Author Topic: How Difficult is it to Add Air Conditioning?  (Read 27537 times)

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Offline chardrc

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Re: How Difficult is it to Add Air Conditioning?
« Reply #45 on: March 19, 2011, 05:03:07 PM »
I saw a tbi2.5l yj in the junk yard today.. even had ac.. was tempted to take the system but didn't have enough time to mess around with pulling it out.  :brick:
1990 YJ 4cly, ax5, 2.5 inch BDS lift, 31 MTr\'s,  Powertrax-lockers all around, track-bars removed, boomerang shackles, warn m8000 winch, electric fan. [sold but not forgotten]

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Offline DanMarino

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Re: How Difficult is it to Add Air Conditioning?
« Reply #46 on: May 18, 2011, 12:35:27 PM »
I'm about to pull the trigger on this one and make the purchase.  Unfortunately the Jeepair site is down :'(.

Offline Jeffy

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Re: How Difficult is it to Add Air Conditioning?
« Reply #47 on: July 17, 2011, 04:08:20 PM »
Reviving this thread.

I've talked to ACKits.com as well as Jeepair.com.  ACKits won't sell you an OEM compressor with their kit which is unfortunate.  On the other hand Jeepair will.  They said internally the compressors are exactly the same.  The only difference is the mounting.  I don't see why they even bother using the other compressor other then to sell people the bracket unnecessarily.  He said to call in to place the order to make sure they get it right.

I'm thinking about getting AC by winter.  If I do then I can use the Jeep for my yearly LA road trip.  I-5 without AC is a horrible experience.  I'm sure once I add AC I'll be wanting to sound and heat deaden the Jeep sooner or later as well.  Although I still haven't properly fixed the leak, even though it doesn't leak anymore. (ie. electrical tap across the cowl.)
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"If the motor car were invented today, there is absolutely no way that any government in the world would let normal members of the public drive one."

reddogg

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Re: How Difficult is it to Add Air Conditioning?
« Reply #48 on: July 17, 2011, 11:52:54 PM »
Ac in my 95 wrangler sounds great! I have a taurus efan running on low, would this be sufficient cooling or would the higher speed be needed? Also thoughts about whether the stock radiator has enough cores for the cooling?

Offline Jeffy

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Re: How Difficult is it to Add Air Conditioning?
« Reply #49 on: July 18, 2011, 12:59:40 PM »
Ac in my 95 wrangler sounds great! I have a taurus efan running on low, would this be sufficient cooling or would the higher speed be needed? Also thoughts about whether the stock radiator has enough cores for the cooling?
That would be dependent on how your fan is set up.  AC needs air to cool the R134/R12.  If it doesn't stay cool, performance drops.  On a stock Jeep the fan is always running so air flow isn't a problem.  With an electric fan, the fan turns off until it's needed.  I have my fan setup so it turned on about 20-30 seconds after I stop.

The radiator shouldn't have any problem cooling the Jeep with the condenser on the front.  It's still pretty big for the engine.

Also keep in mind that 2.5L YJ's did come with AC but it was a Dealer installed option.  TJ's had it as a Factory Option.
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"If the motor car were invented today, there is absolutely no way that any government in the world would let normal members of the public drive one."

Offline jfrabat

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Re: How Difficult is it to Add Air Conditioning?
« Reply #50 on: July 20, 2011, 03:07:27 PM »
That would be dependent on how your fan is set up.  AC needs air to cool the R134/R12.  If it doesn't stay cool, performance drops.  On a stock Jeep the fan is always running so air flow isn't a problem.  With an electric fan, the fan turns off until it's needed.  I have my fan setup so it turned on about 20-30 seconds after I stop.

The radiator shouldn't have any problem cooling the Jeep with the condenser on the front.  It's still pretty big for the engine.

Also keep in mind that 2.5L YJ's did come with AC but it was a Dealer installed option.  TJ's had it as a Factory Option.

