old55pete Posted July 26, 2020 Share Posted July 26, 2020 There should be a kicker and it should idle the engine up. Spec on my '82 which doesnt have the kicker as it is dealer A/C, its 550 rpm idle with ac off and with ac on its 675 rpm. Its a big thing I plan on for my fuel injection conversion to go into the software and change the A/C kicker into an A/C idle stepper so I can have a 550 rpm idle if my cam will allow it and have a 675 rpm idle with the A/C on. On the fans I believe one of those clutches is a rpm based clutch and the other is a thermal clutch. I know the thermal clutches you find now at the part stores are HD variants and I hate them cause they lock up way too easy and make your truck/van sound like an airplane taking off. There is also a listing for a flex fan for A/C equipped vehicles as well, the standard non A/C flex fan is a 5 bladed flex fan while the A/C flex fan is a 7 bladed flex fan that is like 1/2" larger diameter than the 5 bladed. This is the route I personally have gone to try and correct my A/C setup on my dealer A/C truck. I get 58* ambient temp out of my dash on a 100* day all day long at idle but I feel I could get better performance with the proper air flow and a proper thermostat switch. Rusty, as you have no signiture, the only thing I have to go on is that you have an 82?. I also understand that on some of the dealer installed AC systems there was no mixer door or valve to shut off the hot coolant to the heater core. The older 359 and 379 Peterbuilts had the same problem. To solve it, we put manual shutoff valves on the engine to stop the flow of coolant to the heater core. As for flex fans, I dont trust them much. I will have to see if I can find the picture of what was left of the hood, radiator and shroud from my Super Stock( limited late model ) when the flex fan came apart. So much so that every dirt track I have been on over the past ten years, most of them have out lawed them. Not to mention that with a flex fan, it will always sound like an airplane taking off instead of part of the time. Just a thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old55pete Posted July 26, 2020 Share Posted July 26, 2020 lol Im still trying to decide what thermostat to run in my 306. Should be around 9.5:1 compression maybe as high as 9.75:1 but I initially planned on running a NOS OE 195 thermostat but I have many telling me that even with my fuel injection to stick to the 180 I currently have in my smog engine. Rusty, I would suggest the 195 thermostat, it permotes better combustion and a cleaner burn( lower HC and NOX). Depending on what race car I am running, two are 13:1 and the other is 10:1( because of rules on ccompression ), I run 195's in all of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpin Posted July 26, 2020 Share Posted July 26, 2020 Rusty, I would suggest the 195 thermostat, it permotes better combustion and a cleaner burn( lower HC and NOX). Depending on what race car I am running, two are 13:1 and the other is 10:1( because of rules on ccompression ), I run 195's in all of them. I don’t believe the 460 engines have the throttle kicker. Can’t remember where or why I saw that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted July 26, 2020 Share Posted July 26, 2020 I don’t believe the 460 engines have the throttle kicker. Can’t remember where or why I saw that. Maybe in the 1985 EVTM? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old55pete Posted July 26, 2020 Share Posted July 26, 2020 I don’t believe the 460 engines have the throttle kicker. Can’t remember where or why I saw that. Dane, thats why it was a question, because I dont know. 99% of my time is spent on ten to 15 lieter diesel engines and they dont have a problem idling with the ac compressor running and my 5.0 Bronco uses the IAC solenoid to compensate for the load for the compressor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty_S85 Posted July 26, 2020 Share Posted July 26, 2020 Rusty, as you have no signiture, the only thing I have to go on is that you have an 82?. I also understand that on some of the dealer installed AC systems there was no mixer door or valve to shut off the hot coolant to the heater core. The older 359 and 379 Peterbuilts had the same problem. To solve it, we put manual shutoff valves on the engine to stop the flow of coolant to the heater core. As for flex fans, I dont trust them much. I will have to see if I can find the picture of what was left of the hood, radiator and shroud from my Super Stock( limited late model ) when the flex fan came apart. So much so that every dirt track I have been on over the past ten years, most of them have out lawed them. Not to mention that with a flex fan, it will always sound like an airplane taking off instead of part of the time. Just a thought. Yep, 82 F150 flareside 302 C6. The AC unit is self contained behind the dash. When it is overcast or raining I can get the interior cab down into the