Air Conditioning not working and not mounted well

[erisaaka]

Hi there, we are new to the vanagon family! We just purchased ours and we are excited for the adventure (fixes and all). Wondering if anyone could point me in the right direction in regards to two AC fixes I need some guidance on:

1. The person we bought the van from said that the AC worked great last summer but since using it this summer it only blows air (and no I'm not talking about the fresh air system). What system checks can I perform to identify the culprit/cause? Remember I'm new but I'm willing to learn. In other words, don't jump right in with all the terminology but use the terminology and explain

2. The AC column is sagging quite a bit and is held up by a bungee cord. Two owners ago put it up like this. What can I do or buy to secure it tight to the ceiling so it doesn't bounce? Could this be the cause of the poor AC?

[mikemtnbike]

Do you know if your van originally came with that AC? Based on the control knows being in the overhead unit, I think somebody might have added it later on. Is the wiring routed through the circulation tunnel? None of that is stock.

The original tunnel anchors are made out of a special material known as breaksdownovertimeium. VW used this material for many locations as plastic anchor points; other examples include the tabs on the instrument cluster cover, AT cover, and headlight adjusters.

Anyway, looks like your tunnel is missing the anchors altogether, which again is why I think it may be a later add-on.

All this makes possible solutions quite challenging. If it was just the tunnel falling down, I'd advise you to remove it and use the rear unit like a room AC. That's what I did with my poptop conversion and it works great still. If the wires are going through your tunnel, though, that's not going to work, you'd have to relocate all the wiring and move the controls to the dash.

You're just going to have figure out how this was rigged in and if its worth fixing.
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1991 Vanagon GL 2.1 AT Westfauxlia. "Frankie" Totaled https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=764510&highlight=carnage
1995 Eurovan Camper "Marzivan"
2020 GTI SE manual

[crazyvwvanman]

The first couple years of the rear/center tube A/C have the controls high at the front. This was later moved to the dash. There is an old RECALL for the center tubes to add additional mounting support plates and it looks like this van never got them installed, as many didn't. They eventually sag and fall without the recall supports and some do even with the recall stuff.

Mark

[mikemtnbike]

See, I already learned something today. Thanks! Are the brass-looking plates I took out with the tunnel the recall supports?
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1991 Vanagon GL 2.1 AT Westfauxlia. "Frankie" Totaled https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=764510&highlight=carnage
1995 Eurovan Camper "Marzivan"
2020 GTI SE manual

[The Carrot]

If you have a friend that can show you how do do epoxy repairs, time to call in a favour. Too bad the PO didn’t address the issue earlier. Makes me wonder about the general status of the PO’s Vans maintenance. Bungee cord just screams “ lazy corner cutter”

Once you get the ducting repaired and the A/C system refreshed and recharged the good news is that this is one of the nicest cooling systems that I have ever experienced.
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1990 Orly Blue Carat

[erisaaka]

[crazyvwvanman]

Here is a guy selling one. Not much to them, easy to make something.


https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1452846

Mark

[dobryan]

If you remove the a/c ducting I think you will find that the plastic has fallen apart and even that plate will not help. You will need to use fiberglass and epoxy on the inside of the duct to repair it so it can be mounted again. Not hard to do if you have worked with glass and epoxy and not too hard to learn.
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Dave O
'87 Westy w/ 2010 Subaru EJ25 (Vanaru) and Peloquin TBD

"To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive." Robert Louis Stevenson

MD>Canada>AK>WA>OR>CA>AZ>UT>WY>SD
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=620646

Building a bus for travel in Europe (euroBus)
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=695371

The Western Syncro build
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=746794

[Steve Arndt]

True. Even with the reinforcement plates it still falls apart over time.
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Steve
Steve's 87 Syncro project

[VWagabond]

