York Compressor Question on 70 220D
 

Yet another A/C related thread! Woooooo!

It was a scorching 114oF yesterday and my little 220 has no A/C. I've managed to deal with this for awhile but it's begging to be a bit much.

The clutch spins and everything seems as though it works, but I'm told I need to change the oil in the compressor, and I don't know what kind of oil and where the heck it goes in :confused: Also where does the freon go? I have a source for R-12 at our local autozone but I hope he can put it in.

Does anyone have any info on this Compressor? I was quoted 300$ to get my A/C working but there is no way in hell I can pay that right now. I need to get the freon in there to know if it can hold it and if the system works. I just don't want to run it without changing the oil.

No need in chaging the oil but I would check it. Remove the 13mm plug on the side of the compressor and use a piece of wire(coat hanger) and make sure there is anout 1 1/2 inches of oil in the bottom of the compressor. If its low top it up with mineral oil.

The R12 goes into the low side of the compressor.

Awesome, exactly what I needed to know. Thanks!

Ok, you are jumping ahead a little too much in your planning...

you sure do not want to waste any type of refrigerant by installing it into a leaking system... it could leak out in a day or a week.... either way you have lost it and have to buy more AND fix the situation...

So first you need to find out why your car does not have AC...
and others will need some information to be able to help in a reasonable fashion.

Is the whole system buttoned up tight as far as you can tell ?

Can you describe which direction your compressor is installed ...or post pictures of it ?

There is a hole on the side for taking out the old SUMP oil and putting new in... I put that in large letters to denote that there are two oil amounts in your system.. that SUMP oil and oil which is mixed with your refrigerant and travels around inside the system with it..

So your clutch spins but does not lock up and engage the compressor .... correct ?

DO NOT TOP IT OFF>..
I actually have the MB AC manual and have read it...
there is a HOMEMADE dipstick gauge you can and should make to find out the correct level of your oil....

And it must be a "cold" oil as well. Make sure the system is NOT charged before removing the bolt and put some cold oil on the bolt seal before screwing it back in. Attached is an MB drawing of the wire tool to use. You may have to rotate the compressor a bit to allow the wire to reach the bottom.

To just say that R12 goes into the low side of the compressor has the potential of BREAKING THE COMPRESSOR VALVES..
You need to slow down and do more research and not jump on any post without checking the OTHER information necessary to do it right..
If you hold the can the wrong way you will freeze the valves and break them...
I know it is hot...and AC stuff seems complicated... certainly there are very specific physics rules suggested by those in the know.... but if you do not follow them the first time it is likely to cost you unnecessary money to later get it fixed to where it will work well for a reasonably long time...

You will likely find that the Yorkie actually belongs on a Kenworth, not one of our rather puny 220D's. You will often need to shut it off when taking off up hill, and it is a royal pain when attempting to do a water pump replacement. That is the job that caused me to ditch the Yorkie on our 220D. To use some other compressor would take a custom bracket, but that welded up monstrosity on there now is a custom deal anyway. Good luck!!

I totally agree with Lycoming-8 on that...
but if you can not afford it at the moment we will attempt to get you going from where you are...
When I put an AC on my VW bug... I included a switch that I taped to the shift lever.... it was normally closed switch.... so when I was shifting or going up a hill I had it right there to take away the electricity to the AC... it REALLY helped...

I, too, agree with lycoming-8. In fact, I only use my Yorkie on the highway; in-town, it's fresh air & windows down. I've toyed with the idea of changing to a Sanden and still use R12. My research tells me the bracket would be as ugly as sin, as it mounts to the existing bracket (2 for the price of 1). So if I can fabricate 1 single bracket, I might do the change. Does anyone know if the same idler pully could be used with going to a different size belt? This would be on an M110.

^^yeah the same idler pulley

I have an M110 engined 115 up front.... with that type compressor...will take pictures tomorrow and post.... really clean... bolted to the block as compared to keeping all that other super structure...

Today I will take pictures to see what you guys think. When my old mechanic looked at it, he said that the compressor had a 50/50 chance of being usable but he was sure it was still working, he also said all of my hoses looked good except for one that might give me trouble. But he was making a big scene about needing to change the oil in the compressor.

Everything else on it seems to work, I literally just need freon in there to test it out. I kind of know what to expect with loss of power, because in my 83 automatic 240D, I wouldn't doubt someone being able to run faster than me driving, I had semi's rushing by me because I was going so slow lol. I read somewhere that the York compressors can't handle highway speeds for a long period of time, is this true?

All of you who live in east cost states or places where it's cold, know how fortunate you are that you're there and not in a place that gets up to 120oF in summer. It's 90oF right now at 12:25 midnight. Ugh....

