88-94 5.7 Suburban A/C Diagnosis and Tuning

[1998_K1500_Sub]

@Wildblue19: How's the Suburban AC been working as of late?

 

[Hoplite]

I’m following this thread. I replaced my pancake compressor on my 95 c2500 extended cab with a Sanden compressor years back. Mine idles at around 60-65 F in Houston.

 

[Wildblue19]

@Wildblue19: How's the Suburban AC been working as of late?

Delta staying the same of about 40° from ambient on the highway, recirc off. Now that the average temps are in the high 80s / low 90s, it's comfortable with the blower on medium. No adverse effects noted thus far after the refrigerant change; I'd recommend it as a last resort to those who have otherwise rebuilt / tested and established their system is operating as designed yet not cooling as much as is desired.

Electric fan install may wait while I determine how I want to trigger it; I have been having fun with working on expanding my diy automation methods as a new field for me.

 

[1998_K1500_Sub]

I’m following this thread. I replaced my pancake compressor on my 95 c2500 extended cab with a Sanden compressor years back.

Did you make changes to the AC suction and high pressure hardlines in order to mate them to the ports on the Sanden? Post pictures if so (!)

 

[Hoplite]

Did you make changes to the AC suction and high pressure hardlines in order to mate them to the ports on the Sanden? Post pictures if so (!)

I’ll get some pictures. I should have had some longer lines made but I want to say the company made adapters to use my existing lines. My only issue was that one of my lines is probably pulled a bit too tight.

 

[1998_K1500_Sub]

I’ll get some pictures. I should have had some longer lines made but I want to say the company made adapters to use my existing lines. My only issue was that one of my lines is probably pulled a bit too tight.

Please, post pictures!

 

[Hoplite]

Sorry I’ve been pretty busy. Here are some pictures. Not sure how helpful these will be, I can try to get some different ones if not. I ended up buying a Sanden compressor with an adapter plate to mate up to the existing lines. I want to say I bought it from ACparts.com. The adapter brackets came from Summitracing.

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[Wildblue19]

Finally started working on installing the blower fan up front and when checking over the system I noticed a small trail of oil residue on the compressor body. Some soap on the case and of course - a pinhole leak behind the clutch blowing bubbles. Good thing it's cooling off here and I won't need the system save for defog ops. I'm going to pull this compressor and replace it with a different Sanden model I've had my eye on for testing. Once this 4864 is off I'll rebuild it and keep it as a spare or maybe convert another one of my trucks.

The new model compressor I'm trying is the 4805, an enhanced version of my previous compressor.

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My reasoning is that I'm attempting to better match the displacement of the old R4 compressor (11ci/180cc).

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The footprints should be 1:1, so I'm hoping it will be a fairly quick swap.

I also bought my own evacuation pump and digital manifold gauge set to attempt to maximize performance and repeatability.

I'm not sure if I'm going to flush the system again or not, I need to see if any debris have made their way into the oil with the seal failure. Also, this compressor calls for PAG100 while the system is currently serviced with 46 - can anyone chime in if there are any longevity issues if I decide to run the existing 46 assuming it's clean? Looking forward to posting the results and hearing feedback.

 

[Orpedcrow]

This is such a great thread.

 

[PlayingWithTBI]

I'm not sure if I'm going to flush the system again or not, I need to see if any debris have made their way into the oil with the seal failure.

Just look at the screen in the orifice tube.

Also, this compressor calls for PAG100 while the system is currently serviced with 46

Maybe measure (or guess) how much oil you lost and add PAG 150 to make it up?