mid 40`s but the compressor cycles at 45*. I believe that is a result of a aging thermostat switch to control temperature. Mine from what I remember has a expansion valve which means I could wire it direct and the evaporator would never freeze. I do know the AC can blow colder even with a full temp engine, its just not able to reach those lower temps be it solar radiation warming the inside up a bit faster than the AC can cool or it could be a non efficient transfer of heat through the condenser. As far as flexfans goes, ive never seen one fail personally and Ive never had one fail before. As far as the plane sound goes, the stock OE flex fan on my 82 is quiet and does not present a airplane sound. I have heard a flex fan making that noise as well but that van had no fan shroud and from what I understand the fan shroud quiets a flex fan quite a bit. I also believe it is the spacing of the fan, just like a rigid fan with evenly spaced blades will make more noise than a rigid fan with offset fan blades. The 7 bladed flex fan I have does have two of the blades offset very similar to the OE 7 blade flex fan that I was able to find one photo of. This mimics the 5 bladed flex fan I currently have that has two blades offset which is supposedly done to promote lower noise emission. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kramttocs Posted July 26, 2020 Author Share Posted July 26, 2020 Dane, thats why it was a question, because I dont know. 99% of my time is spent on ten to 15 lieter diesel engines and they dont have a problem idling with the ac compressor running and my 5.0 Bronco uses the IAC solenoid to compensate for the load for the compressor. Appreciate everyone's input. Once I got the actual temps I realized that while underhood it seemed really hot, the numbers weren't alarming. May try out the dual electric fans sometime though just to see how they compare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
85lebaront2 Posted July 26, 2020 Share Posted July 26, 2020 Yep, 82 F150 flareside 302 C6. The AC unit is self contained behind the dash. When it is overcast or raining I can get the interior cab down into the mid 40`s but the compressor cycles at 45*. I believe that is a result of a aging thermostat switch to control temperature. Mine from what I remember has a expansion valve which means I could wire it direct and the evaporator would never freeze. I do know the AC can blow colder even with a full temp engine, its just not able to reach those lower temps be it solar radiation warming the inside up a bit faster than the AC can cool or it could be a non efficient transfer of heat through the condenser. As far as flexfans goes, ive never seen one fail personally and Ive never had one fail before. As far as the plane sound goes, the stock OE flex fan on my 82 is quiet and does not present a airplane sound. I have heard a flex fan making that noise as well but that van had no fan shroud and from what I understand the fan shroud quiets a flex fan quite a bit. I also believe it is the spacing of the fan, just like a rigid fan with evenly spaced blades will make more noise than a rigid fan with offset fan blades. The 7 bladed flex fan I have does have two of the blades offset very similar to the OE 7 blade flex fan that I was able to find one photo of. This mimics the 5 bladed flex fan I currently have that has two blades offset which is supposedly done to promote lower noise emission. I have had a flex fan fail on me, it was years ago, one of the Flexalite fiberglass ones on a 1964 Falcon with a 260, I was pulling onto the highway and it shucked a blade (one of six). To get home without it vibrating too badly I broke the opposite one off. I think I ended up with a metal flex blade from a junkyard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty_S85 Posted July 27, 2020 Share Posted July 27, 2020 I have had a flex fan fail on me, it was years ago, one of the Flexalite fiberglass ones on a 1964 Falcon with a 260, I was pulling onto the highway and it shucked a blade (one of six). To get home without it vibrating too badly I broke the opposite one off. I think I ended up with a metal flex blade from a junkyard. Yeah I wouldnt trust the fiberglass ones, one I got is just like the OE ford one, metal blade with 4 or 5 rivets to a steel core. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpin Posted July 27, 2020 Share Posted July 27, 2020 Dane, thats why it was a question, because I dont know. 99% of my time is spent on ten to 15 lieter diesel engines and they dont have a problem idling with the ac compressor running and my 5.0 Bronco uses the IAC solenoid to compensate for the load for the compressor. And I wasn’t too sure either! I think Gary nailed it! Probably saw it in the EVTM. Feeling fortunate, my A/C hasn’t given me any problems since I got it going again 2 or 3 years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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