If you look at E-Bay, there is a seller in TX that has brackets and compressors for a Sanden conversion.
Tom

You have accumulated a lot of bad information over the years.
The York compressors were the standard used in the USA for many many years. They have two cylinders and so the power pulses are not spread out much... swashplate type compressors like the Sanden have four or six tiny pistons in order to spread out and smooth the power pulses... A normally maintained York compared to a normally maintained Sanden are equal in strength and reliability... but not in smoothness and power consumption.
Your mechanic was correct in wanting to put new oil into your York.
You told me in your PM that you are going to fill it up with refrigerant because you can get it done for $45 total. What you jumped over was why your system is not working NOW.... how did it get that way ? Something having to do with physics has caused it to not be working now.. if you do not find and address that first the chances are you will simply lose that freon charge.
Worse yet, doing it this way you have no way to know how much oil is INSIDE the system...as compared to this oil in the compressor SUMP mentioned ... thus you are very much increasing your chances of ruining that compressor IF it is good at this point in time due to lubrication starvation.

Here are the pictures I took this morning. The black hose is where I might have a leak problem. But I'm missing a cap on the suction side. Hopefully this is all I need.

I seriously think the A/C stopped working when he stored the car and it sat there for 17 years and then two years in a dirt lot. Last time is was legally on the road was 1994 lol (other than me owning/driving it).

I'm looking forward to leathermang's Sanden pics even though I've had my York for at least 19 years, so obviously the lack of longevity info is false. High speeds are where Yorkie performs best. As mentioned earlier, it's a power hog; hence, ineffective & noisy in-town.

there is the one guy listing the brackets for the York to sanden compressor covering MB from 1960 t0 81.

there is another listing for a CD "Mercedes GM-R4 to Sanden Compressor up grade new CD" $19.95. he has the brackets and some reworked oil cooler lines to be rerouted. just have to send your old ones back to him.
seller is JJMAJD

either way will have to put money into it to do it right.

I don`t envy living in Palm Springs, that is one hot hole.
Charlie

The Yorks are pretty durable, but tend to be rough and noisy. Make sure all the mounting hardware is present and secure. Especially the bracket that goes from the bottom of the comressor and bolts to the motor-mount arm's attachment studs at the engine block.
After so many years, the clutch-pulley bearing may need replacing, as well as the compressor shaft seal. Find a parts place that has an old Murray AC catalog if you need these parts. If you do need to remove the pulley and replace the beaing or shaft seal, and plan on sticking with R12, you might consider a larger compressor pulley assy, I've had good luck fitting a larger than stock compressor pulley on some small-engined / low power vehicles, so the engine isn't working so hard and runs cooler, at the expense of some AC performance at idle.
If your 220D has a working aux electric radiator fan, it may be possble to wire it, via a relay, so it comes on with the compressor, instead of waiting for the fan's temp-sensor on the AC receiver-drier, thus improving AC idle performance a bit.

Happy Motoring, Mark

Here is a picture comparing the Seltec/Sanden compressor to the York. I also attached a picture of the Seltec (and York-toSanden bracket) as it was mounted in my 250C.

The 2 compressors don't have the same size hose connectors, do they?

My apologies, will get them tomorrow... have been dragging water hoses around in over 100 degree heat trying to save trees around the house...did not even remember the sanden pics today...

No. The Seltec has O-ring fittings and the York has (I think) Rotalock fittings.

In my case it didn't matter because I made new hoses for it anyway.

This thread is wearing me out?

I drove a 69 230 gas car and then an early (77) 123 240D, both with lawn mower engine compressors and BOTH of these cars cool the cabin on a 105 degree day enough to make a Polar Bear scream for mercy around town or on the highway either one. I also drove numerous other vehicles with R12 systems and lawn mower engine compressors. They also would make you curse because you forgot and left your Parka at home.

The old York/Tecumseh's are filthy cheap as a rebuilt unit, and they rebuild EXTREMELY well.

Tell me. How much R12 can you buy for the cost of a Sanden conversion?

Sometimes I think that some people have some sort of allergy to air conditioning refrigerant that makes them forget their third grade math.

Unbelievable!

Maybe I missed something...
The best combo is to keep the R12 AND change to a smoother lower drag compressor... particularly in the little engine auto in question...

So Larry, it sounds like your adjustment knobs on the dash were not working... your AC was on MAX all the time...

I got the pictures of the very simple m110 engine mount... it is not one that uses the old big superstructure associated with the York...
It is an easy to weld up set of flat plates which look like the only important part would be the front to rear measurement...

M110 with Sankyo compressor
 

Looks like I remembered wrong... Sankyo instead of Sanden... do not know how much different they are... but this is a pretty clean installation here...