360 AC Problem, High Low Side & Low High Side | Page 4 | FerrariChat

360 AC Problem, High Low Side & Low High Side

Discussion in '360/430' started by TheRealFlyingBear, Jul 20, 2020.

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  1. TheRealFlyingBear

    TheRealFlyingBear Karting

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    #76 TheRealFlyingBear, Aug 28, 2020
    Which sniffer do you have? I don't think mine works very well.
     
  2. ItalGerBrit

    ItalGerBrit Formula Junior

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    #77 ItalGerBrit, Aug 28, 2020
    Robinair TIFL1-A. Relatively inexpensive and not as sensitive as the more expensive units but it worked just fine for me. You must be in dead calm air and get the wand tip close to find the very small leaks.
     
  3. INRange

    INRange F1 World Champ
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    #78 INRange, Aug 28, 2020
    The oval pipe is a result of the condenser fitting becoming distorted in the welding process. Once the fitting took on the oval shape...the pipe was forced....tightened down and took on that shape. The O ring should have sealed fine.

    I respect your choice not to flush the system but I don't know why you wouldn't do it......especially if you are replacing the compressor with a new one. The oil looks more than two years old. I just wonder if the rebuilt compressor you have is just more of a used part than one that was disassembled and rebuilt. A lot of shops can't tell the difference. We used to refer to suspect "rebuilt" parts as "Gunk" rebuilt.....meaning that the only thing that was done was the part was sprayed with a can of Gunk.

    My money is still on the compressor. One way to prove it is to cap off the compressor lines and vacuum the system. $20 says it holds a vacuum.
     
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  4. Skidkid

    Skidkid F1 Veteran
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    #79 Skidkid, Aug 28, 2020
    Polar Bear is pretty well known; I think they do a decent rebuild. I do recall seeing one thread complaining about a bad part but that happens in every business.
     
  5. INRange

    INRange F1 World Champ
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    #80 INRange, Aug 28, 2020
    I was referring to the one installed in the car (made in Korea) which to my understanding was rebuilt. Polar Bear does a good job on compressors.
     
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  6. TheRealFlyingBear

    TheRealFlyingBear Karting

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    #81 TheRealFlyingBear, Aug 31, 2020
    @INRange

    Capping the compressor lines seems like a good test. I'll need to source some caps in the appropriate size. I'd like to do this test when the compressor is being rebuilt by Polar Bear. I agree, I suspect the leak is the compressor. Only having 1.5oz of oil in it may have also made the seals dry and more likely to leak. The shop that installed this compressor says the normal oil color is orange (strange choice IMO considering orange/brown is the color of bad fluid). However, the fluid does look pretty clean and clear.

    For now the car is fully assembled and my plan was to drive it around a bit before doing a full overhaul on the AC system (new condenser and compressor rebuild). It's been two months without enjoying the car due to the rock chips repairs and clear film install. My film install was supposed to be Sept 5th, but it might get pushed out because there's so much ash in the California air that my installer thinks we should wait until the fires have calmed down. If the film install gets pushed out a couple weeks, I may end up doing the AC overhaul, now. Silly considering it always takes me about an hour to reinstall that darn rear under tray and I just put the front bumper back on...I love to work on my car? :p
     
  7. INRange

    INRange F1 World Champ
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    #82 INRange, Aug 31, 2020
    Enjoy your car now. Work on it when the weather sucks. You are on the right track to solve it.
     
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  8. TheRealFlyingBear

    TheRealFlyingBear Karting

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    #83 TheRealFlyingBear, Aug 31, 2020
    What's the best way to plug the lines going to the compressor? Not sure how this is normally done, but I was thinking about buying some hardware at home depot that's the right thread size?
     
  9. INRange

    INRange F1 World Champ
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    #84 INRange, Aug 31, 2020
    That works. Anything to cap the lines and you are good to go. Plug into the low or high side port and pull a vacuum. 15 minutes and you will have your answer.:)
     
  10. Skidkid

    Skidkid F1 Veteran
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    #85 Skidkid, Aug 31, 2020
    As I recall, it is 1/4" flare fitting
     
  11. synchro

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    #86 synchro, Sep 10, 2020
    +1
    The first hint of actual science in this whole thread.

