106 deg F in the shade! Oklahoma City is HOT! Temperature-wise that is...and, the 113 temp in Weatherford, TX Thursday had SWMBO and I sweating our tushes off in the tepid air oozing out of the vents in Marlene the Wonder Car.

Something isn't right...it seems like this car used to cool off pretty well despite her maroon paint.

So, in an effort to somehow improve the operation of her 134a cooling system, I pulled the blower assembly to inspect the recirc flap with the intention of wedging the damned thing shut.

Holding the flap shut has slightly improved the cooling.

But, while I was in there, I ran a toothbrush across the part of the evaporator coils that I could reach. I could only reach the first 1/2 of the coils for cleaning and, after looking at them with a mirror, I realize now that some of my cooling problems are because these coils are about 50% blocked by a 20 year accumulation of Gawd knows what.

Inspecting them with a mirror and flashlight, it looks as if they've had a partial cleaning at some point in the past but, I'll have to pull the evaporator to reach and clean the last 5"-6"

I was also suspicious about the operation of the monovalve and wondered if the thing was periodically allowing some hot coolant to pass through the heater coils. For the time being, I've pinched-off the heater hose running from the recirc pump to the heater.

Cleaning the evap, making sure I had 100% recirc of cabin air and blocking the flow of coolant to the heater have helped the cabin temps a little. Driving around OKC today in 103 deg F temps we had a little better cooling and the in-car temps recovered much quicker than they did yesterday...these aren't permanent fixes since someday, I'll install a parallel flow condenser and convert the climate controls over to manual operation with a set of knobs, cables and valves scavenged out of a low-end 240D.

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

You are still on meds from your surgery... There is NO other explanation for anyone going TO Oklahoma in the last week of July.
Get back down here as fast as you can before you choke on Red clay dust.

Oh but there is one other explanation: When SWMBO says we're going to OKC...believe me, we're going to OKC.

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

It's now time to put gauges on the system to check pressures and to observe sight glass.

BTW, I agree with leathermang. Going to Oklahoma is a scary thought, but scarier for me than for him. I live so close to the Red River that I occasionaly have a nightmare in which the Red River changed course and went south of me making me an Okie. When this happens I wake up drenched in cold sweat.

Have a great day,

Larry

I resememble that remark. I was born/raised just across the river. By the way, how was the trip to SF?

Charlie

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Charlie Porter
'80 300SD 487K+ miles

Yeah, I remember a trip out west 20 something years ago -- the AC in the Audi Fox crapped out (bad temp control switch, then the evap froze up), and I Tulsa in rush hour traffic, the fuel pump started getting flaky.

There are other places I'd rather travel in the summer. Probably very nice spring and fall, but 117 F in the shade is too much for me, and obviously, for the Audi!

Peter

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1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!

NOTHING goes unpunished! NOTHING!!!

Hehe! Today, on the way back from the Capitol City to Waterloo, SWMBO was commenting on the noticeable improvement in the a/c; she had no sooner finished the sentence than the a/c blower goes DOA.

We were approaching Mineral Wells, it 3:30 and was only about 102F.

We'd already planned to stop for a quick bite of lunch so instead of going in a restaurant, we stopped at a Sonic (Nice place: you know, they're equipped with those handy, shaded Benzo service areas) and while we waited for the food, I popped the hood, opened the fuse cover and, eureka! The #8 fuse had gone to that great fuse-box in the sky.

I crossed my fingers praying that fuse had died of old age and installed the last 25A fuse I had. After performing the ritual smoke test, everything was A-OK for the rest of the trip.

My "Husband-as-diesel-mechanic-hero" status was tested but remains untarnished...except for a short visit regarding excessive speed I had with officer Friendly in Burnet, TX.

Damn, and things were going so well too!

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

Larry, at least you wouldn't have to get your passport stamped anymore when visiting the rest of the nation. You guys do still advertise Tejas as a whole 'nother country don't ya? Ha Ha !!

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1961 190Db retired
1968 220D/8 325,000
1983 300D 164,150