Auxiliary Blower Motor?

[taskswap]

i love learning something new. the f100 (yet to be named) that i bought last month to restore is an absolute base model. barring one exception, it has dealer air! it has characteristics which i have never seen before. i have started a thread to journal how this project goes so when i get into it i will focus on the ac and add as many specs as i discover

Maybe we should have a few howto pages with A/C related stuff some of us are finding in our trucks. I have my panel all torn apart right now - I'd be happy to document precisely how this ARA system was installed and how it works.

I can't quite tell if it was "dealer" installed or not. It has a number of professionally-made connectors but also a few wire taps are in there. Maybe it was a mix of both.

[Gary Lewis]

Maybe we should have a few howto pages with A/C related stuff some of us are finding in our trucks. I have my panel all torn apart right now - I'd be happy to document precisely how this ARA system was installed and how it works.

I can't quite tell if it was "dealer" installed or not. It has a number of professionally-made connectors but also a few wire taps are in there. Maybe it was a mix of both.

We have the page, shown below, at Documentation/HVAC/HVAC Systems and I could put a tab where the blue scribble is named something like "Aftermarket A/C". Would that work? We can then put another set of tabs below that for each of the systems we document, with the first being ARA.

Does that work? I can easily do it if you'd like to see what it would look like. And you can create the document yourself and I can add it. Or I can copy your previous post.

[taskswap]

We have the page, shown below, at Documentation/HVAC/HVAC Systems and I could put a tab where the blue scribble is named something like "Aftermarket A/C". Would that work? We can then put another set of tabs below that for each of the systems we document, with the first being ARA.

Does that work? I can easily do it if you'd like to see what it would look like. And you can create the document yourself and I can add it. Or I can copy your previous post.

Yeah that would be great! What's the best way for me to get you some content? A google doc or something? I'm not sure how you edit that section. I'm going to be re-assembling my dash over the next week and I figured I'd document how this aftermarket system is wired and plumbed in the process. I'll also make a list of any part numbers I find.

 

[Gary Lewis]

Yeah that would be great! What's the best way for me to get you some content? A google doc or something? I'm not sure how you edit that section. I'm going to be re-assembling my dash over the next week and I figured I'd document how this aftermarket system is wired and plumbed in the process. I'll also make a list of any part numbers I find.

First, before I forget it, any number you find on a part is not a part number.

In the mid-60's Ford had a Better Idea and started placing ID #'s on the parts. But the Master Parts Catalog shows part numbers, so they also published a cross reference book. I have the cross ref's so can convert the #'s you find to PN's - in many cases. But some of the plastic parts have multiple #'s on them, some of which are seemingly on all the plastic parts regardless of year or color, so the numbers don't always get us back to the exact part. And several different ID #'s resolve to the same PN in many cases.

As for the documentation, there are multiple ways of doing it. You can give me a document in pdf or Google/Word format and I can embed it. I've done that many, many times on the site, and you can see an example on the page at Documenation/Reference/Standard & Utility Parts Catalog. That's a 320 page document so will take a bit to load, but you will see that it looks like it is on the site. However, it really is just a document on my OneDrive. So if I update it the next time someone loads it the updates will show.

You could send me a document and I can load it up that way, and if you then have updates you can send those to me in a new file and I'll replace the file with the new one. Done.

Or, I can take a document apart and put the individual text sections and pictures directly on the page. An example of that is the page at Documentation/Electrical/Voltage Drop Testing. It was written by member KR98664, as shown, and I created the web page. That was more work as we had to go back and forth on how to do it, with him knowing what he wanted and me knowing what I could do. But in the end we got something that looks good and uses all the space on the page - which the embedded document doesn't initially since it always comes up at 100%, although you can increase the zoom.

So, it is your call. Whatever you are familiar with.

[82F150I6]

First, before I forget it, any number you find on a part is not a part number.

In the mid-60's Ford had a Better Idea and started placing ID #'s on the parts. But the Master Parts Catalog shows part numbers, so they also published a cross reference book. I have the cross ref's so can convert the #'s you find to PN's - in many cases. But some of the plastic parts have multiple #'s on them, some of which are seemingly on all the plastic parts regardless of year or color, so the numbers don't always get us back to the exact part. And several different ID #'s resolve to the same PN in many cases.

