Privateer

Here's my temporary solution to my AC, or rather my ECU, problem. I wired up a switch, that provides ground to the negative side of the magnetic clutch relay. I tucked the switch into the cigarrette lighter socket. Mind you, the socket is presently inert, and the switch doesn't quite want to fit into it. But it does stay put, and I can just close the ashtray to hide it.



The other temporary change, was cutting the wire from the ecu and splicing in the wire from the switch. When I get the replacement I'll put it all back in order. here is a pic of the cut, disregard the mess, I finally managed to get my 2 gauge wire pulled through that rubber boot in the firewall.



And just for good measure, here's a few pics of my ride. Its a little rough on the bumpers, driver's seat leather, and LR door, but otherwise rides well.






When I get a little more time, I'll sand down the paint on the horizontal surfaces, take some Rage Gold and work it smooth again. Undecided if I want to match the existing color, or perhaps go another color altogether.

deanshark

I like it, gotta do what ya gotta do. One good thing I see there is you got alot of shade to work on your car, I'm jealous. Glad to see you didn't get the bad weather there. (Thoughts and prayers go out to Joplin) You're better off staying the same color paint, unless you do the whole car. But if you do it, do it right.

Privateer

We were fortunate with regards to the storms. We were watching the news, had weather.com pulled up watching the sat images, and trying not to hold our breath as we watched the storm system that impacted Joplin head right towards us. Ultimately the storm system passed south of us, and we ended up with just some high winds, and occasional hail.

As far as the shade is concerned, the trees don't overhang the drive all that much. However, the sun only manages to hit me dead on from about 10am to 1pm. So not too bad. IF I'd ever finish sorting out my garage, I'd have plenty of space to work. I even installed a couple of extra flourescent lights I had leftover to help with working at night. But hell, we've been here nearly a year, and I've still got tons of boxes to unpack. Just never seems to be the right time, or find the right place to put something. Come next winter, I may be buring a bit of 'junk'.

Now, if i can just get the valves tight enough on the AC lines, I'll be happy. I've gone through three different tools now, and they just don't quite hold up to having enough torque to completely stop the leak. I replaced all the valves, and only one seems to not want to cooperate. Namely the low pressure side, the one located just under the cruise control module. I found a more robust tool today, and hopefully that solved it. I'll know tomorrow.

Privateer

Just for closure, the AC compressor issue was resolved by replacing the defective ECU. AC blows cold, which I'm pleased about... just one caveat, the compressor makes an odd noise occasionally when starting. I'm wondering if the clutch is starting to go, because otherwise, it makes no other unusual noises.