I really dread pulling the whole cooling unit out to swap the amplifier. Yeehaw. All in the name of cold air!!

 

Just a guess, but inside the a/c amplifier box, like the thing that is buzzing?

 

Well, my trusty hammer didn't fix it with a slight tap. Seriously, though, I think I'll run over to the junkyard on Monday and pick up an amplifier from the donor truck. I was hoping that someone would say the relay was outside the box and it was causing the buzz inside. HA!!! I can go ahead and put the rest of my grill and stuff back on in the mean time.

 

I have a black wire still not hooked up. I was looking at the Chiltons wiring diagrams and saw the ac amplifier should be hooked to the igniter. Can anyone verify this before I make a jumper to the tach wire lead on the igniter?

 

No... I just found that it integrates through the harness. On a good note. I don't have to pull the whole unit to get the amplifier out.2 tabs and it slides right out.

 

Ok, so I am most likely running out in the morning to pick up an ac amplifier to swap in and test. I have a question about the under hose wiring harness for the compressor/vsv.

On my 84, there are the following wires on the 4-plug harness:
1- Blue Wire - Goes to VSV
2- Black w/Red Stripe - Goes to VSV
3- Black w/ White Stripe - Goes to Compressor
4- Green w/ Red Dots - Goes to ???

Does anyone have a clue what the green/red wire is for on the factory harness under the hood next to the battery? I can't find a green with red wire in any of the wiring diagrams either.

Thanks!

 

Not much accomplished today. The junk yard was closed for some reason. I did find a U-Pull It yard over in the next town and went and walked the yard looking for parts. Nothing in my year range to pick from, however, I did find several early to mid 90's V-6 4-Runners that have the complete front brake swap setup. (MC, Booster, V-6 Calipers) The lady said I could have the whole setup for around $87 plus tax.

$20 per caliper
$16 MC
$31 Booster

For now, I need to finish up the AC, so I will go by and see if my regular yard is open tomorrow to get the AC Amplifier. I did test the Low Pressure switch today by jumping it and it tested good. I also checked the thermistor by unplugging the AC Amplifier and jumping the thermistor and nothing changed. I read somewhere on here that was the simple way to by-pass the thermistor. I also checked resistance by adding ice and my readings were spot on.

Hopefully the buzzing AC Amplifier will be swapped tomorrow and things will be good to go. I spoke with a couple of dealers today that did tell me that there are three different amplifiers for the 84/85 models. Hopefully, I will get it right tomorrow. If not, I may start to look closer at the wiring and see if I can bypass the ac amplifier with a separate universal thermostat controller to manage the system and then I could possibly wire in some type of relay/solenoid off that thermostat to activate the VSV Idle-Up and Compressor.

More tomorrow I hope....

 

I know, not related... but it reminds me of when I crossed those vacuum hoses on my valve cover AC/VSV..... it started HISSING LIKE A MAD SNAKE! lol.... even whistling. FREAKED ME OUT! haha. Switched em back, ...SHHHHHHHHhhhh, silence, lol.

 

Thanks Chef for letting me know that I am not the only one crossing wires and hoses only to scratch my head later. No wonder I blew a fuse earlier... HA!

 

Almost there. The thermistor was bad so I picked up a thermostatic fan controller that will drop to 32 degrees. Hopefully, I will set it to 32 and leave it.

 

No clue on that one, bud. But I'll tell ya,.... far as the AC?>>> I'm sure you'll probably get an accurate answer on here, eventually, from one of the Guru's! However, I wanted to get the "RIGHT PARTS", etc., and went to this guy Joey, who owns "Joey Cools", .....been there 30 years, and even dealers use him for plenty of stuff. He spent around 20 minutes while all his guys were at lunch, speaking to me about this and that. He also went back in his books and found the latest upgrade for Denso Systems on the Large O-Rings under the valves on top of the compressor(allen bolt), and brought me out some, saying "THESE are the best, made by Denso, and you DO NOT wanna use the ones from some auto parts stores. Napa has some decent ones....but even those aren't the same, except for when they actually get 'renamed' parts from Aisin, Denso, etc. Most crucial, other than components, is THE SEAL...and some seals are made for 134A, whereas some are made for R12. The brown ones you got from the Dealer for the lil stuff are just fine. But on these big ones, notice they're softer? They fit as a crush/fill... NOT inside the flange/bolt type like the others." He also told me "ALWAYS DO THE DRIER AT THIS TYPE OF MILEAGE!".... which I told him I'd done. As I go, I'll DEFINITELY go back to him to pick his brain. I offered to pay if I came back, but he said, "NOPE, ....I love that you're doing it yourself.... just do it RIGHT, throughout, according to what I tell ya, and I'll be glad to give you pointers. Besides, it'll only take me 20 minutes or so to lay out the whole thing for ya, while you take notes." hahaha... YEAH, buddy...that's what I'm talking about, lol.

Still watching, can't wait til you're fini, stuvo, DONE! lol.

 

Houston, we have lift off of AC and Temperature... As it stands, the air is blowing COLD now and cycles properly. After adjusting the new thermal fan switch, I was able to put the glove box back on and it runs nice and cold. I went ahead and pulled the old thermistor out and used the evap fin mount that was holding the old one on to mount the new sensor to the fins. In 80 degree weather yesterday afternoon, I had to turn the AC off. WooHoo!!!!

With the "new" AC running and driving down the road, the truck gets a lot warmer than it was prior to AC. Before, I was staying right at the 190 degree mark. Now, when driving with the AC on, it gets up around the 210 to 215 mark. If I cut the AC and turn it to heat, the temp drops back to normal.

I checked the fan and clutch and they seem good. I may try to change the t-stat and flush the radiator today just in case. If that doesn't work, I'll try.... Ok, so I'm not sure yet.

A shop buddy of mine has a performance show tractor he built with a Chevy 350 and he takes it to parades, drag strips events. The thing will fly. Anyways, he uses a 12" electric fan (pulling) on the radiator. He has an extra one in his shop. I spoke to him about the temp issue last night and he suggested pulling the stock fan and replacing it with the 12 inch fan he has since it would fit in the shroud opening. He said it should perform at least as good as those who swap in the 16 inch electric fans because most of those normally require removing the shroud to do so, however I would be able to leave my shroud on and direct the air better with the 12 inch fan. My only issue is I fear overtaxing the alternator and I don't want to upgrade the alternator just yet.

Hmmmm..... Anyone have thoughts or suggestions?

 

Lucas oil stabilizer will help control the heat, you can also try a large body thermostat like the kind from milodon or others. Lucas oil is what worked for me.