Big Blue's Transformation

[ArdWrknTrk]

I awoke at 4:15 this morning thinking about the A/C system. And then it dawned on me, well before dawn, that the leak must be in the evaporator since I haven't been able to find it. And, with a bit of Googling "does R134A have a smell" I found that while it doesn't have much of a smell, the oil does. So that might explain the "funky" smell we had in the cab.

So this afternoon I'll pull the resistor pack and see if I can spot anything in there. Or maybe the motor? I'm thinking that's the best way to get a look inside the plenum. Any better ideas?

I'll add that UV dye shouldn't have been able to get inside the plenum when you disconnected the can.

And inside a dark box would be the ideal place to look for it (although you would be approaching from the upstream side)

Do you have a UV flashlight and a pair of yellow glasses?

[Gary Lewis]

I'll add that UV dye shouldn't have been able to get inside the plenum when you disconnected the can.

And inside a dark box would be the ideal place to look for it (although you would be approaching from the upstream side)

Do you have a UV flashlight and a pair of yellow glasses?

Good points. And yes, I have the UV light and yellow glasses.

John/Machspeed and I were texting a bit ago and he said his evaporator was cracked where the tube was welded in. That might well be the case for me.

If I can see that’s where the issue is I’ll talk with the shop to see if they’d want me to swap out the evaporator and then bring it in. I know I’ll be losing the refrigerant that’s in it, but I’m losing that quickly anyway.

[Gary Lewis]

Good points. And yes, I have the UV light and yellow glasses.

John/Machspeed and I were texting a bit ago and he said his evaporator was cracked where the tube was welded in. That might well be the case for me.

If I can see that’s where the issue is I’ll talk with the shop to see if they’d want me to swap out the evaporator and then bring it in. I know I’ll be losing the refrigerant that’s in it, but I’m losing that quickly anyway.

Well, I pulled the blower motor and the resistor pack and can't see any signs of a leak. But I really can't get to the area where it would leak if it is the weld John mentioned. So tomorrow I'm going to call and see if I can get it in to be worked on.

[kramttocs]

Well, I pulled the blower motor and the resistor pack and can't see any signs of a leak. But I really can't get to the area where it would leak if it is the weld John mentioned. So tomorrow I'm going to call and see if I can get it in to be worked on.

Do you have access to one of those wand type leak detectors that squeals? My neighbor and I used his when redoing the 86. It showed us that a fitting wasn't snug and was pretty accurate about it.

 

[Gary Lewis]

Do you have access to one of those wand type leak detectors that squeals? My neighbor and I used his when redoing the 86. It showed us that a fitting wasn't snug and was pretty accurate about it.

No, I don't have. In fact, I didn't know something like that existed. Sounds quite helpful.

But as John and I talked about this yesterday, I'm getting a bit concerned with all I have to do before the show, and then we are leaving for Ouray on the Monday after. So I need to farm some things out, and the A/C system is one such.

[kramttocs]

No, I don't have. In fact, I didn't know something like that existed. Sounds quite helpful.

But as John and I talked about this yesterday, I'm getting a bit concerned with all I have to do before the show, and then we are leaving for Ouray on the Monday after. So I need to farm some things out, and the A/C system is one such.

That's entirely understandable. Not always enough hours in the day or Saturdays in the week

[Gary Lewis]

That's entirely understandable. Not always enough hours in the day or Saturdays in the week

Got an appointment for the A/C system next Monday at 9:00 AM. Sure wish it was sooner.

But, with nothing else to do on the truck I replaced all of the glides on the bed cover today. Was kind of warm today so I worked only 15 minutes at a time, which limited things a bit. But I did go through the drill of getting Blue backed up to pull the cover onto, jacking BB up so there was a drop, etc. And while I did my best aligning each of the 44 slats with each other, it doesn't slide as easily as it did last time. Still, it goes into and out of the canister smoothly now and I'm sure the problem is fixed.

And there were only six glides that were truly torn up, as shown below. But they were seriously torn up. Glad I got that problem solved.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Got an appointment for the A/C system next Monday at 9:00 AM. Sure wish it was sooner.

But, with nothing else to do on the truck I replaced all of the glides on the bed cover today. Was kind of warm today so I worked only 15 minutes at a time, which limited things a bit. But I did go through the drill of getting Blue backed up to pull the cover onto, jacking BB up so there was a drop, etc. And while I did my best aligning each of the 44 slats with each other, it doesn't slide as easily as it did last time. Still, it goes into and out of the canister smoothly now and I'm sure the problem is fixed.

And there were only six glides that were truly torn up, as shown below. But they were seriously torn up. Glad I got that problem solved.

Well, we can count that as one step forward!

Glad you've got that sorted. And it seems you have a good supply of glides if something crops up in the future.

I know you've got that plenum insulated like a NASA satellite and the heater core bypassed on Max-AC.

Here's hoping that a week from now it will be blowing cold and stay that way. 🙂

[Gary Lewis]

Well, we can count that as one step forward!

Glad you've got that sorted. And it seems you have a good supply of glides if something crops up in the future.

I know you've got that plenum insulated like a NASA satellite and the heater core bypassed on Max-AC.

Here's hoping that a week from now it will be blowing cold and stay that way. 🙂

Thanks, Jim. And yes, I have plenty of spare glides. Pace Edwards really helped me out.

As for the A/C, today it blew cool but the clutch was cutting in and out and there was very little condensation - on a day where the real temp was 95 and the "feel like" was 108, so there was lots of moisture to pull out.

And I hope they are gentle with the HVAC plenum. I think they'll see that this is my "baby".

[ArdWrknTrk]

Thanks, Jim. And yes, I have plenty of spare glides. Pace Edwards really helped me out.

As for the A/C, today it blew cool but the clutch was cutting in and out and there was very little condensation - on a day where the real temp was 95 and the "feel like" was 108, so there was lots of moisture to pull out.

And I hope they are gentle with the HVAC plenum. I think they'll see that this is my "baby".

It's been really humid here of late. "Stagnant" is probably a better descriptor. 🤮

But fortunately temps are far better than a few weeks ago.

When you drop it off be sure to tell the person who will actually work on your truck that you care more about quality than meeting the book.

Most places are working against a timetable. And with as much extra "stuff" as you have stuffed under that hood it is not likely easy to get it done.

At least we can assume that all the fasteners are free and have good threads.

I would much rather pay another hour of shop rate than deal with torn plastic, cross threaded or missing fasteners, whatever...