Took it to a AC repair shop and they hooked it to a machine. It worked on the 3 mile ride home and around the neighborhood but didn't feel that cols on a 95* day. It still worked this morning but not as cool as yesterday.
"condensor is partially clogged" sounds on the money to me. Would that issue arise when Freon is added or the system is charged?
There's not really a good way to clean out a condenser. Say it's the original unit, it's pushing 25 years old and if along the way the car had a compressor really blow up internally there's a good chance it can be trashed. Also could have too much oil in it as well from being charged over the years. Was the accumulator and/or orifice tube changed recently?
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02:01 PM
jetman Member
Posts: 7799 From: Sterling Heights Mich Registered: Dec 2002
The way I see it the only thing that would bend the thermostat would be 'air hammering' caused by air in the system.
Yes.
It is also possible for an inexperienced mechanic not to seat the thermostat all the way in and force the cap on top of it and a crushed thermostat is the result. (Yes, I did this myself.)
It is also very possible for the car to overheat just sitting there running while the a/c technicians fiddled around with the air. That may have been enough to cause a problem (or expose a problem that was pending) with the overheating issue that you are now dealing with.
I've already posted a list of items in this thread for you. My thoughts would be to get a pressure tester from the auto parts store, (free tool rental program) and pressurize the cooling system first, see what you've got and go from there.
Best wishes for cool runnings.
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02:01 PM
TONY_C Member
Posts: 2747 From: North Bellmore, NY 11710 Registered: May 2001
It is also very possible for the car to overheat just sitting there running while the a/c technicians fiddled around with the air. That may have been enough to cause a problem (or expose a problem that was pending) with the overheating issue that you are now dealing with.
I've already posted a list of items in this thread for you. My thoughts would be to get a pressure tester from the auto parts store, (free tool rental program) and pressurize the cooling system first, see what you've got and go from there.
Best wishes for cool runnings.
While possible, the car should not overheat just idling. I do agree, and have been saying it as well in previous post, that you have to rule out the cooling system as the culprit first.
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02:04 PM
jaskispyder Member
Posts: 21510 From: Northern MI Registered: Jun 2002
Originally posted by nosrac: I have a V6 3800 S/C swap. Water pump is NEW Radiator is Fairly NEW less than 500 miles since installed
Hmmm, well, here I thought it was a 2.8l stock engine. I am not sure if this is an issue or not on the 3800, but did the water pump have a plastic impeller or metal? Did you install the engine yourself, rebuild it or ??
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02:07 PM
fieroguru Member
Posts: 12453 From: Champaign, IL Registered: Aug 2003
Now since the car started acting up after the AC upgrade... maybe they did a modification to the coolant system to help the perceived AC performance.
The heater core and AC share the same HVAC house, but have different rooms and a door than can open and close. If this door does not fully close, then you mix the air flowing through the heat and AC rooms. The AC shop can't (or won't) do much to check for this door issue, but it is super easy to stop the flow of hot coolant into the heater core. Just cut one of the heater hoses right by the accumulator and install a plug... no more hot coolant to the heater core and whatever cool air the AC system is able to come up with will feel better (plus it ensures a return trip and $$$ in the winter when you do not have heat). This used to be a very common trick way back when, but at those times the heater core wasn't the only coolant bypass... like it is on the newer engines.
Check the heater hoses up front to see if they have been modified...
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03:47 PM
Marvin McInnis Member
Posts: 11599 From: ~ Kansas City, USA Registered: Apr 2002
Now you tell us! It would have been helpful if you had included that information in your original post.
I didn't include the swap part...sorry. I didn't include that because I did not have any issues with overheating before the AC charge and I assumed the same theory of overheating applied.
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06:23 PM
nosrac Member
Posts: 3520 From: Euless, TX, US Registered: Jan 2005
Now since the car started acting up after the AC upgrade... maybe they did a modification to the coolant system to help the perceived AC performance.
The heater core and AC share the same HVAC house, but have different rooms and a door than can open and close. If this door does not fully close, then you mix the air flowing through the heat and AC rooms. The AC shop can't (or won't) do much to check for this door issue, but it is super easy to stop the flow of hot coolant into the heater core. Just cut one of the heater hoses right by the accumulator and install a plug... no more hot coolant to the heater core and whatever cool air the AC system is able to come up with will feel better (plus it ensures a return trip and $$$ in the winter when you do not have heat). This used to be a very common trick way back when, but at those times the heater core wasn't the only coolant bypass... like it is on the newer engines.
Check the heater hoses up front to see if they have been modified...
The problems manifested themselves after the AC charge, so naturally I assumed the charge was the cause of the issue. However, I am going to check my heater core, and insure that is in good working order, as far as I know, It is 25 yars old. I have been running the car all summer and have NOT experienced any overheating issues unntil after the charge.
I removed the thermostat and I DID have to add some coolant into the engine via the neck about a 1/2 container worth, I also attempted to add coolant to the radiator but it was full. I checked to see if the neck was flowing coolant to insure the water pump was working. I opened it up with the car running and visually inspectd it and it looked good.
So my first dumb question is where to add coolant in the radiator or t-stat neck? Can the radiator be full and the engine need it? Second dumb question is where did the coolant go? I may be going crazy but I swore it was full via looking in the neck when I added the thermostat after the AC charge. I asume if I have a blown head gasket it would keep running hot.
So currently the car is running @ 195* after I added some more coolant and purged the freon. I am going to take it down the freeway and report the latest results.
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06:48 PM
jetman Member
Posts: 7799 From: Sterling Heights Mich Registered: Dec 2002
The usual burping procedure is to raise the rear of the car, (back it up on car ramps) and open the front radiator cap, fill from rear thermostat housing until coolant flows from radiator then replace that cap, keep filling into the thermostat housing until full and replace that cap. Start engine and run it without your thermostat for about a minute or so, open the thermostat cap and keep adding until full. It usually takes between 1 to 3 burps and I'm done and I replace the thermostat.
I usually will check again the next morning, same deal raise the rear of car and open thermostat cap, check from there. Don't forget to check your overflow tank, don't let that run low otherwise you'll run the risk of introducing air into the system as the engine cools off.
Your 3800 should not be any different from other rear engine Fiero.
------------------ jetman Silver 86 SE 2M6 4-speed, with "check wallet light" Now fortified with 8 essential slices of bacon goodness
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07:29 PM
fieroguru Member
Posts: 12453 From: Champaign, IL Registered: Aug 2003
If the fill point is higher than the radiator (and almost all swaps are), there is no need to raise the back of the car. I just open the cap at the rear and fill till full. Then go to the front and crack open the radiator until coolant comes out and put the cap back on. Fill the front overflow tank to the hot level. Then top off the the rear, close it up, start the engine and let it run about 5 minutes. Shut it off, take a break and come back when it is cooled down. Top off the rear again and go for a 10 to 20 minute drive then come back. All the air left in the system should have made its way to the radiator and been purged into the overflow tank.
If you have a removable thermostat, you can leave it out for the initial fill and running to help speed up the process.
