Remember that, in Fords at least, when you have your heater on the AC is also working. WHY? you ask, it lowers the humidity in the air and that makes the heater work better. As if Ford heaters NEED to work better - mine will drive me out of the car it gets so hot.
Compressor, condensor, evaportor are all common components on any refrigeration system. R-134a refrigerant can get as low as 1 or 2 degrees during the evaporation or expansion process. In the beginning...gaseous R-134a is compressed, adding heat. Then it is pumped through the condensor, which cools the compressed gas. If the pressure is high enough and the condensor cool enough, it is possible to go through a phase change to a liquid at this point. This compressed and cooled gas (or liquid) then moves through a throttle (pin hole) into the expansion chamber. It rapidly expands, and drops pressure, which results in a much lower temperature, if it goes through another phase change from liquid to gas, the temperture drops even more. You blow ambient air across the cool refrigerant, warming it (and cooling the air), and the process starts all over. With cool spring time weather, the condensor is going to work more efficiently to cool the compressed refrigerant, which then lowers the temperture during expansion. With a full charge, a good compressor, and nice cool weather, you can definitely freeze water with the AC in a car. The fridge/freezer in your house works the same way. The only difference is the compressor goes to a higher pressure, and the refrigerant sits in the condensor much longer to complete the phase change from gas to liquid. Even during the hot summer months, MAXIMUM AC temp coming out of the vents should be low 50s.
Plus......on a Maverick/Comet when the AC is on, the heater valve is shut preventing water to circulate "in" or "out" of the heater core. So....I suppose it is possible....just never heard of it before.
Is it me or does it really bug everybody else that Frank has this nasty habit of being right?:confused:
i got my new heater core installed today and "The Boy" mounted the box for me......He is such a good Boy...:Handshake i will put my ...new radiator...back in tomorrow. i had it in test fitting it and took it out to do a wiring mod. now that i have that done i can put it back..... ...Frank...
Overall it's strange, since the evaporator along with the chemical process of the refrigerant removes the heat from the air....But I guess the cool dry air traveling across the heater core could be cold enough...Interesting to say the least, I've been fixing auto a/c since I was a kid and I've never seen a frozen heater core, but since I live in the land of snow and ice (that won't seem to go away) we all use some anti-freeze Did you put some foam on the new heatercore so it doesn't rattle around?
the rubber pads that were there were still good... i glass beaded the door and plates inside the box and painted them with some ...cali. paint...(silver). put new foam seals on the doors. ...Frank...
Frank,does the heater/ac box have a door or partition seperating the heater core from the ac evaporator??? If so cold air could be leaking into the heater side of the box through the blend air door(for the defrosters)causing your unusual predicament.Make sure all the doors/controlls on the box are doing what they are supposed too when you select a particular mode and closing properly when they are supposed too.Very interesting problem you have there.
who knows, franks new radiator could melt down if his condenser works as well as his evaporater LOL. i live in the south and work on air conditioning pretty often and have never heard of this before. probably the reason PO took compresser off my 69.5 LOL.
I too think that this could and most likely did happen.........Most heater cores I've cut open have revealed this along with debris ofGunk's Solder Seal or some form of Bar's Leak in there.
