12V only Rear Starcool AC Issues

[Oogs]

I have a couple AC issues going on. I'm pretty sure the front vacuum accumulator/check valve needs replaced as any throttle during highway driving I lose all front vent cooling and notice cooling coming from the defrost vents instead. I've seen a few youtube videos describing the exact issue. What's odd is that my 12V only rear Starcool isn't blowing that cold anymore and coincides when I started having front AC issues. Rear AC is running 15 deg warmer than up front (60 front vs 75 rear tested at the vents). The temps should be colder, this was testing today w/ 80 deg outside temps.

I think the front is a straight forward although expensive fix due to the location of the accumulator tank and labor involved in replacing it. I just don't understand how that would be tied to the rear AC temps being warmer as I do not think vacuum is involved in the rear 12v only Starcool. Normally the combo of the front and rear AC almost freezes us out on a long drive but can't keep up the way it's behaving.

Any insight would be helpful. Again, Startcool is 12V only, we do not have the 110V version that runs on shore power, only the rear AC that runs when the front AC is turned on. I'm putting it in the shop next week, appreciate any tips.

 

[Ben10281]

Kinda sounds like there are multiple issues in related systems that aren't necessarily related to each other. In my 12V-only rear AC system from Starcool, the combo unit is located in the rear driver's side corner of the van. That unit houses a blower motor, so the air pressure coming out of the rear vents are not connected to the Ford AC system in any way. You might have a slight leak in your refrigerant system and taking it to the shop they can recharge the whole system and that might fix your unbalanced cooling front to rear. As mentioned many times on the forum, when the shop recharges it, if they have never worked on your van before, tell them up front about the fact that they need to add more than the normal Ford suggested refrigerant amount, since the loop is much longer due to the Starcool at the back of the van.

As far as the accumulator tank issue, many people, myself included, simply bypass the accumulator. Here is a youtube video on the subject: Ford Econoline Bypass

There are a ton of videos on youtube on how to do this, so if that one linked above sucks, just search and you will find more.

 

[Olivarria11]

E350 AC issue with Starcool question(s)​

E350 AC issue with Starcool question(s)

Hi All, After replacing the compressor, accumulator, and orifice tubes the rear Starcool AC rear blows cold (42F) but the front is only 68F. My diesel mechanic has replaced the condenser twice and the manifold-T junction that ties the two systems together has been checked and is free-flowing...

www.sportsmobileforum.com

 

[Oogs]

Thanks much, I fixed the vent issue this weekend by bypassing the accumulator as suggested and referencing several YouTube videos. I drilled a small hole thru the firewall for the vacuum line, tucked the new check valve under the dash and the accumulator tank on the passenger kick panel as I didn't have room under the dash on my 2013 van. Pics included if it helps anyone else. I'm not thrilled w/ the hose I used so I may replace w/ actual vacuum line and the proper connectors. So far so good, tho.

 

[Oogs]

I reached out to Danhard today and am going to get a Green orifice tube just in case it's plugged on the evaporator, they said NAPA should carry it. Here is the one on their website:

I can't imagine my mechanic is gonna want to mess w/ it as it's so tight back there.
This is what it looks like in my van.

The refrigerant lines come in further back so there looks like some slack is available. I'm hoping there is enough room above the unit to lift to clear the drain line and slide forward to access the refrigerant lines if I have to replace the orifice tube.

Any tips from folks that have done this in an EB50 layout?

If i have to pull out a bunch of cabinetry I'm going to reroute a couple of the air vents further back so they're not all at head level by the rear bench. It's quite loud even on the low fan setting.

 

[Ben10281]

I do not have an EB50, my layout is a walkthrough design. I have replaced the orifice tube on my unit. On my build, I did find enough slack to tilt the unit on its side, just enough to disconnect the refrigerant lines, but there wasn't much slack. I didn't have to disassemble the cabinet, but it was a tight space to work in. SMB had hard wired the electrical connections using butt splices. I decided, while I was at it, to replace the butt splices with spade connectors to ease future servicing. My suggestion would be to take it to a shop, and have them evacuate the refrigerant, then you can disconnect the lines and swap out the orifice tube yourself. Be careful wrenching on the refrigerant line connections on the evaporator, they are not anchored all that well and felt a bit bendy when I was working on mine. They likely haven't been disconnected since they were installed by SMB and it would suck to break one of them by using too much force!

 

[Oogs]

I do not have an EB50, my layout is a walkthrough design. I have replaced the orifice tube on my unit. On my build, I did find enough slack to tilt the unit on its side, just enough to disconnect the refrigerant lines, but there wasn't much slack. I didn't have to disassemble the cabinet, but it was a tight space to work in. SMB had hard wired the electrical connections using butt splices. I decided, while I was at it, to replace the butt splices with spade connectors to ease future servicing. My suggestion would be to take it to a shop, and have them evacuate the refrigerant, then you can disconnect the lines and swap out the orifice tube yourself. Be careful wrenching on the refrigerant line connections on the evaporator, they are not anchored all that well and felt a bit bendy when I was working on mine. They likely haven't been disconnected since they were installed by SMB and it would suck to break one of them by using too much force!