    You tune the A/C system using SubCooling.
    First measure the Superheat off the evaporator and then start filling until the condensor subcooling matches.
    My Testo 550 performs these with sensor probes and the whole task is so easy to optimize an A/C fill.


    BTW, Ever wonder how OEM determine how many pounds to actually fill the system?
    They do just this above, they fill until they balance the SuperHeat with SubCooling to result in the fill weight.
    A balanced system provides optimum cooling capability
     
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  12. TheRealFlyingBear

    TheRealFlyingBear Karting

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    #87 TheRealFlyingBear, Oct 2, 2020
    Finally finished with paint repairs and had clear PPF installed on the car. Things were delayed due to paint issues and bad air quality, but my 360 is finally finished! Driving around the past week it actually seems like my air conditioning is fixed. It's too cold inside the car even when it's 100F outside!

    To summarize what was done:
    1. replace most o-ring seals (excluding evaporator)
    2. new dryer filter
    3. replaced control valve inside the AC compressor
    4. drained old AC oil from the compressor, refilled with fresh fluid
    5. empty & refill system with refrigerant
    Superheating and subcooling sound interesting to learn more about. It looks like I already had measured all the datapoints to calculate both values (spreadsheets linked earlier in the thread). If anyone is interested in doing this calculation for their own car, you can find the formulas and steps here. For now I'm going to move on to other sounds on the car.

    https://www.hunker.com/13407349/refrigerant-overcharge-problems

    Thanks to everyone on this thread for their help, information, and support. @flash32 @INRange and others who helped... THANK YOU! =)
     

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  13. INRange

    INRange F1 World Champ
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    #88 INRange, Oct 2, 2020
    Great work....congrats!!! Enjoy your car!
     
  14. Ruz1

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    #89 Ruz1, Oct 3, 2020
    Congrats on finding a fix and what a generous amount of information from the group, after reading this I found myself wanting to learn about a/c, be careful what you wish for, I went for a Saturday morning drive to visit to visit mom and turned on my ac for the first time since I acquired the car a month ago, and low and behold no cold air, turned on the ac on high and I don't hear the compressor "cycling" aka turning on, and I checked the fuse next to the battery and its good then checked the fuse behind the driver and that's good, any suggestions on what else to check to see if the compressor is good? or what should my next step be?
     
  15. TheRealFlyingBear

    TheRealFlyingBear Karting

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    #90 TheRealFlyingBear, Oct 5, 2020
    Ruz, I found the experience really interesting and satisfying. I also saved $$ and now have a complete set of AC tools I can use in the future. However, I'd only suggest DIY'ing this if you're okay not driving your car for a while. I left my car up on quickjacks for about a month while I was waiting for paint to dry. This allowed me plenty of time to experiment with AC and learn about the system and tools.

    If you have the time to leave your car in-operable...time to get underneath and see if the compressor clutch is working. If it is, I would get a set of manifold gauges and use them to start diagnostics.
     
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  16. Ruz1

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    #91 Ruz1, Oct 15, 2020
    Thank you for the encouragement, I'm going to start looking for a good set of manifold gauges. nad then ill put the car up on Quickjacks.
     
  17. Ruz1

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    #92 Ruz1, Oct 15, 2020
    Any Suggestions on which manifold gauges to get?
     
  18. flash32

    flash32 F1 Veteran

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    #93 flash32, Oct 15, 2020
    My research always pointed to yellow jacket

    Sent from my moto g(7) using Tapatalk
     
  19. Ruz1

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    #94 Ruz1, Oct 15, 2020
    Thank you, I will use that as a starting point.
     
  20. TheRealFlyingBear

    TheRealFlyingBear Karting

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    #95 TheRealFlyingBear, Oct 17, 2020
    Yellow jacket would be solid. If you're budget is lower, I got the AC Pro gauges from Amazon. They're also sold at autozone and orilley so I assumed they would be "okay".
     
  21. kaj750

    kaj750 Karting

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    #96 kaj750, Mar 14, 2024
  22. flash32

    flash32 F1 Veteran

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    #97 flash32, Mar 14, 2024
    Try Evac and refill ..

    Sent from my moto g power using Tapatalk
     
  23. kaj750

    kaj750 Karting

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    #98 kaj750, Mar 15, 2024
    I'll give it a shot tomorrow. Wish me luck! You know I could use some LOL
     
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