Had to do the same repair last year. You'll have to take the front unit loose and let hang with bungees or drop it completely, and the center sections will then drop down easily. The front section has to be loose to get the repaired center sections back up. I'd leave the rear unit in place because it doesn't repair easily and it is a bear to get back up since it is the heaviest & most awkward part to get back in place. Now if the blowers fans weren't working, the rear would have to come down. To repair the ducts, I used 3M hard plastic repair and was able to salvage most of the broken plastic pieces and glue it all back together and then used the recall brackets to reinforce the joints. If the pieces are lost, then fiberglass will probably be your best option. Reassemble from the rear forward. You'll have to have some help to get the frt center and frt sections mated and back in place so you can get the fasteners back in. I didn't have help so I used a telescoping hood prop from my old body repair days. This ain't the easiest task to start off with but you don't want it falling on passengers heads.
As for getting the system working, knowledge of how AC systems work, causes of failure and some common sense safety precautions are needed. An Auto AC book or course at the local Community College would be helpful. Also, look for the Redtek threads on the forum as there is a lot of good information there and that is probably the best recharge option available at this time.
Good Luck with these projects.
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The Road Goes Ever On & On……...
VWagabond
87 Camper GL
87 Syncro GL

[mikemtnbike]

I can send you two recall plates for the shipping costs. If you're interested, send me a PM.
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1991 Vanagon GL 2.1 AT Westfauxlia. "Frankie" Totaled https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=764510&highlight=carnage
1995 Eurovan Camper "Marzivan"
2020 GTI SE manual

[Steve Arndt]

http://www.gowesty.com/product/air-conditioning/24671/a-c-evaporator-housing-reinforcement-plates

Make some of those for the rear evaporator too. Before it breaks or falls. Hood props and pieces of wood wedged in will help hold things like mentioned above. The rear unit weights a hundred pounds and is AWKWARD so get it up before it comes down. I made some over sized washer/bolt things as I remember for the back in place of the plastic nuts along the rear.
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Steve
Steve's 87 Syncro project

[0to60in6min]

my AC duct fell off and I put it back but I didn't like the cold air blows on my forehead so I took the center and the front sections off. I like it better, the cold air is better distributed in the van. Anyway there's no AC duct on a full camper westy...

[Paulbeard]

[campism]

What he said. Our '87 had a system that was complete but blowing hot. I paid a shop $75 to check it out and they said it would take two grand to fix it. Screw that, I had nothing to lose by trying the $40 R134a conversion kit from my FLAPS and that worked. There is a small leak so I have to recharge annually but the system is good enough to take on vacation in 103F weather. A real repair with barrier hose upgrade and proper service is the right way to do things, but this is fine in the meantime.

Good luck with your fix.
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'87 Westy in Wolfram Grey Metallic, tragically crushed by a falling hickory tree in my own driveway and now gone, leaving me Vanagonless and with no plans to replace it, alas.

[Abscate]

Seller representations of prior performance of a non-working AC are up there in ranking with “the check is in the mail” and another NSFW regarding birth control.
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[drenner01]

I just came across this AC refurbish video on YouTube from Scrap Daddy's Garage. If you are looking to rebuild your AC, this is very thorough and informative...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWVq3GPSwWM
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Doug
'91 Westy Syncro, '87 Westy Weekender Syncro, '87 Tintop Syncro

"Exposure is Half the Battle"

[Red Ryder]

Tackle the overhead duct repair first. The bungee straps are best-described as “redneck engineering” and will lead to irreversible damage. As others have said, duct repair can be challenging. With its generous windows, cooling the entire van to “ice cold” temps is not an achievable goal. But we find this system delivers cold air to our front cabin very efficiently.
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“Most everyone’s mad here. You may have noticed I am not quite all there myself.” — Cheshire Cat, Adventures of Alice in Wonderland

“Scarlett” — 1990 Vanagon Carat Wolfsburg Edition (Tornado Red)
“Nigel” — 1999 Jaguar XK8 convertible (Alpine Green Metallic)