Here I am, thinking that after rebuilding the engine (with Norm's inserts & ARP studs), the suspension (4 active struts/shocks), front wheel bearing capsules, alignment, balancing, etc, that I could enjoy my project, at least for a while.
Turns out it is a very short while.
Backing out of the donut shop at O:dark-thirty, dash says: 'Low Oil Pressure - stop engine'. Very nice. Stopped, counted to 10 (or 20, or 30?) said a few hail-marys, started it up, no messages. Monitored the dash closely for the 200 mile round trip that day, and no other messages.
Looking on the forum later, it seems most likely to be a bad oil pressure switch. 'Bout $10, no biggie. I will also put in an actual gauge to verify.
Went through a little rain/sprinkle, and the windshield wipers are acting like they were daemon possessed. That's a different thread/problem.
And now the Air Conditioner is not working. It had been refilled (at a shop, not by me), and was told that they had evacuated the system overnight, and and that it was still holding vacuum in the morning. They refilled the system, and it worked perfectly, for about 300 miles - mostly around town.
But on this trip the AC stopped working. I did some checking here in the garage, and it doesn't really look good, for me.
I first located the clutch relay in the fuse block, and removed the relay. With engine off, I rigged up battery volts to the pin socket that feeds down to the clutch. I hear the clutch clicking in, and can see the outer plate being drawn in, as expected. I started the engine, did the same test - the outer plate was drawn in, and I could see the compressor now turning. So, the compressor is not mechanically locked up.
I checked (not installed in the fuse block) the relay for operation, and resistance of the switched leads. All looked as expected. I wrapped some wire around the relay pins, jumper'd to the appropriate pin sockets, and repeated the test. When I energized the relay, it switched the clutch as expected. So, the path from the relay pin socket in the fuse block, to the clutch on the compressor are good.
OK, the relay is commanded to turn on (engage the clutch) by the PCM grounding circuit 459, which energizes the relay, which switches battery volts to the clutch, which I just demonstrated was working.
Is the wire from PCM to fuse block open? Disconnected the car battery, used my motorcycle battery & some jumpers to get power to the relay only (so as not to power up anything else), pulled the PCM connector, and grounded pin C2-47. Dang! The clutch engages as it should, which means all the wires, fuses, relays, connectors, clutch solenoid, solenoid ground connection, and compressor are good. Which pretty much leaves ONLY the PCM.
And you say 'But what are your codes showing?'. Nothing related to HVAC system. After the last test in the garage, I reconnected everything, cleared all the codes, started the car, turned on the AC to 60 deg, fan on high, let it run for a minute or so - still no cold air, no compressor clutch engagement. Turned off the car, and pulled codes.
DIM U1016 Hist data link loss of communication
IRC U1016 Hist same.
Does anyone have anything else to suggest, that I haven't tried? I'm hoping that someone will say 'Dummy, didn't you do this?!'
If I do need a PCM, it will have to be programmed for my VIN, and anything else? And by whom? And how much does a dealer charge? Tech II? Hell, might just be an excuse to try one of those $500 Chinese clones. And maybe my car just got upgraded to Z-rated tires - who knows.
Cheers,
Steve
Turns out it is a very short while.
Backing out of the donut shop at O:dark-thirty, dash says: 'Low Oil Pressure - stop engine'. Very nice. Stopped, counted to 10 (or 20, or 30?) said a few hail-marys, started it up, no messages. Monitored the dash closely for the 200 mile round trip that day, and no other messages.
Looking on the forum later, it seems most likely to be a bad oil pressure switch. 'Bout $10, no biggie. I will also put in an actual gauge to verify.
Went through a little rain/sprinkle, and the windshield wipers are acting like they were daemon possessed. That's a different thread/problem.
And now the Air Conditioner is not working. It had been refilled (at a shop, not by me), and was told that they had evacuated the system overnight, and and that it was still holding vacuum in the morning. They refilled the system, and it worked perfectly, for about 300 miles - mostly around town.
But on this trip the AC stopped working. I did some checking here in the garage, and it doesn't really look good, for me.
I first located the clutch relay in the fuse block, and removed the relay. With engine off, I rigged up battery volts to the pin socket that feeds down to the clutch. I hear the clutch clicking in, and can see the outer plate being drawn in, as expected. I started the engine, did the same test - the outer plate was drawn in, and I could see the compressor now turning. So, the compressor is not mechanically locked up.
I checked (not installed in the fuse block) the relay for operation, and resistance of the switched leads. All looked as expected. I wrapped some wire around the relay pins, jumper'd to the appropriate pin sockets, and repeated the test. When I energized the relay, it switched the clutch as expected. So, the path from the relay pin socket in the fuse block, to the clutch on the compressor are good.
OK, the relay is commanded to turn on (engage the clutch) by the PCM grounding circuit 459, which energizes the relay, which switches battery volts to the clutch, which I just demonstrated was working.
Is the wire from PCM to fuse block open? Disconnected the car battery, used my motorcycle battery & some jumpers to get power to the relay only (so as not to power up anything else), pulled the PCM connector, and grounded pin C2-47. Dang! The clutch engages as it should, which means all the wires, fuses, relays, connectors, clutch solenoid, solenoid ground connection, and compressor are good. Which pretty much leaves ONLY the PCM.
And you say 'But what are your codes showing?'. Nothing related to HVAC system. After the last test in the garage, I reconnected everything, cleared all the codes, started the car, turned on the AC to 60 deg, fan on high, let it run for a minute or so - still no cold air, no compressor clutch engagement. Turned off the car, and pulled codes.
DIM U1016 Hist data link loss of communication
IRC U1016 Hist same.
Does anyone have anything else to suggest, that I haven't tried? I'm hoping that someone will say 'Dummy, didn't you do this?!'
If I do need a PCM, it will have to be programmed for my VIN, and anything else? And by whom? And how much does a dealer charge? Tech II? Hell, might just be an excuse to try one of those $500 Chinese clones. And maybe my car just got upgraded to Z-rated tires - who knows.
Cheers,
Steve