The AC in the GoldBrick has been, well, less that spectacular. I knew it had freon, I knew the evaporator was good. I figured it had to be electrical. When I had a grounding problem to the transmission (thanks to the local VW dealer) I blew a fair number of fuses. Including the ones to the rear fans. So I asked the dealer to fix it. They fixed the fans. The fixed it by putting in 30amp fuses, instead of the original 25amp ones. Snarl. The cooling efficiency (poor) was still the same. So I continued the hunt WITHOUT the "assistance" of the dealer (I know it isn't a Vanagon issue with dealers, because I hear the same horror stories from other more modern VW owners.) After investigating the relays, and wiring in the rear, I came to the conclusion that my problem had to be... The AC switch. That one in the front that turns it on. The Gold Brick is an 86 Syncro. So the AC in this beast has a 4 speed fan switch and a separate rotary switch that turns the AC on and controls the tempature of the AC. The fan turns on. So I knew THAT part worked. I disassembled the switch. It consists of two portions the on off section (known to work) was easy to identify. The other section is a Variable Ohm Resistor rated originally at 20K. Mine had no connection. I got my Westy back today from having it's CV boots replaced and pull the AC switch (same type) on it. I measured the VOR on it. Yep, goes from 0 ohms, to a bit over 19K ohms. Needless to say, this is another of those parts that you can apparently only get at the dealer. $14. Probably will get it next week. Hey, at least one of my Vans can have working AC this weekend. I'll just move the switch from vehicle to vehicle as needed. In my investigations I checked all the fuses, including those 50amp "fuses" (more like fusable links). What are those made of, lead? They sure seemed to bend like lead. Very soft. |
Please note - During the past 17 years of operation, several gigabytes of
Vanagon mail messages have been archived. Searching the entire collection
will take up to five minutes to complete. Please be patient!
Return to the archives @ gerry.vanagon.com
The vanagon mailing list archives are copyright (c) 1994-2011, and may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the list administrators. Posting messages to this mailing list grants a license to the mailing list administrators to reproduce the message in a compilation, either printed or electronic. All compilations will be not-for-profit, with any excess proceeds going to the Vanagon mailing list.
Any profits from list compilations go exclusively towards the management and operation of the Vanagon mailing list and vanagon mailing list web site.