Thanks for the suggestion regarding the evap lines. I'm still waiting on a diagnosis from the shop, fingers crossed refrigerant only needs topped off. But i'm mentally prepared to tackle replacing the orifice tube if necessary and will ask them to evac the lines before opening any connections.

 

[Oogs]

I had to rebuild the entire thing....

Mechanic diagnosed a leak in the rear evap coil via a dye test. I made some phone calls to gather as much info as possible and ordered a new coil directly from Danhard, it was their last one. I also took their advice to replace the 12 yr old blower; it wasn't much more and I'd be in there anyway. Here is what I was working with, the Starcool evaporator/blower in my EB50 under the rear bunk. Tight, but workable:

Next step was to remove the blower hoses and loosen the refrigerant lines that were secured to the inside wall; there was just enough slack to work with.

Now it was time to slide the whole unit forward and up with just enough slack to disconnect the refrigerant lines. I had to cut 4 wires that provide power, ground and fan speed, move my amp out of the way, unscrew and move the fuse panel forward to make room.

Time to crack the case open. There are several screws around the case that needed removed.

Here is a comparison of old vs new parts. Nice and shiny!!! Notice that the new blower is a 4 speed, where I had a 3 speed before. This actually worked out fine as the #1 setting is lower on the 4 speed than my older 3 speed; a welcome change in noise and airflow. I also decided to replace the wires with longer ones, and use spade over butt connectors if I ever need to get in there again. More slack and easier to remove. I ordered some quality 12ga wire and heat shrink connectors from McMaster Carr. Another interesting thing was the new coil was pressurized, releasing air when I removed the caps. Gave me confidence there wasn't any damage during shipping.

Here are the new parts installed. Again, I lucked out and got the last coil that Danhard had on the shelf. They don't make this particular unit anymore. You'll notice the copper lines protruding the case have been wrapped in tar tape (Amazon).

Next was to install the new orifice tube. Here is the old one and then the new one installed. I bought a cheap orifice tool from Amazon, Danhard provided the new orifice tube. New orifice tube o rings were lubed with PEG oil prior to inserting.

All buttoned up and ready to install. I decided to run a new ground all the way to the SMB grounding block on the opposite side of rear bench. This meant I wouldn't have to use 2 butt connectors as the blower ground wire was quite short and wouldn't reach the original ground SMB used. I also closed any gaps using tar tape. One thing to keep in mind...after 12 years the case was getting brittle and cracked in a few places. I had to pause for a couple days and make an epoxy repair. Cases are no longer available either. At this point my system had been open for over a week so I ordered a new Suction Accumulator/Drier and OEM orifice tube from Ford for under the hood considering how the old Starcool orifice tube looked. Made sense based on what I read online. I also used some of the tar tape around the plenum to seal any air gaps but mostly provide more rigidity as the plenum cracked and epoxy repaired in a few places.

 

[Oogs]

Now time to put it back in place. This was a bit difficult, getting hoses lined up, threads started while trying not to break anything. I pulled and secured the fuse panel up to give me room to tighten hoses inside the area instead of outside when I removed it for repair. I used a combination of 7/8, 3/4 and adjustable wrench to tighten up the lines. I also replaced and lubricated new refrigerant line o-rings with PEG refrigerant oil.

The other thing I did was put a foam pad under the Starcool unit. I can't help but wonder how 12 years of sitting on the hard floor above the rear axle with 80psi in the tires taking every jarring hit from driving on/off road may have contributed to it's demise. Who know, but it makes me feel better. Last thing is to reconnect drain tube. I cut the clear hose to make removal easier so I need to get a short piece and finish that step.

This was a challenging project for me, never having done any AC work. Thanks much to Sportsmobile North/South, FieldVan and Danhard for putting up with all my questions and phone calls to get the info and confidence I needed to tackle this project. I have more parts on order to replace the underhood OEM Suction Accumulator Drier and Orifice tube at which point I'll cross my fingers and get it back to the shop to evac, pressure test and fill w/ refrigerant.

 

[doublevan2]

Was compressor replaced too - may have missed that ? If you did - where was it sourced if you'd "give that up" ?

 

[Oogs]

Was compressor replaced too - may have missed that ? If you did - where was it sourced if you'd "give that up" ?

No issues with the compressor, just the starcool evap coil that leaked. I'll know for sure when I remove the orifice tube under the hood. If there isn't any metal, I should be good. I've source all my parts from either dealer parts counter or tascaparts online. Tasca has Ford and Motorcraft for cheaper than parts counter but it takes a few days w/ shipping.