I entered a picture and location of the dealership my 54 Cavalier was sold new from.

I wanted to tune that entry up and edit it but don't seem to be smart enough.

Is there a way to edit the address information or should I just delete it and start over?

Jim

If you try to work the plug loose you stand a chance of breaking it loose in the sheet metal and then you have big trouble.

DO Nothing with an open flame near the fuel system / tank.

I have removed plugs by using freeze spray available at electronics stores. Freeze it and it may shrink enough to soak in some light penetrating oil.

WD40 is a poor penetrating oil and is actually a moisture proofing. WD40 will eventually dry up and leaves a film which after frequent use may glue in a plug tighter. I used to use it on everything but have become much more cautious where I spray it.

Jim

I replaced the 12 volt battery last weekend and did improve the operation of my add-on A/C.

I do not know the manufacture of the little 12 volt alternator in my car and it's too much trouble to get too it to try and find out.

It has a little connector with two wires besides the output terminal. One of the wires is tied directly to the output terminal, the other runs all the way to under the dash to run an idiot light.

I expected the alternator would impose no load on the battery with the engine off but with nothing connected but the 12 volt battery it drew about 20 Milliamps. Possibly 12 volts was supplied through the ignition switch in whatever this alternator came out of. I assume it is a junkyard part.

The output terminal heavy wire goes directly to the A/C control under the dash. It passes by the battery tray where the 12 volt relay is zip tied.

With a totally dead 12 volt battery the A/C would run if you turned it on while going down the road but when stopped at a light it would slow way down and never come back to speed until you shut it off for a second. I believe the belt slipped at this point.

Without changing the existing wiring all I need to do is put in a 6 volt coil relay with about 20 - 30 Amp contacts so the battery is disconnected when the ignition switch is off and all will work OK. Otherwise I have to remember to flip off the under-dash switch.

I drove home at 5::30 PM yesterday in 105 degree Phoenix AZ heat with the A/C running and the interior of the car stayed real cool all the way even though I was in Downtown mostly stop and little go. My car was parked in a covered garage all afternoon. If the car is sitting in the sun it takes a good ways to get it down to cool. My car has a dark blue top.

The experimenting continues . . . . Jim

I can resolve the 6 volt relay issue as I'm in the electronics BIZ and all I need to do replace the 12 volt coil relay with a 6 and activate it form the switched 6 volts from the ignition switch. It has to have a relay anyway to shut down the A/C with the Ignition switch.

I don't know the make of the alternator it looks Japanese; it is a tiny thing and buried under the bracket supporting the compressor.

The AC system does have a sight glass and I admittedly haven't looked at it with the AC running (yet). I do have a gauge set and thought of looking at pressures to see if I could tell what refrigerant is in the system from pressures..

I had hoped the guy who installed it back in the day would respond to my phone calls but not so far.

I put in a new 12 volt battery last weekend and the system is cooling much better although I do believe there is some alternator belt slip considering the slight wrap.

And thanks for all your comments

Jim

I suppose original A/C parts are unobtainium?

My system has a Sanden compressor with a custom bracket mounted to the engine by way of head bolts and other mounting points. No irreversible modifications to the car.

The problems are as follows;

There is a switch under the dash that engages the 12 volt battery; otherwise it tries to run on the alternator only. I plan to replace the dash switch and 12 volt relay with a 6 volt relay that will connect the 12 volt battery when ever the ignition switch is on. The little alternator drains the battery if left connected.

The belt warp for the alternator is a passing touch and I believe it slips part of the time when it is under load.

The compressor has two "VEE's" in the pulley so it may be possible to move the alternator forward about ? of an inch and run it from the compressor although things are tight and the transmission cooler is right in this area.

We talked about using a DC to DC converter to jack the 6 volts up to 12 for the A/C but I'm guessing the A/C pulls about 15 Amps which would be doubled to a 30 Amps plus drain on the 6 volt system, so I'm keeping the alternator for now.

I don't know what refrigerant is actually in the system. I don't know an easy way to tell, the expansion valve doesn't appear to be marked. The fittings are R-12 and I believe it was installed in the late 1990's.

Jim

I'm going to poke around the DC to DC converter idea as I'm in the Broadcast Engineering Biz it seems like something I can make work.

In the mean time I'm going to try and get the 12 volt alternator system working better.

I don't know how much headroom there is in the 6 volt system. This car seems heavier duty than the old 50 Chev I drove as a kid.

I will measure the Amp draw of the 12 volt A/C first, I don't see a problem filtering the output of a DC to DC so it can work with the spike'y load of motors and clutches switching on and off. The 12 volt battery could solve that but I would like to get rid of it.

Converting the car to 12 volts seems difficult to me, besides the bulbs which are of course the easy part, you have the radio, two heater motors, the clock, antenna, starter, and generator, and ignition system.

Jim

Thanks:

I'm taking this all in.

I want to keep the 6 volt system for now, one of my other hobbies is antique radio and I'm not giving up tubes yet.

