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Another setback; this truck really wasn't meant to have AC, even the wiring harness says no by not having a pigtail to plug into the compressor never mind all the holes I had to cut in the firewall and expand by the condenser to get the lines to fit through.
So my buddy came over again and has to go back to his parts rig and figure out what parts of that harness can be used in my rig because we are tired of messing around.
It looks like there is an intermediary harness for the AC. They show up on eBay for $19-$25. This has a good picture of it:
All of the trucks and 4Runners are meant to have AC. You probably know they were mostly converted at the dealer with a kit. I used to have the instructions that came with the kit. It's too bad there's not a PDF of it somewhere.
All of the trucks and 4Runners are meant to have AC. You probably know they were mostly converted at the dealer with a kit. I used to have the instructions that came with the kit. It's too bad there's not a PDF of it somewhere.
I have that harness plugged into the dash harness where the connector for the blower for the heater used to be, that is not where the problem lies, it is under the hood where the harness is not equipped to plug in the compressor to let the clutch know it is time to engage.
My truck was not meant to have AC with the fuse box the only place there is anything remotely connected to the system on the heater/AC fuse.
The firewall had no holes, the holes to mount the condenser are not drilled and bung tapped, the hole for the condenser line was too small and had to be elongated, the main harness is not equipped with an L/W wire to plug into the compressor. (L/W = blue with white runner).
I know every truck is able to have AC, I am successfully installing it in my truck but, the cab left the factory without the few options needed to make the install at a dealership feasible.
Went to have compressor rebuilt and ended up with a brand new much more efficient unit but, I am paying almost as much for the compressor as I did for the whole AC system.
I need it.
New evaporator is in the box and the box is in the dash all closed up.
The new evaporator does not stick out of the firewall as far as the old one did so not grommet but, I did fit a grommet to the smaller top line and forgot to take a picture.
The new compressor is bolted in but, I still haven't found the connector to plug the compressor in so I am gonna run a wire to the switch on the panel.
I have the dash fully installed but, am rewiring the radios and rerouting the Sirius XM and CB antenna wires so I will not have to look at the wires anymore.
I need to come up with the belt for the pulley and the money to have the system professionally charged because I am not the one.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Went to air conditioning shop to find out she will not charge the system until I supply a shroud lower that I had no clue even existed.
She is going to clean the condenser, apply a new drier and charge the system for what equals a 1st born son or a left testicle but, we are coming into the heat of summer and driving this truck without AC is like sitting in a Dutch oven, hell no.
US Air Conditioning Compressors in Panorama City and she is the nicest lady in the business.
Congrats. What a frustrating project. How much did it all ultimately cost? I have a box of A/C parts but like you I'm sure it's missing a lot. I'm pretty sure I don't have the lower shroud. My son, 16, will be driving the 1st gen this summer. He works in a bathing suit so I hope he doesn't complain too much. He'll probably keep the top off.
Congrats. What a frustrating project. How much did it all ultimately cost? I have a box of A/C parts but like you I'm sure it's missing a lot. I'm pretty sure I don't have the lower shroud. My son, 16, will be driving the 1st gen this summer. He works in a bathing suit so I hope he doesn't complain too much. He'll probably keep the top off.
It was close to $700.00 total not including my labor of course, it's my truck but, I did have about 10 hours total time invested and I charge $125.00 per hour when servicing motorcycles so figure it could cost close to $2000.00 if I would have given it to a shop and asked them to just do it.
My truck wasn't running perfectly and that is unacceptable to a guy that makes his living doing tune ups to motorcycle engines so I broke out the feeler gauges and adjusted the valves 7 of which were either too tight or too loose and only one of 8 not needing adjustment at all.
The AC works so good now that I have to turn it down or freeze inside the cab, awesome.
There was a nasty oil leak also that turned out to be the rear cam cut out plug not doing it's job anymore so a new gasket & cut out plugs went in. The timing was still good so it was the valves not seating properly is why she wasn't performing up to par.
I am happy the oil leak is gone and she runs as a 22R should, I'm a happy Yota owner and now I need to go wheeling so bite my shiny metal ass and have a great day.
thx for pointing out that shroud piece, i had no idea that there was such a thing.
now where to find one...
Originally Posted by fasterspider
Went to air conditioning shop to find out she will not charge the system until I supply a shroud lower that I had no clue even existed.
She is going to clean the condenser, apply a new drier and charge the system for what equals a 1st born son or a left testicle but, we are coming into the heat of summer and driving this truck without AC is like sitting in a Dutch oven, hell no.
US Air Conditioning Compressors in Panorama City and she is the nicest lady in the business.
You know what's weird is it actually makes a difference, the temp gauge needle stays lower now without the air on.
I just drove to Simi Valley and back on the 118 and the engine was warming up big time going through the Santa Susanna Pass but, she never went past the halfway mark on her dash gauge and I had the air on too. Simi is hot today, hotter than the SFV for sure.
I'm going to go change the coolant again and pull the thermostat out for the summer, she runs cold without it even when it is 115° outside.
The last piece of the air con system showed up finally, the duct that can house a huevos vent my truck never had.
Without this duct that connects the air box with the left side vent outlet, my feet were comfortably numbed with all that undirected air. Now all is cooling where it is supposed to.
She started running warm so I took out the plastic 2 core radiator and installed a new all metal radiator I bought from Amazon.
The gauge now floats on the bottom without the air conditioning on, it is too cold so far today to try it out @ 67° f.
I'll have plenty of opportunity to try it out this weekend when the temps soar up another 40°+ putting it over 110° here in the San Fernando Valley.
Whay brand of AC is this? I used to install them in trucks and 4 R in about two and a half to 3 hrs, however they were made for the application and fit, that's why I asked what brand it is. I never pulled a dash.
It is all Toyota but, from a 1985, 87 and 89 pickups and the compressor is a brand new unit.
What ever is the latest juice they fill them with seems to work well, I had to turn it down before then off because the clouds came back.
Today I finally have the probability of over heating taken care of and it took a new 3 core radiator, 2 supplemental 7" fans wired in with relays that only run when the compressor is engaged, a temporary gap gaurd on the bottom of the larger capacity radiator because old fan shroud is too short and finally another tune up including the proper spark plugs and a relocation of the distributor that was off one tooth left and still ran.
I will never buy another Yota without AC from the factory, this was a mistake from the gate but, I have it all worked out now and can freeze my balls off in the driver seat when it is 90° outside.
I do not know how long these fans will actually last, they were fairly inexpensive but, we'll see as summer is kicking into high gear with 113° last weekend and 105° coming at me this weekend.
Were you having problems with overheating after the new radiator was installed or was this just for preventative measure?
Pretty much both, she was running hot so I put the new radiator in but, that didn't help.
I need the correct fan shroud for the radiator but, other than that she is running better than she has ever run before and that is a year after the new engine install.
05-02-2016, 10:29 AM
