A/C Compressor

While I had the van apart I took the opportunity to disassemble the a/c compressor to see how they are made. It was interesting to say the least.

The heart of the system is the eccentric plate
that drives the pistons instead of the typical
crankshaft.

The double ended piston. The depression that
can be seen is duplicated on the upper portion
of the piston and bearings that are rounded on
one side and flat on the other are seated here.

A very blurry picture of the bearings. But you
can see the rounded and flat sides of the bearing.
The rounded sides ride in the depression and the
flat side rides on the plate for smooth operation
of the pistons.

A view of the upper cylinder housing. The shaft
seal that can barely seen in this photo is far
different than that of seals in the past which
were made of a carbon ring which was the
rotating element placed on the shaft and a steel
stationary seat that was mounted on the front plate.

A front view of the valve plate.

A side view of the same plate. Just to the right
you can see the roller bearing and one of the
spacers that the bearing rode on. The bearing
is mounted on the shaft and sit against the piston
housing.

The upper valve plate mounted on the upper
piston hosing.

Two of the pistons in the cylinders.

Close up of the pistons and drive shaft assembly.

Upper and lower cylinder sections assembled.

Van Crankcase Senor

The crankcase sensor came unplugged and oh what fun that was to fix. It required that I remove the radiator the A/C compressor and the exhaust manifold. From beginning to end it took a little over 4 hours.

I spent 7 bucks for a 3/4 inch foam
insulation board to lie on the floor with. It's
softer than the floor and since it's insulation
no cold floor.

View of the engine before the fun began.

A close up of the area where the sensor is
located, which is between the radiator hose
and the rocker arm cover. You know the
thingy that the oil cap is.

This is a future project that will take 8 hours.
The knock sensor is located beneath the intake
manifold.

I had to move the box's to make room for
removing the radiator.

After some of the preliminaries you could see
where the sensor is under the exhaust
manifold. Being located under a shield is
why I had to remove the manifold to get to
it.

In order to remove the exhaust manifold
the exhaust pipe flange under the van had
to be broken loose.

After about two hours I finally reached my
goal. This is the culprit that was the source
of my inspection problems. The sensor is
unplugged.

Ain't very big is it? Especially considering
what I had to go through to get it fixed.

The Van Again

The vent control on the van had stopped working some weeks ago but with the coming of cold weather I decided it was time to replace the positioning motor that is used to direct where the flow of air is to go. When I was replacing the fan motor some time back I had noticed the control motor being located under the duct work which was great because I wouldn't have to dismantle the dash as I have had to do on other cars.

I had to start with removing the trim
that surrounds the cd player since
it covered the access to the motor at the back.

The motor is located behind the vent

outlet that can be seen in this photo.

Location of the drive motor
that I had seen before.

In order to remove
the motor I had to move over to the drivers
side to remove the screws and I found this.

A second positioning motor.
So which one is the source of my problem?
I turned on the ignition and moved the switch
that tells the motor where to go. Turns out that
this motor controls windshield, dash
and floorboard air flow direction.

The other motor controls heat and cool.

I do not know why but when I tested which motor was bad guess what, both motors now work....

Not my job to figure out why, I just put it all back together again. Now if I could just figure out why I get a phantom check engine light that has no error code.

Passing Thoughts

I was out digging in the yard and my mind started to wonder and with it being close to Christmas I found it wondering to places it had not been in a long time. My eldest son was born August 27, 1975 in Philadelphia PA. in a naval hospital, and whom we named Randal Chase, we called him Chase. I was of course a proud young father who also happened to be in the US Navy at the time. Three months after his birth I shipped out for what was to be a 6 month cruise I packed him and his mother up and sent them back home to live with my wife’s parents until I got back, well the 6 month cruise turned into an 18 month boat ride. Finally arriving back in the states I picked up my family and returned to Norfolk VA. where I was stationed until I served the rest of my time until discharged, which by this time Robin was pregnant with my next son. Who was born in October. Because of the separation that had occurred between me and Chase due to my naval obligations a bond that should have formed between us never really occurred as a father and son should. I never treated him differently from his brother there was just never a deep set closeness that existed and I never realized it.

The years passed and Robin blessed me with two more children a daughter and another son. It was the summer of 1989 and I was self employed and Chase was 11 years old and asked if he could ride with me while I worked and I told him it would be alright. As the weeks passed the relationship between us grew as he worked and rode with me from job to job. Time finally came for him to go back to school and we celebrated his 12th birthday as well. In September flu hit the house and all of the kids but Chase was sick so his Grandmother asked if he could spend the weekend with her and maybe avoid getting the bug as well, we said sure why not, so arrangements were made for her to pick him up from school that Friday afternoon. Friday morning he came into my bedroom asking for some money to by lunch with and being half asleep I told him I had some in my pants pocket to help himself. He got the money and said bye dad and I mumbled something back I don’t remember what as he headed out the door.

Saturday came and everyone in the house was fit and well the bug was gone and we had spent the day cleaning house and enjoying our selves as it was a warm and sunny September day. At around 5 that afternoon we were sitting at the table eating an early supper when the phone rang and my mother in-law blurted out screaming and crying that Chase was dead. I dropped the phone and fell to the floor with my mind reeling and trying to comprehend what it was I had just heard. Everything after that for a short while was a blur. Robin was instantly upset and asked what had happen and as I sat on the floor I could only answer in a low voice that my son was dead.

Over the next few days, weeks and admittedly to this very day many years later it haunts me that I did not tell my son that I loved him before he walked out of that room and my life forever. I do not let any of my children or grandchildren leave without making sure that I tell them that I love them in case it will be the last words I ever get say to them.

My daughter has blessed me with two Grandsons and a Granddaughter, her oldest son’s name is Brian Chase born with Cystic Fibrosis and was not expected to live past the age of seven. We were able to find a way to help him fight this disease and he is now ten years of age and doing well. Now only time will tell.

It’s not a guy thing to say I love you to your sons, but not saying it is something you don’t get to take back. But it is something I will practice until the day I die.

I wrote this on a forum that I am a member of about 2 years ago. Since then another event has occurred that was startling to say the least.

Last month Robin got a call that one of her close cousins named Sammi had hung himself and that the funeral was to be held at the grave site about 45 minutes from where we live so we made it a point to attend. He was about 3 years Robin's junior and he and his wife attended our son's funeral. There hasn't been much contact since and Robin has regretted that. After the service was over Sammi's ex wife came over to us and introduced us to their youngest son whom we had never met. His name was Nathan Chase Tannery, we never knew.

They call him Chase.

Day Trip

Robin and I took a day trip with local ghost towns in mind and did not make it to a single one.

We did come across an abandoned bridge.

Brazos River

Out in what we thought was the middle of nowhere
this young lad came running down a path under the bridge.
Being a smart alack I popped off with
"Holy cow a chain saw killer?"
Out of no where a voice replied
"Did you bring the chain saw?"
Scared the crap out of me and Robin.

The young runners dad came
walking out from under the bridge.
WHOA!

We did come across this grist mill in Glen Rose.




It was pretty cool, with a history of being used
as a local hospital for a number of years
when it was no longer a viable mill.