A/C issues.. Are these normal?

[carter200]

Jeff,
Use the arctic cool (tall blue can) and you'll notice a huge difference. I had the same problem of poor cooling in my Navigator and did the Arctic cool treatment and now it'll freeze your wavoo's off. Takes a minute or so to cool the Gator but that is alot of space compared to our Z's.

[-=Jeff=-]

Originally Posted by carter200

Jeff,
Use the arctic cool (tall blue can) and you'll notice a huge difference. I had the same problem of poor cooling in my Navigator and did the Arctic cool treatment and now it'll freeze your wavoo's off. Takes a minute or so to cool the Gator but that is alot of space compared to our Z's.

Thanks for the tip Carter..

I will try that as well, since the Alt, and Water pump went in the last year, i figure I may as well replace the AC compressor while the system is open..

Also it have been in the 70s here so hard to test out the AC anyway

[Ccmano]

I changed mine over to R134a as well. It cools very well with outlet temps down to the 38-42 deg range depending on the ambient temperature. The problem is the volume of air. It just doesn't put out that much even in recirculate mode with the fan speed on 10. I recently pulled the side cover on the evaporator housing to check for dirt. I didn't find a ton, but there was a moderate amount of stuff blocking the evaporator. I cleaned it with a vacuum cleaner and a brush and removed the multi-layer screen on the outlet side of the evaporator. It helped, I probably got a 20% increase in air flow. It now just barely keeps up on a hot (90+ deg) Southern California day. As has been pointed out it's a marginal system to begin with.

Jeff, with the dusty conditions your car lived in, have you checked for a blocked evaporator?
H

[Z51JEFF]

Originally Posted by Dynomite

And you guys in AZ are fighting illegal immigration when they are bringing you R12

Several years ago I took a CFC Certification course and the instructor told the class that illegal smuggling of R12 surpassed heroin smuggling.

[TFENT]

Originally Posted by carter200

Jeff,
Use the arctic cool (tall blue can) and you'll notice a huge difference. I had the same problem of poor cooling in my Navigator and did the Arctic cool treatment and now it'll freeze your wavoo's off. Takes a minute or so to cool the Gator but that is alot of space compared to our Z's.

Carter200:

Is this the stuff you are referring to?? ARCTIC FREEZE 22-OZ. R-134A REFRIGERANT

[carter200]

Originally Posted by TFENT

Carter200:

Is this the stuff you are referring to?? ARCTIC FREEZE 22-OZ. R-134A REFRIGERANT

I'm more a visual guy but probably so. It is sold at Walmart so check there to verify. Only tall blue can the has Arctic in name. Good luck...

[Don in VT]

Hi,

I just dropped in on this thread because I too have concern with the poor performance of the ZR1 A/C systems. This may or may not apply here but I will pass it on FWIW.

My 87 L98 Vette was converted over from R 12 to 134a 3 years ago when it was obvious that R 12 was not the way to go because of the controversy over R 12 and the ozone layer depletion. ( I firmly believe that the Ozone layer thing was a hoax anyway).

I have the electronic climate air option on the 87 and it works GREAT with the 134a so I am happy on that account but I had a very low flow from the vents and intermittent blower operation. Changed the speed controller, didnt help. Finally the blower motor failed. I tried to find a replacement and was not happy with the options available to me up here in northern VT. I went to my local salvage yard and poked around until I found a blower motor out of a early 90's Chev Suburban (full size) It appeared that the blower motor was the same size and had everything in the right place so I put it in the 87 and it worked great. Compared to the original blower it was unbelievable as to the amount of air it circulated. It blew so much air that I had to keep it turned down to be comfortable.

My thought is that the Suburban blower motor is designed for a much bigger volume and could be capable of more air flow. Anyway it really works great.

BTW, the part number for the Vette OEM is not the same as the Suburban. It is also not considered a replacement in the Vette.

It might be worth checking this out as it really saved the day (and the summer) for us.


Again, FWIW

Cheers

Don in VT

[-=Jeff=-]

Originally Posted by Don in VT

Hi,

I just dropped in on this thread because I too have concern with the poor performance of the ZR1 A/C systems. This may or may not apply here but I will pass it on FWIW.

My 87 L98 Vette was converted over from R 12 to 134a 3 years ago when it was obvious that R 12 was not the way to go because of the controversy over R 12 and the ozone layer depletion. ( I firmly believe that the Ozone layer thing was a hoax anyway).

I have the electronic climate air option on the 87 and it works GREAT with the 134a so I am happy on that account but I had a very low flow from the vents and intermittent blower operation. Changed the speed controller, didnt help. Finally the blower motor failed. I tried to find a replacement and was not happy with the options available to me up here in northern VT. I went to my local salvage yard and poked around until I found a blower motor out of a early 90's Chev Suburban (full size) It appeared that the blower motor was the same size and had everything in the right place so I put it in the 87 and it worked great. Compared to the original blower it was unbelievable as to the amount of air it circulated. It blew so much air that I had to keep it turned down to be comfortable.

My thought is that the Suburban blower motor is designed for a much bigger volume and could be capable of more air flow. Anyway it really works great.

BTW, the part number for the Vette OEM is not the same as the Suburban. It is also not considered a replacement in the Vette.

It might be worth checking this out as it really saved the day (and the summer) for us.


Again, FWIW

Cheers

Don in VT

Very interesting Find Don.. I swapped to the spare OEM blower I have, but might check out the suburban one

thanks

[-=Jeff=-]

the 90s suburbans (up through 1997) use a 1 wire Blower motor..

was it front or rear AC blower?

any more info would be GREAT

[lakemeadzmonster]

What I have found is the amount of heat coming through the firewall and console area is excessive, somebody was telling of a product that you put under your carpet and console and it makes a huge difference in heat and road noise entering the vehicle, I had a quote for $450.00 installed. I would have to call to get the name of the product.