As some of you have followed in my other thread, I've now removed most of the front portion of the vehicle beyond the engine and have easy access to all of the components in there.

The cooling system is going to be all-new except for used clutch fan and low mileage radiator from my parts car. New hoses, tstat, waterpump, etc.

My power steering pump was making a whining noise, when turning wheel (vehicle not moving) I'd sometimes get a lurching/groaning feel and noise. Will inspect pulleys for ease of movement. The HP cooling line has rusted out and became slightly bent anyways. What O-rings will I need? The parts car probably has one and I will sand/paint it for protection.

ALSO I read that someones power steering system leaked out because of an o-ring failure, which one was it?! I may also replace the PS pump gasket at this time, since I will need to rebleed and replace fluid anyways. I will probably replace idler pulleys at this time and possibly tensioner although that seems to be okay.

Any sensors that fail that would be easier to get to now? CPS is on the other side right? FML.

Any gaskets / seals? I already replaced leaking front main shaft seal (figures, that would be an easy one right now!)

Also, how do I remove the fittings for the oil cooler and trans cooler? I cut the lines on the core-side since the coolers were destroyed. Do these fittings require new o-rings?

Hm, what about engine mounts or something?

Air conditioning is a different story entirely. Ironically it stopped working a few weeks before the crash anyways, and obviously the condenser is destroyed. I'm replacing that and the tank (forget the correct term, collector thing..?) again - will I need new o-rings on those banjo-bolt style block connections? I know the entire system will need to be cleaned/repressurized by a pro. BUT if it stopped working before, should I do something to the AC compressor? Is there anything I can repair/replace in there?

.....since I'm giving this thing a new lease on life, I really want to hop in there and feel like she's running better than ever (I got it with 146k miles so..)

 

Well, oil pump and timing chain come to mind, lot easier to get at the front cover. Starter?

When electric fan goes back on, make sure it blows toward block.

Hard to say on compressor, because you don't know what was wrong before. Adding metal trash to the previously sealed AC freon system won't help compressor. The tank thing is a drier, as soon as air hit it for several minutes it had soaked up humidity and is useless. New ones come sealed up so they can be quickly hooked up after mounting.

 

For the AC, hard to know what was wrong with it. When I redid the AC on my P38, I bought an o-ring kit for european cars off ebay. The metric kits at the autoparts stores won't work. After you replace the condensor, reciever/drier and the o-rings, you can get a vacuum pump from the parts store and suck it out yourself. If it won't hold a vacuum, look for the leak. If it does, you just need to charge it. RAVE lists the volume of oil in each component of the system. You will need to add some if the drier comes empty and you use new lines, and then charge away. I used a vac pump and a set of gauges I got from HF. Not the best, but they have fixed three systems so far for less than the price of one AC system check. Now, my local Autzone has free loaner vacuum pumps so it's even cheaper.

 

Thanks for the info! So is the drier off my parts car totally worthless? Actually JK since my guy already removed the condenser I suppose it would be lol (I was going to say he could just leave it attached and I can yank it / replace it quickly) - I'll see how much they are. Would you happen to know what o-ring kit you saw off hand?

My little refill bottle/gauge thing said the system had pressure (I checked a few days after, not a month or anything) but the air was HOT coming out - not even slightly cold. I could get a slight RPM decrease when I get the econ button off, BUT not the ac compressor itself, I don't think that ever actually turned on. I know there are many sensors that would prevent the compressor from turning on however.. AC systems are a PITA.

 

An AC system is actually pretty simple. The compressor turns refrigerant into liquid by pressurizing it, adding energy to it. This also makes it hotter. It goes through the condensor where some of the heat is lost. Then it travels to the expansion valve where it basically squeezes through a small opening that allows the pressure to be higher on one side than the other. The rerigerant sprays out of this valve as a mist and evaporates becoming a gas. As it evaporates, it loses energy and cools. When it goes through the evaporator, it takes in energy from the ambient air. Then it goes back to the compressor and the cycle repeats. When your HVAC controller calls for cooling, it triggers a relay to pull in the clutch on the compressor. If the dual pressure switch on the drier sees a low pressure from insufficient coolant charge, the clutch won't engage. Your pressure gauge on the coolant can can only read low side pressure, so it is only accurate when the compressor is running. Have you tried to add refrigerant? The compressor should fire up once there is enough in the system. The total system volume is listed on a sticker on the radiator support, but it is only in the 2 to 3 can range. You can also put 12 volts to the c ompressor clutch and make the compressor kick on to see if it is the relay or the clutch.

 

Cam shaft positioner sensor which is a little one on the front of the motor, on the drivers side (just off center) is one that comes to mind with me.