As for the documentation, there are multiple ways of doing it. You can give me a document in pdf or Google/Word format and I can embed it. I've done that many, many times on the site, and you can see an example on the page at Documenation/Reference/Standard & Utility Parts Catalog. That's a 320 page document so will take a bit to load, but you will see that it looks like it is on the site. However, it really is just a document on my OneDrive. So if I update it the next time someone loads it the updates will show.

You could send me a document and I can load it up that way, and if you then have updates you can send those to me in a new file and I'll replace the file with the new one. Done.

Or, I can take a document apart and put the individual text sections and pictures directly on the page. An example of that is the page at Documentation/Electrical/Voltage Drop Testing. It was written by member KR98664, as shown, and I created the web page. That was more work as we had to go back and forth on how to do it, with him knowing what he wanted and me knowing what I could do. But in the end we got something that looks good and uses all the space on the page - which the embedded document doesn't initially since it always comes up at 100%, although you can increase the zoom.

So, it is your call. Whatever you are familiar with.

taskswap, your A/C bezel looks exactly like the one in my truck, down to the missing knob on the fan speed switch!

The wiring harness to my bezel is in sad shape so I have rewiring on my list of Things To Do. I am following this thread with interest.

 

[taskswap]

taskswap, your A/C bezel looks exactly like the one in my truck, down to the missing knob on the fan speed switch!

The wiring harness to my bezel is in sad shape so I have rewiring on my list of Things To Do. I am following this thread with interest.

I will post some kind of doc with a ton more photos and such but I just wanted to share this for now. I made a component diagram of my installation:

I'll also repost the wiring diagram from earlier in the thread as an image just so it's easier to view:

It's a relatively simple system with a few remaining mysteries. Some comments:

1. The "ARA components" appear to be mainly the in-dash airbox/condenser, control unit, and custom climate-control additions (faceplate, potentiometer, switch). The other components are required but not sourced from ARA. For instance the blower motor and A/C compressor - they look pretty standard to me. If they failed I imagine they could be replaced with special parts.

2. The control box is the brain of the system. It's been awhile since I did much analog electronics work (I was always more into digital) but it looks like it's just a comparator between the thermistor in the evaporator box/duct and the climate control cool/warm slidepot (which is added to the stock climate control via a bracket and a linkage.)

If your control box is damaged I believe you could replace it with any standard digital temperature controller, like the ones used by the homebrew / sous vide crowds to DIY their setups. They're usually $25 on eBay. Most are programmable, and you'd wire them to turn on and off the compressor and in-dash blower when the cabin air temp is too high, with the setpoint controlled by that slidepot.

It would be an interesting side project to actually do this, since the control boxes aren't available anymore. But I don't see posts from anybody on any forms complaining about this issue, and fixing a burned out control box would be fairly simple - I'd start by replacing the relay, then the three transistors. That would almost certainly solve it, and would be really cheap, so unless yours literally melted it's probably the easier thing to do.

3. The system is clearly R-12. I'm planning to convert mine to R134a so I can service it myself, but be wary for those of you that still have pressurized systems. R-12 isn't just bad for the environment (well, "badder"). It's also really bad for you - if you cause a leak by manhandling a coolant line it'll frost-burn you really fast. Be careful.

4. I don't know about others' installations but mine in particular was pretty half-assed. The wiring was all over the place and the ground was loose, which seems like a problem since the wiring diagram says it must be grounded before powered or it'll be damaged. Also my firewall penetrations for the coolant lines are bigger than they need to be and not sealed. If you have one of these systems it might be worth throwing some RTV around those holes at the very least.

5. On my system in particular I suspect the compressor was replaced at some point. The compressor that's on there is weird, and the wire to the clutch is... just sitting there. Like, it's just twisted around a screw hole. It's clearly not controlling the A/C clutch, it's grounded to the vehicle where it's attached now. I'm kind of surprised that alone hasn't burned out the control unit. But I obviously need to sort that out.