AC problem

[bsoder]

I have a problem that perhaps someone on here will have a solution for. My blower (on my 89 Bronco) for heating/cooling does not blow anywhere near strongly enough. My A/C blows plenty cold, just weak. I had the system checked and the evap cleaned (outside chemical cleaning) and that helped, but it's still insufficient. What I'd really like to find is a blower that's significantly stronger than the stock motor. I bought a rebuilt motor and compared it to mine, they seem to be pretty much identical as far as output goes. I've also looked around for a replacement 12V motor, if I could find one that would spin the cage faster I could just fab up the mount out of aluminum or something. No joy there either tho.

So, any thoughts? We went out towards the beginning of summer a couple times down here, and it was really miserable for the kids, sitting in back. I plan to build a new center console in the near future and run ducts under it to provide more air to the back seats, I'll disable the door that blocks off the heat ducts at the bottom of the dash and use those to tap for the rear ducts. Of course, this will just make my airflow problem worse... there's gotta be a solution.

[Chad H]

You may have a clogged evaporator or condensor, I "thought" mine was clean, till I pulled the heatercore box, totally plugged, therre was my air flow problem.. A stock cage and motor is fine you prolly have a restriction...

[bsoder]

Does the airflow go through the heater core and evaporator core regardless of the dash setting? In other words, does the dash control change the air path or just the A/C compressor and the fluid through the heater core? I thought if it was set to cool, the air only went through the evap core, and that's the one I had cleaned.

At this point I've about given up... I'll probably run the ducting like I'd planned, and mabye add a second blower under the console to "assist" those rear vents, and just live with it.

[saf-t scissors]

You didn't buy the "new" motor from Autozone, did you? I've been meaning to replace the motor in mine for a while, but don't need it enough to justify the $120 cost.

But IME, there's a big difference btn a 10-yo blower motor and a new one.

[Chad H]

Originally posted by bsoder
Does the airflow go through the heater core and evaporator core regardless of the dash setting? In other words, does the dash control change the air path or just the A/C compressor and the fluid through the heater core? I thought if it was set to cool, the air only went through the evap core, and that's the one I had cleaned.

At this point I've about given up... I'll probably run the ducting like I'd planned, and mabye add a second blower under the console to "assist" those rear vents, and just live with it.

Well put it this way , does the air floe cfm change on different settings, hot or cold?

[bsoder]

Originally posted by sclemons
You didn't buy the "new" motor from Autozone, did you? I've been meaning to replace the motor in mine for a while, but don't need it enough to justify the $120 cost.

But IME, there's a big difference btn a 10-yo blower motor and a new one.

Might have, don't remember. Mabye I should pull it out again and buy a new one from NAPA and compare them. My original was actually slightly stronger than the rebuilt I got from wherever it was.

[bsoder]

Originally posted by DaBeef

Well put it this way , does the air floe cfm change on different settings, hot or cold?

Good point, yes it does - on vent, if I switch it to heat, I get less flow. Of course, since the evap core is what I had cleaned, and all I really care about living in Phoenix is the A/C, I'm not concerned about the heater core, and it shouldn't be affecting me when I'm trying to get max flow for A/C.

[Chad H]

You say you had the evaporater cleaned, in what way? Was it removed and cleaned?

[bsoder]

It was not removed, since it would have been significantly more expensive. They cleaned it with some sort of chemical solution, which supposedly dissolves the crud fairly well. I had actually pulled the motor out before I took it in, and looked in there, and it was fairly dirty, I pulled the motor out again afterwards (playing again) and checked it, and it looked MUCH better. I know, no guarentees that they really got it clean, but as far as I can see it looks pretty good.

[Chad H]

Well Ill tell you my story.. I never had chit for air flow.. The evaporator looked great from the outside, but when i pulled it, it was totally clogged on the inside.. After a night of soaking it was a HUGE difference.. Maybe you can get a flashlight on the inside and look from the outside at night?

[bsoder]

hm. Ok, I'll give that a try. If it turns out to be blocked, I guess I'll just replace the core, it's going to be expensive because of the R-12.

[Chad H]

Walmart sells retro kits of 134a, you can get by without flushing the system and dropping the 134 in..
Its just a little bit thinner than r12, and every year you may need to add an oz or so..

Might be able to clean it without pulling it too...

[bsoder]

I'll see about cleaning it first. I've seen the retro kits plenty of places, but I've been told that the R-134a doesn't cool nearly as well as the R-12.