Ken,

Great info. I have an early 86 westy with an A/C that I will have to get
running this summer. In my system check I noted the compressor was still
engaging (when I told it to) even knowing I had evac'd the refrigerant from
the system. Many on the list told I most likely need to replace the low
pressure switch as the compressor clutch SHOULD NOT be kicking in with no
R12 in the system . What car with A/C in the last 40 years doesn't have a
low pres sue switch to protect the compressor!?!?!?!

Anyways, this helps answer my concern. I was worried the PO bypassed the
switch or such as I see some "odd" wiring in and around the compressor when
I bought the unit (the "hot" wire was removed from the compressor when I
bought it too). Obviously the PO wanted the back fan for ventilation like
your customer, but didn't want to lockup the compressor due to low
lubricant/refridge.

To all the A/C experts helping me lately, a great FYI from Ken.

Shawn

On 7/21/06, Kenneth Wilford <kenwilfy@comcast.net> wrote:
>
> Had a recent comedy of errors I wanted to share with the list.  86 Westy
> running excellent went out on a 800 mile trip.  I just took this van to
> Georgia and back a little over a month ago with no issues.  In Maine the
> customer calls me to say that "steam" was coming out of the front of the
> van.  I asked if her A/C was still working and she confirmed that it was
> not.  She was sitting idling when this happened.  The van was not
> overheating and there was no coolant on the ground under the van.  I
> figured
> that the van had blown an A/C hose.  An inconvenience in the heat but not
> a
> show stopper.  I told the lady to take it easy and just drive back in the
> mornings and evenings when the weather wasn't too hot.  She agreed.
>
> She got to Boston area when the next level of naughtiness occurred.  She
> was
> driving down the road when someone behind her started honking.  She looked
> down to see the overheat light on and also Alt light.  Here is what
> happened:  She kept the A/C on even though it was not putting out cold,
> the
> fans still worked and she was using them to keep cool.  On the older A/C
> systems there is no pressure switch to kick out the compressor when the
> refrigerant is too low.  Anything 86 and older is like this.  So the
> compressor kept turning those whole time from Maine to Boston while the
> oil
> was being forced out the blown hose.  This cause the compressor to lock up
> and this flung the A/C belt off which also caused the alternator/water
> pump
> belt to fly off as well.
>
> We had the van towed back and here is the kicker.  The cause of the whole
> debacle was the radiator fan resistor.  Apparently when she was idling,
> the
> resistor went out for the lower fan speed.  This killed the radiator fan
> which caused the A/C pressure to rise too high and blow the hose, which
> caused the oil to leak out, which caused the compressor to lock up, which
> caused the belts to come off, which caused the van to overheat and now we
> might be looking at a cracked head.  What a neat domino effect :-(  This
> would not happen in an 87 or newer van because the compressor would never
> stay on when the refrigerant pressure is low.  Only in the earlier
> version.
> Also it probably wouldn't happen in the 84-85 Vanagons either as their fan
> speeds don't have the achilles heel of the radiator fan resistor.  It
> could
> probably only happen in 86 Vanagons.  Again this van left here with the
> low
> speed fan, but with no warning the resistor can fail.  The only warning
> sign
> is to visually look at it.  If the green coating is flaking off, it is on
> the way out.  However how many of us pull our driver's side headlight
> assembly off to look at this beast?  No one of course.  I just thought I
> would share this comedy of errors in case someone runs into this in the
> future.  You are not alone!
>
> Thanks,
> Ken Wilford
> John 3:16
> http://www.vanagain.com
> http://www.strictlyvwauctions.com
> http://www.eurovan.org
> http://www.vwcabrio.org
> Phone: (856)-327-4936
> Fax: (856)-327-2242
>

--
shawn feller, ohio
1986 vw vanagon gl westfalia
1993 vw eurovan gl
plus a couple of saabs, boats, jet skis, dog and wife (all require to much
maintenance, accept the dog)...

www.carboncow.com
www.carboncow.net