a/c

[nicholas77586]

I need some hlpe chasing down why my a/c or heater only comes through the floor vents on the 1984 continental. No matter what is selected on the panel it still comes through the floor. Is this vacumm or electric stuff?

thanks in advance,
Nick

[pro-five-oh]

Its mostly vacuum, but when there's a vac leak the default setting is defrost, not floor. I'm inclined to think the blend door actuator isn't working for some reason.

Read this, it might help: http://www.lincolnsonline.com/tech/00007.html

[98TC-Cartier]

Blend air door regulates the temp, not where the air comes from. If you have the EATC unit, there are solenoid vacuum valves to operated the vacuum motors that open or close the various vents.

[nicholas77586]

Thanks for the replies,

I know that the vacum motor is still working because when i press the button to change the air flow from the vent to the defrost or the floor, i can hear some mechanical noise operating, it just still comes out of the floor no matter what. Does anyone know where this motor is? When tacking out the glove compartment i see two motors that look like the recirculation motor and the blend door(not sure bout this one, its the one close to the heater core). This has really got my bummed though, also my battery seems to keep deing so i disconnected the hvac user input panel and now it doesnt go dead.

[pro-five-oh]

You really need a shop manual to figure it out. Its a pretty complicated system and the book is the best tool you'll ever buy for $20-50 on eBay.

[Wolfe_83Conti]

This is exactly the other problem I'm having with Gracie's HVAC. The (faulty) heater is blowing air on the windshield all the time and also down on the floor. I was wondering if this was just my car, and I'm glad it's not!

[nicholas77586]

Ya, its not a fun problem. I think its an all electrical system but ill check for vac hoses if thier is any, and then look at the Chilton's book to learn how to take apart half my car:eek:

[Wolfe_83Conti]

I'm halfway there (Whooa! Livin' on a prayer! . . Oops. :p) as it is. There's a lot of unscrewing involved. If you want to see what I mean, I've got pics of my disassembled dash in my restoration thread.

[gadget73]

Probably one of the mix doors came off the vacuum motor, or its stuck or something. My car kinda blows air everywhere. It somewhat selects, but I can tell the doors aren't sealing and switching quite correctly. I need to do a heater core in it eventually, so I'll deal with the air plenum problem then.

[nicholas77586]

I knew this problem was coming, I knew after twenty years of perfect service it would need some service. Does anyone know an easyier way to get to the whole system? I have tacken apart the dash twice and now have no rattles at all so iam a little pissed that i have to do it agian. the Chilton's manuel says I have to drain the A/C system? is that really nessecary. BTW il do anything for this car is seems lol.

[Wolfe_83Conti]

the Chilton's manuel says I have to drain the A/C system? is that really nessecary.

:eek: Good God, YES!!! Do NOT attempt to do anything with an AC system until all the freon is out of the pipes! You can get seriously injured by that stuff! Take it to a mechanic if you have to, but make sure the system is purged! It's like LP gas, it'll freeze you enough to have to go to the hospital!

[pro-five-oh]

I have tacken apart the dash twice and now have no rattles at all so iam a little pissed that i have to do it agian. the Chilton's manuel says I have to drain the A/C system? is that really nessecary. BTW il do anything for this car is seems lol.

Throw away the Chilton's manual, get a FORD manual. Heck, since you're in Houston I can meet you at a Kinkos and give you photocopies of the A/C system diagnosis.

You don't need to evacuate the A/C to replace a sensor, at least not from what I've seen. Only do that if you need to change the evaporator under the dash, that's the only pressurized part.

[nicholas77586]

Pro-five, I'll take you up on that offer. I live in the Clear lake area. But since my mom is a teacher she has an awesome photocopier right in the house. But what ever your comfortable with just let me know. ill see if i can get the one of ebay though,

thanks,
NIcholas

[wixomhead]

hijack: can someone here tell me factory R12 capacity for 87 continental THANKS :-)

[pro-five-oh]

Pro-five, I'll take you up on that offer. I live in the Clear lake area. But since my mom is a teacher she has an awesome photocopier right in the house. But what ever your comfortable with just let me know. ill see if i can get the one of ebay though,

thanks,
NIcholas

Yeah, I'm out closer to Katy, it'll be a nice hike. You're much better off getting a set of manuals from eBay or Helm Inc...they'll pay for themselves after a month of use.

[Wolfe_83Conti]

E-bay, most likely. I tried Helm the other day, but they didn't have the Fox Conti. Unless I was looking for the wrong thing. . . :dunno:

[nicholas77586]

Dont worry yall, The car fixed its self, the A/C works great, blows at 52 degrees which is not bad for a retrofit. The car really is an electrical nightmare huh.

Thanks for the help and offers, Anyone who takes out thier dash though should remember to put new weatherstripping instulation in where the black dash panel vents fit into the opening of the blue dash vent openings. After 20 years the dash vents insulation crumbles. replacing this made the air blow twice as hard out of the vents.

Make sure you do this on your 83 Wolfe when you put your dash back in. It really helps.