I considered looking for a DC to DC converter that would cover the load of the 12 volt A/C of which the biggest part is the blower, then I could remove the 12 V alternator and the 12 volt battery.

The 6 volt system seems to have good output and I drive with the tube radio, headlights and both heaters on all the time and it kept up quite well.

If it had a good 12 volt battery it would probably work just fine but in stop-and-go the current battery won't hold a charge so the A/C slows down at red lights and has a hard time getting back up to speed.

My A/C compressor does have a second belt "V" and I like the suggestion of driving the alternator from that.

I see some of you have worked this problem out previously.

Tonight I'm driving home from work in the Packard with the air on.

Jim

There was a thread that passed through recently and I am motivated to discuss this further so I'm looking for opinions on this.

My 54 Cavalier, I bought last fall came with Add-On A/C already installed.

They made a sturdy bracket which is mounted to the right side of the engine which supports a small alternator and the A/C compressor.

A single belt wraps all of the pulleys which I don't like but it seems to work. They have an idler that rides the backside of the belt to get more wrap on the water pump pulley.

My car runs on the original 6 volt electrical system which works just fine. The A/C has its own 12 volt system which consists of the small alternator and a 12 volt motorcycle battery. The car has one of those "Gel" 6 volt batteries which only needs half of the battery bracket space and the motorcycle battery (old battery from my Harley) fits neatly to the side with a custom hold down bracket.

There is a relay near the 12 volt battery that is controlled by a switch under the dash so if the switch is off the battery is disconnected from the 12 volt system. I didn't realize the purpose of this switch until last weekend. I suspect this is their idea of how to shut off the 12 volts to the A/C system after the ignition switch is turned off.

I am going to change this so either this relay or another is controlled by the ignition switch and kills the A/C when the Ignition switch is off.

Since the under dash switch has been off (until I played with it last weekend) the 12 volt battery hasn't been charged. I believe it needs to be connected to the alternator all the time.

I had considered removing the Add-On but the temperature here in Phoenix AZ has already been over 100 so I re-considered keeping it in. I also considered moving the Evap unit to the trunk.

The under dash Evap. unit fits neatly under the Glove Drawer and you can eisily pull out the drawer.

Under the bonnet is quite neat and has a factory look. (I don't do car shows for judging). The 12 volt system barley has enough go to keep the system running at stop lights which may be due to very little contact of the belt and the alternator pulley and my mostly dead 12 volt battery.

You're thoughts please.

Jim

My 54 Cavalier has an add-on AC unit, manufacture unknown to me. The evap unit is under the dash, under the glove box and allows enough space to pull out the glove drawer. The control unit is next to the driver with a small connecting flex air hose so the driver gets air and has control.

Under the bonnet they fabricated a substantial bracket that has the compressor on top and a small 12 volt alternator underneath. This all runs off the single belt (fear factor), it does work and the belt doesn't slip or seem to be in distress. (There are six spare belts in the trunk. The belt tension is a little tight for my taste.

The condenser coil is in front of the radiator and invisible, hoses come neatly down the right side splash under the hood and there is a receiver with a sight glass. None of this blocks removing the panels on the splash to get to the engine.

My car has one of those gel type 6 volt batteries along with a motorcycle size 12 volt battery and a special hold down clamp to keep both in the original battery bracket.

The car runs on the original 6 volt system and the only thing on the 12 volt is the AC. The Gel cranks the engine fine especially since I went to proper sized battery cables.

I don't know the manufacture of the AC unit or who put it in or exactly how it's wired up. The ignition switch has to be on to get the air to run so there must be a relay controlling it.

I know when I start the car it takes about three minutes to come on and when I slow down at a stop light the AC goes quite slow.

When I got the car last year the 12 volt battery was stone dead - zero volts. I suspect the battery is not getting connected to the 12 volt charging system.

The unit is a Freon 12 system, I don't know what is actually in it and I feel it needs a charge. Some people run R-414B or R-420A but some of these are incompatible with the rubber seals made for R-12

I live in Phoenix AZ and the unit has been cooling but we have only hit 100 so far this year.

Jim

My goal is to have the proper size and look tires on my car, but I needed to act fast and the set of used tires which I got for cheap are the same size as what were on the car when I bought it last fall.

Then at the price of Ethyl Gas substitute I'm not sure how much roadwork the old girl will get in the near future.

I'm thinking I can find a scissors type jack and modify it in a permanent way so it will raise the car far enough and safe enough to let the suspension drop far enough to get the spare on if need be chocking a front wheel first.

When I mounted the current tires just a month or so ago I used my small crappy floor jack which doesn't go up as high as it should, and used blocks which I don't think is safe. I jacked the frame just in front of the rear wheel I was removing and did get it high enough to remove the inflated tire without dragging on the fender.

I wanted something to carry to jack it up with in place of the bumper jack which is always scary to use.

I'm not sure they make a 6 volt air compressor. I used to own a 1915 Jeffery Touring car which had a built-in air compressor with a long hose under the front seat.

Jim