What have you done to your DeLorean today?

[Bitsyncmaster]

I saw tons of people filming so Chris, be on the lookout for "idiot and DeLorean broke down in Foley" videos.

Same thing happened when I had to change my pump on the side of the road. Girl stopped and asked if she could take a photo. I was dripping in sweat and not in a good mood but managed to say "sure".

[Silverbullet]

Same thing happened when I had to change my pump on the side of the road. Girl stopped and asked if she could take a photo. I was dripping in sweat and not in a good mood but managed to say "sure".

You are the man... And she thanks you... Never let them see you sweat... lol Ok we all do.... but they have no clue... Nice...

[jawn101]

Took it to work again. Spent my lunch planning a route home that avoided any road wider than one lane each way - I normally spend 20 miles on 10 traffic clogged lanes of gravel more commonly known as I-80. Discovered I can get from door to door on nothing but farmland twisties, though it takes twice as long. But it's way more fun

[sdg3205]

Built shelves for all my spare parts

[Farrar]

Did a soap bubble test on the a/c fittings. Found a leak at, naturally, the evaporator/accumulator join. Turned on the fitting until I felt something give. The wrong size O-ring had been installed and had split, allowing the fitting to bottom out without making a good seal.

Oil in the compressor looked dirty. I drained it. There was barely any in there! Looks like I lost a lot of oil two years ago when the high pressure hose burst. Put in 6 oz. of fresh ester oil and re-installed it.

Trivia: a previous owner had installed the compressor with 7mm bolts. They're supposed to be 8mm. Also, use washers. Washers are nice.

Stripped out the right-hand upper idler pulley hole. Damn. Removed upper idler pulley. Bought a shorter belt (52"). Problem solved.

Sourced new O-rings at AutoZone, put everything back together again. While the vacuum pump sucked on the a/c system, worked on the cooling system: installed a coolant bleeder behind the radiator. Now there's one at the front and the back. I figured I might as well, since I was re-filling the antifreeze, anyway.

Back to the a/c system. Checked vacuum gauges. Looked good. Started charging the system. It acted like the orifice tube was blocked: insanely high pressures on the high side - 400-450 PSI. And no cold air from the vents. Well, shit. Here we go again.

The orifice tube had been installed backwards. Actually, it was a Variable Orifice Valve. I had broken the replacement orifice tube which came with the evaporator kit from DMCMW and found the VOV on sale online for $8 each so I figured I'd go whole hog. This one, installed backwards, broke when I removed it -- the filter screen portion was stuck in the evaporator tube. A piece of wire coat hanger bent into a J-shape was enough to yank on the plastic to get the filter screen out. Destroyed the filter in the process, but who cares?

Did I mention I had bought three VOVs?

Yanked a spare VOV off the shelf. It was difficult to get the new VOV up into the evaporator tube without pinching the filter screen (for grip) to where it, the filter screen, would be in danger of de-forming. I could get it to click once, but not twice.

Enter a cheap ballpoint pen - yank the guts out and the plastic tube is just the right size to push the black plastic of the VOV without disturbing the brass part that moves. Use that to push the VOV in until the second click, then put the filter screen in the adjoining pipe, put them together when you install the pipe on the evaporator tube and you're done: the tiny green O-ring will make the seal between the two parts of the VOV, as long as you didn't push the filter screen too far down the pipe. So, you know, don't do that.

Trimming some excess plastic from the very end of the filter screen element made it just flexible enough to go down the pipe. But not too far...

After 9pm. Didn't bother with a soap bubble test this time. Just put the vacuum pump on it and went to supper.

After supper, dumped a can of R-134a into the system and fired up the engine. The compressor came on. Dumped two more cans in. 65°F temps at the vents standing still.

Smiled, because of the car, for the first time in a long time.

Went for a quick drive. At 45 MPH, 54°F. Ambient temperature was 81°F with 85% humidity. The evaporator was draining onto the pavement. Fantastic!

One weird glitch: the compressor shut off, the cooling fans shut off, AND the blower motor shut off, all at the same time... then came on all at the same time. Will look into that tomorrow. Right now, I'm just happy that I have air conditioning.

2012 was an air-conditoning-free year. 2012 sucked. 2013 is looking better so far.

