Ac/heater blower housing

[stsevillests]

Lately my ac isn't as cool as it was. I bought some r-134a and added a little bit until the gauge that came with can read around 35 psi, (in the full zone). Still not as cold as it should be.

The whole plastic housing where the blower fan mounts and the ac lines go inside the car is all cracked and falling off in big pieces. It looks like it is metal underneath the plastic, but I was wondering if its possible the fan is sucking in hot air and sending it inside the car? The fan is mounted tight, like I said from what I can see it looks like the plastic just covers the metal housing.

If that's not the problem, my next step is to replace orifice tube and a new accumulator.

Any suggestions?

[Cadillac Jim]

The first thing to do is to look at the OBD codes. The link in my signature block has instructions on how to do this. Write down the codes and post them here. This will tell whether there are any problems with your A/C system like low freon, clogged expansion valve, etc.

Generally you should not add freon to a system unless you know that it is low, and you need to monition the pressures to make sure that you don;t over-fill the system, as you apparently did. But there are a lot of things that can cause a system to cool less efficiently.

Check the condenser (the big grid in front of the radiator; the smaller one is your power steering fluid cooler) and make sure that it isn't blocked by leaves or some such. After you start your car cold in the morning, pop the hood and make sure that both fans are running on the low speed if the A/C is on. If the condenser and the radiator fans are OK. we will work from the OBD codes.

[stsevillests]

Only codes showing are I027H and S044H. The condensor is clean, I hosed it off good a couple months ago when i pulled radiator to install alternator. On a cold start with ac on both fans run, and as the car gets warmer they kick in on high.

I didn't realize the computer will throw a code for orifice tube.

Yes I would love to have a nice set of ac gauges and a vacum, as I'm living in Naples,FL now, very hot now and this is the third car I could have used them tools.

[Cadillac Jim]

I027 PRND321 switch failure

S044 Lift or Dive Signal Fault

Neither of these have anything to do with the A/C. I have 13 OBD I codes for the A/C and there are likely lots more than I have.

Since the codes you do have are History codes you can probably ignore them, at least for now. At this point I would look at the mixer doors and make sure that they aren't sticking. There are OBD II codes for the mixer doors but I'm not sure about OBD I. You can check to see if vacuum is getthing through the system by seeing if the emergency brake comes off when you take the car out of Park and put it in Reverse; the vacuum goes through the whole A/C temperature control door system before it gets to the servo that kicks of the emergency brake.

[Ranger]

I didn't realize the computer will throw a code for orifice tube.

It won't.

The whole plastic housing where the blower fan mounts and the ac lines go inside the car is all cracked and falling off in big pieces.

If those holes are down line from the blower (and I suspect they are) then the blower is blowing most of the air under the hood. You are not cooling like it used to because there is very little air flow over the evaporator. The plastic housing is very hard to come by. Don't even think they are made anymore and worse yet, the drivetrain has to be dropped to R & R it.

[stsevillests]

Where the ac lines come out of the housing was a big hole around them, and with ac on, air and condensation was blowing up into the engine compartment. I temporarily fixed it with a piece of screen and a lot of silicone caulking. Doesn't look to pretty but its not escaping now.

Does any 1 know if there are any holes in the bottom of housing that air may be blowing out? Fixing the top hole helped a lot but I'm wondering if I still have some leaking into engine compartment and not all of the air going into the cabin.

Yes It looks like you couldn't get a new fan housing in there with engine in car, very tight back there.

[Ranger]

Does any 1 know if there are any holes in the bottom of housing that air may be blowing out?

Only you can tell that with an inspection. There may be lots more. The entire housing is brittle. Be careful how you handle it.

[stsevillests]

Yes the top plastic is gone,,but under the plastic that fell off looks like there is metal housing under it,,the whole thing is still securely mounted to the firewall, just plastic like cover is gone, and see some insulation, but under it is steal as well. I just wonder what it looks like underneath that i cant see. Will crawl under the car and try to inspect, just thought some 1 may have held this piece in hand and can answer.

the fan blower must be mounted to this metal because it is not loose at all.

[KHE]

The plastic housing is an outer covering and between the plastic cover and the metal box is fiberglass insulation. The plastic cover was still available 4 years ago but today, who knows. As Ranger stated, the drivetrain must be dropped to replace it. Rather than tackle that job... I suggest patching it with some aluminum tape and some black RTV.

I would not bother with the accumulator or the orifice tube at this point. By monitoring only the low side of the system, it is impossible to tell the state of the system charge. You need both the high and low pressure readings. In your case, it is possible the system is overfilled which will also reduce cooling capacity.

Feel both evaporator pipes - they should be very close to the same temperature when the A/C is running. If the outlet is warmer than the inlet, the system is low on refrigerant.

