh well.

[MaXim]

Got my 300D's AC regassed today with r134a. Some extra work was needed to get the auxilliary fan to work - some previous owner had bypassed it with a switch. I converted it back to the factory configuration and shorted out the temperature sensor on the dryer to give the condenser the extra cooling it needs. It was ice cold but these older York compressors really do have a noticeable drag on an old diesel. Turning it off definitely helps with getting up to speed on a freeway onramp I'm very satisfied with the result and going to go there tomorrow morning with my Subie Outback whose AC is not as cold as it should be.

[mathuisella]

I got mine done today as well :D

it had already been converted to r134A gas, so we went with it.

pics of the process

connecting

26177835_10212939505095162_311330101_o.jpg

system holding vacuum

26178020_10212939504895157_734115601_o.jpg

the gas bottle used

26180010_10212939505015160_851504134_o.jpg

charging the system

26107755_10212939505415170_166855265_o.jpg

fan auto switching on

26177704_10212939505175164_275009391_o.jpg

unfortunately, i didn't get a shot of the temp :(

guy said it was 15 degrees and dropped to 13, but that was with the door open. also the front windscreen ports and the side ports were open, so not as much air was coming through the front centre vents where he had the thermometer.

did a 150km drive today and it was nice and cold :)

[Pete49]

If the system had R12 in it, then use Hychill or HR12 (same stuff IIRC)
If the system had been converted to R134a, then you may need to get advice on the lubricant and seal compatibility.

According to the Hychill website says its compatible to all seals & lubes and my experience agrees as I have had no failures in over 12 months.

[Tony From West Oz]

Better to check than suffer seal failure and lose your gas and lube.

[mathuisella]

So, it's been a little while now, pleased to report the air con is still going strong :)