As long as you are moving, there is more than enough airflow over the condenser to cool the AC.  The taurus fan on low also is MUCH more than required.  My DCC Controller would come on at 25% of low on the taurus fan when I turned the AC on (IIRC), and it woul dreally make the Jeep cold even in Panama´s hot weather.
'94 YJ 2.5L with 4" RE lift, Superwinch EPi9.0, FoMoCo e-Fan, SD30 and SD35 w/ARB-5.13, 165A alt., 33" BFG KM2 on 15" AR wheels, Sony sound system, Pavement Ends Hardtop, Hydroboost

jramey

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Re: How Difficult is it to Add Air Conditioning?
« Reply #51 on: July 21, 2011, 08:55:35 AM »
Might be a dumb question but do they make any kind of portable ac unit that can run off your cig lighter or a power inverter, using my oem ac is just to much of a drag on my engine and id like to eliminate it all together, ive seen that newer hybrid cars use an elecrict compressor. Wonder how hard it would be to use one of those instead of a belt driven one

Offline sharpxmen

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Re: How Difficult is it to Add Air Conditioning?
« Reply #52 on: July 21, 2011, 09:46:16 AM »
Might be a dumb question but do they make any kind of portable ac unit that can run off your cig lighter or a power inverter, using my oem ac is just to much of a drag on my engine and id like to eliminate it all together, ive seen that newer hybrid cars use an elecrict compressor. Wonder how hard it would be to use one of those instead of a belt driven one

the reason hybrid cars are using an electric compressor is that the engine is not spinning all the time, power consumption for an equivalent cooling capacity would be the same so you won't gain anything.

EDIT: as far as a cigarette lighter goes, you still need all components for an a/c including a condenser, evaporator compressor and all the hoses so you won't find a compact enough unit to just plug it in your cig lighter.
« Last Edit: July 21, 2011, 09:50:00 AM by sharpxmen »
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Offline neale_rs

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Re: How Difficult is it to Add Air Conditioning?
« Reply #53 on: July 21, 2011, 10:21:19 AM »
I know a guy who uses a water mister that works by pumping up a bottle with air pressure (by hand) and an electric fan run off the cig lighter.  Works pretty well for wheeling in the desert.
'95 YJ, 33 x 12.5 mud tires, RE 4.5 ED lift, Atlas 4 speed, rear D44, ARBs front and rear, 4.56 gears, 8000# winch

Offline Jeffy

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Re: How Difficult is it to Add Air Conditioning?
« Reply #54 on: July 25, 2011, 09:23:46 PM »
As long as you are moving, there is more than enough airflow over the condenser to cool the AC.  The taurus fan on low also is MUCH more than required.  My DCC Controller would come on at 25% of low on the taurus fan when I turned the AC on (IIRC), and it woul dreally make the Jeep cold even in Panama´s hot weather.
I don't think it will be a problem with my fan setup since my fan normally turns on no more then 20-30 seconds after I come to a stop.  It turns off immediately after I get moving again.
Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZNlr60GXH5OlKIFrT7P6mg
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"If the motor car were invented today, there is absolutely no way that any government in the world would let normal members of the public drive one."

Offline Jeffy

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Re: How Difficult is it to Add Air Conditioning?
« Reply #55 on: October 07, 2011, 05:27:34 PM »
Well, I got my system ordered.  Using a new OEM compressor with Jeepair's kit.  Supposed to be here by sometime next week.
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"If the motor car were invented today, there is absolutely no way that any government in the world would let normal members of the public drive one."

Nicks92jeeper

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Re: How Difficult is it to Add Air Conditioning?
« Reply #56 on: October 07, 2011, 10:09:45 PM »
How hard is it to add air conditioning?

Step one. Remove soft top or hard top.
Step two. Drive really really fast!!!

Hope that caused a laugh.

Offline Jeffy

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Re: How Difficult is it to Add Air Conditioning?
« Reply #57 on: October 07, 2011, 11:46:09 PM »
How hard is it to add air conditioning?

Step one. Remove soft top or hard top.
Step two. Drive really really fast!!!

Hope that caused a laugh.
Yeah, everyone says that...  Then you find out they have another car for their daily drive.

When temps hit 100+ or humidity hits over 40% and you want to get somewhere without looking like you wore your clothes in the shower, you're SOL.
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"If the motor car were invented today, there is absolutely no way that any government in the world would let normal members of the public drive one."

Nicks92jeeper

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Re: How Difficult is it to Add Air Conditioning?
« Reply #58 on: October 08, 2011, 02:08:41 AM »
Well, out of the two vehicles I have, my jeep is the cooler one to drive in. My Honda has no AC and it seems more closed quarters then the Jeep. In my Honda I just gotta swap the clutch off the AC and a new one in. To add AC to a Jeep, I wonder if that is more work then it is worth?

Nicks92jeeper

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Re: How Difficult is it to Add Air Conditioning?
« Reply #59 on: October 08, 2011, 02:49:54 AM »
I went to Rockauto.com and found that some of the parts are interchangable like the AC compressor. Around here it is 25.00 for a used AC compressor from the yard. That right there could save you 200-350. Depending on a few of the other parts and if they can be reused or not may save you more. Just a thought.
http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/raframecatalog.php