The total system capacity is 2.0 lbs - if you use the 12 oz. cans of r-134a, use three cans to charge an empty system as about 1/2 oz. of refrigerant is lost when changing cans, bleeding air from the hoses, etc. If you start with an empty system, you need to evacuate the system with a vacuum pump for 45-60 minutes and charge into the vacuum.

It might make sense to buy a set of manifold gages and obtain the high and low pressure readings as well as the outlet duct air temperature and ambient air temperature so proper diagnosis can begin.

[stsevillests]

I027 PRND321 switch failure

S044 Lift or Dive Signal Fault

Neither of these have anything to do with the A/C. I have 13 OBD I codes for the A/C and there are likely lots more than I have.

Since the codes you do have are History codes you can probably ignore them, at least for now. At this point I would look at the mixer doors and make sure that they aren't sticking. There are OBD II codes for the mixer doors but I'm not sure about OBD I. You can check to see if vacuum is getthing through the system by seeing if the emergency brake comes off when you take the car out of Park and put it in Reverse; the vacuum goes through the whole A/C temperature control door system before it gets to the servo that kicks of the emergency brake.

I applied the emergency brake today and put car in reverse, and E brake pedal released on its own. This will sound weird but I will try and explain this. Yesterday I turned key to 'on' just to let the windows down on car while sitting in driveway and I heard a clicking sound under hood, and the gas pedal was 'jumping' up and down. Ok that is the idle speed control motor (I forget proper name) it also did that a few months ago so I took it off and cleaned the contacts and put some new grease in there. I have another thread about a rough idle/engine surge around 35 mph. What I'm thinking now is a vacuum leak under the dash causing the problems.

Ok here's the weird part. After the gas pedal was clicking I started the car and now when I rev the engine and release right away, I can here a weird noise coming from the foot pedals or more towards behind radio area behind dash. It kind of sounds like between a sharp little whistle and a bird chirp. Only does it at the highest rpm and stops right away. Hard to describe the sound, but I'm pretty sure it is coming from inside cabin and not in engine area.

The AC is not totally warm, since I patched that hole on housing helped a lot, and I have water/condensation dripping under the car when ac is on, and in the evening it feels cold without sun shining in so much. Just thinking a small vacuum leak behind dash may not be closing the doors properly.

Sorry about my rant, Me and wife just had a baby Sunday and I haven't slept for 2 days being in the hospital room.

Thanks for reply's.

[Cadillac Jim]

It does sound like one or two vacuum lines are pulled off the servos that operate the temperature control doors under the dash. That won't be enough to kill all the vacuum, so your emergency brake release works.

I don't see why the idle speed control motor was working when the engine wasn't started. It works on RPM and doesn't do anything until you start the engine. You may have heard the ABS module going through its paces, which happens every time you turn on the key. But the ISC motor is the only thing that would make the gas pedal jump around.

[stsevillests]

How many temperature mixer doors are under the dash. I see one big one dead center of dash. When the ac is on it opens and I can see the blower fan on the firewall, and air blows around foot pedals and comes out of dash vents. When I turn the heat on it closes. Is this operating correctly? Seems like it should stay closed to blow more air towards evaporator to me.

I didn't see find any vacuum leaks around there, and that whistle like sound under dash when I rev the engine is gone, lol.

How easy is it to access the evaporator, I'm guessing its on the passenger side, is there a temperature mixer door in there that I need to make sure its opening and closing?

One last thing the car has plenty of condensation dripping on the ground through the evaporator hole so I would think the ac is getting cold, just not coming out of vents real real cold.

[Cadillac Jim]

The mixer door is split, the bottom one for the main A/C and the other for the passenger vents (1997 FSM, page 1C-6, "Actuator(S)). Unless the passenger warmer/cooler control is activated, they should operate as one, but they have separate servos.

[KHE]

A 1995 won't have the dual zone climate control - I think that came out in 1996 so only one actuator will be on the 1995. The device changing sounds like the vacuum motor that changes the air outlet from the dash vents to the heat ducts. The one you're looking for will adjust when the temperature is moved from 60-75 and 75-60 degrees (to keep the system in AC mode vs. turning on the heat.

[Ranger]

air blows around foot pedals and comes out of dash vents.

Are you in Bi-Level mode?

[stsevillests]

Not sure about bi-level,,,its not an option on my control panel. Just warm, cool, econ, hi-low auto on the fan, up and down. I select the cool button all the way down to 60F and I either turn fan to high or auto-high.

Under the dash, behind radio/floor shifter console I see a 'damper' close and open when selecting the warm and cool buttons. When its all the way down at 60 the damper is all the way open, and I can see the fan on the firewall spinning, and air is coming out in the open floor and through the dash vents. When I raise the warm button all the way up the damper closes and can not see fan any more and there is less noise in the cabin.