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Old 10-23-2008, 08:17 PM   #1
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AC dying?

Went to Pismo and took the SMB out on the dunes then headed up to the bay area. The whole time, the AC worked fine (both dash and starcool). It sat parked for about a week, then drove back down to san diego - but No cold AC comes from the vents. The starcool is also not very cool. In fact the VENT AC was downright HOT. It was almost like the heater was on. Any ideas what could be wrong? THe fans are blowing, so i'm assuming its not electrical unless teh compressor is dead. Maybe i need a recharge.

Joe

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Old 10-24-2008, 09:49 AM   #2
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You have a different motor than I do, but I delevoped a hole in an AC line where it rubbed against the oil filler tube. The fake freon is cheap at Wal-Hell, so I'd recommend you buy a recharge kit and give it a whirl. If you've lost all your freon, then you'll have to find your leak, but to find your leak, you've got to first charge it (usually, but sometimes its obvious). There are several different types of leak indicators (some use blacklights, some are just dyes). Frankly, the oil in the freon makes is pretty easy to spot all by itself. Also, if you have lines going back to your Starcool (not sure if that's how they work or not), make sure to check those lines as well. Good luck.
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Old 10-24-2008, 10:41 AM   #3
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I rubbed a hole in an AC line where it was close to the turbo tube clamp. Bad part was the line was not under warranty because it is a 'hose', even though it is a metal line at that point.

Good part was we could still drive without AC, so we motored on home for repairs.

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Old 10-24-2008, 11:11 AM   #4
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I am assuming you have the Starcool; I have little knowledge of the new Danhard.
The same thing happened to me and like the others who replied, it was a line leak. The leak had more effect on the front A/C than the Starcool due to a check valve but the Starcool was somewhat affected also due to the systems being tied together. Also check that the thermostat is set correctly. Apparently this can have an effect on the Starcool and I assume it could influence the cooling capabilities of the stock A/C but I'm not positive on this. There is a thread on this here in SMBF. Good luck and discuss your find.
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Old 10-24-2008, 11:52 AM   #5
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There are a number of things could cause this. The Starcool manual has a trouble shooting tree that I can image and email it to you if you don’t have it handy.
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Old 10-24-2008, 03:14 PM   #6
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I've had 5 leaks in my 1 year old starcool/dash configuration and each time it was at some joint in the refrigerant lines.

When I'm out of refrigerant, the air coming out of the dash indeed can be warm to hot regardless of where the dial is.
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Old 10-25-2008, 08:12 AM   #7
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Joe,

I have had a couple leaks like Buji, in the time I have owned my SMB. Both have been connections that loosened up. You can try running your Starcool on AC only and see if it also blows hot air by itself. Since that would be a different compressor it should rule that out, but a pressure check should tell you if your out of refrigerant. If you are completely out of refrigerant you probably have air in your lines and should have them evacuated before filling. Unless you have the tools, this needs to be done at a qualified shop.

Also if you take it to a shop make sure they understand that you have this system, a lot of shops don't want to touch it. I have been lucky and found a ford dealer that knows all about them. I have a PDF of the manual if you need one.

greg
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Old 10-25-2008, 03:06 PM   #8
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Where is the low pressure A/C port on the van?
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Old 10-25-2008, 04:07 PM   #9
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Well, I think I found the right port on the passenger side of the van under the hood, just inwards of the battery. Interestingly, using one of those walmart recharging deals, I found that it had no pressure, so I charged it up and now there's pressure. Sort of. With the gauge on, I noticed that the gauge went down to near 0 then back up to around 35-40. I could hear an audible click everytime it went to 35 and then went back down. I drove the van for about 5minutes and it didn't get colder. I had the starcool on as well as the van. The van thermostat was set to OFF, and AUTO. The AC blower on Medium. The VAN Dash was set to max ac and the blower to all different settings. Any ideas on the click noise?
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Old 10-25-2008, 04:08 PM   #10
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also - would love a copy of the PDF manual.
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