[Silverbullet]

Did a soap bubble test on the a/c fittings. Found a leak at, naturally, the evaporator/accumulator join. Turned on the fitting until I felt something give. The wrong size O-ring had been installed and had split, allowing the fitting to bottom out without making a good seal.

Oil in the compressor looked dirty. I drained it. There was barely any in there! Looks like I lost a lot of oil two years ago when the high pressure hose burst. Put in 6 oz. of fresh ester oil and re-installed it.

Trivia: a previous owner had installed the compressor with 7mm bolts. They're supposed to be 8mm. Also, use washers. Washers are nice.

Stripped out the right-hand upper idler pulley hole. Damn. Removed upper idler pulley. Bought a shorter belt (52"). Problem solved.

Sourced new O-rings at AutoZone, put everything back together again. While the vacuum pump sucked on the a/c system, worked on the cooling system: installed a coolant bleeder behind the radiator. Now there's one at the front and the back. I figured I might as well, since I was re-filling the antifreeze, anyway.

Back to the a/c system. Checked vacuum gauges. Looked good. Started charging the system. It acted like the orifice tube was blocked: insanely high pressures on the high side - 400-450 PSI. And no cold air from the vents. Well, shit. Here we go again.

The orifice tube had been installed backwards. Actually, it was a Variable Orifice Valve. I had broken the replacement orifice tube which came with the evaporator kit from DMCMW and found the VOV on sale online for $8 each so I figured I'd go whole hog. This one, installed backwards, broke when I removed it -- the filter screen portion was stuck in the evaporator tube. A piece of wire coat hanger bent into a J-shape was enough to yank on the plastic to get the filter screen out. Destroyed the filter in the process, but who cares?

Did I mention I had bought three VOVs?

Yanked a spare VOV off the shelf. It was difficult to get the new VOV up into the evaporator tube without pinching the filter screen (for grip) to where it, the filter screen, would be in danger of de-forming. I could get it to click once, but not twice.

Enter a cheap ballpoint pen - yank the guts out and the plastic tube is just the right size to push the black plastic of the VOV without disturbing the brass part that moves. Use that to push the VOV in until the second click, then put the filter screen in the adjoining pipe, put them together when you install the pipe on the evaporator tube and you're done: the tiny green O-ring will make the seal between the two parts of the VOV, as long as you didn't push the filter screen too far down the pipe. So, you know, don't do that.

Trimming some excess plastic from the very end of the filter screen element made it just flexible enough to go down the pipe. But not too far...

After 9pm. Didn't bother with a soap bubble test this time. Just put the vacuum pump on it and went to supper.

After supper, dumped a can of R-134a into the system and fired up the engine. The compressor came on. Dumped two more cans in. 65°F temps at the vents standing still.

Smiled, because of the car, for the first time in a long time.

Went for a quick drive. At 45 MPH, 54°F. Ambient temperature was 81°F with 85% humidity. The evaporator was draining onto the pavement. Fantastic!

One weird glitch: the compressor shut off, the cooling fans shut off, AND the blower motor shut off, all at the same time... then came on all at the same time. Will look into that tomorrow. Right now, I'm just happy that I have air conditioning.

2012 was an air-conditoning-free year. 2012 sucked. 2013 is looking better so far.

My guess is a bad connection or weak Circuit Breaker on the AC Fans, behind passenger seat....

Craig

[Shuttleman]

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1374792792.337875.jpgImageUploadedByTapatalk1374792822.238170.jpg
Engine/gearbox and body removed. I also made a rack for my body panels.

[DMCMW Dave]

My guess is a bad connection or weak Circuit Breaker on the AC Fans, behind passenger seat....

Craig

Circuit breaker does not power the compressor.

[DMC81]

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1374792792.337875.jpgImageUploadedByTapatalk1374792822.238170.jpg
Engine/gearbox and body removed. I also made a rack for my body panels.

Looks like you have everything well organized and tidy, looks good.

[Silverbullet]

Circuit breaker does not power the compressor.

Guessing he did not REALLY know it the compressor shut off... You have to get out, lift louvers, lift engine cover... and look at clutch... I guess it was just no cold air...

Craig