Broken - A/C Control Unit...Cost or Options?
08-28-2008, 11:16 AM
#1
Instructor
Thread Starter
Broken - A/C Control Unit...Cost or Options?
My a/c control unit needs replacing. Supposedly you can rebuild them? Curious what experience the community has had with this item? I have a loaner 964 unit in it's place right now. Any help is appreciated.
Shane
Shane
08-28-2008, 12:20 PM
#2
Three Wheelin'
Looks like you could send it to http://www.systemsc.com/ or http://www.ottosvenice.com. If you search under the name lorenfb, there is a lot of info on ccu's. Good luck.
08-28-2008, 12:35 PM
#3
Addict
Lifetime Rennlist
Member
Lifetime Rennlist
Member
Hi Shane,
I had some problems with mine. The fan was sometimes intermittent on big snowflake setting. I took it apart, diassembled and cleaned the push switches, and flushed everything that moves with electrical contact cleaner (be sure to get one that is safe for plastics), put it all back together, and it has worked perfectly for over a year now. I think dust and old dried grease cause problems like this. Unless the electronics in your CCU are fried, you may want to try this approach.
I had some problems with mine. The fan was sometimes intermittent on big snowflake setting. I took it apart, diassembled and cleaned the push switches, and flushed everything that moves with electrical contact cleaner (be sure to get one that is safe for plastics), put it all back together, and it has worked perfectly for over a year now. I think dust and old dried grease cause problems like this. Unless the electronics in your CCU are fried, you may want to try this approach.
08-28-2008, 03:37 PM
#4
Instructor
Thread Starter
-Update-
Used the advice in this thread as well as the search function and contacted Loren at Systems Consulting. Loren had great advice. After very little questioning on the results of my testing procedures, he convinced me my CCU was not bad and encouraged me to do more testing. Armed with the power of Rennlist I recalled a very detailed A/C Diagnosis thread. Using Brian Smith's (BS911) approach I pinpointed at least one potential problem and went out to the garage to check.
To verify vacuum -
- If present, look under dash, under ccu for rubber elbow connecting vacuum line to flap mechanism - it would most likely be unplugged due to stereo installer or other inside work bumping it free.
I had no faith this would fix my issue but it was simple to check. Pulling the CCU out I quickly noticed the rubber elbow but it had nothing inserted into the open end. I saw a small diameter white plastic tube pointed upward and guessed it needed to be inserted into the rubber elbow. Inserted into elbow and re-installed the CCU. Started the car and presto, a/c compressor cycled on, stayed on, fresh air blower blew strong cool air. A quick road test confirmed the A/C was working properly.
Back story:
Took my car in for service last week to have the evaporator core replaced because it had a leak. Prior to this service, my a/c operated normally with a charged system but over time (period of months) the refridgerant would escape and the a/c would no longer cool. I had ZERO issues with the CCU or fresh cabin air prior to this service. The only issue was the leak in the evaporator.
I picked up my car yesterday (because it was "ready"), however, shortly after leaving the shop I noticed the A/C was not cooling properly and the fresh cabin air had issues blowing properly. Dumbfounded, I called the shop. They instructed me to bring it in this morning. After many checks while I waited on the car, it was diagnoised as a bad CCU. I left fairly heartbroken that my $1800 evaporator replacement job had just turned into another $2000 for the CCU replacement. At this point, $4,000 worth of A/C repairs really had my goat. So, like any self-respecting DIYer I turned to Rennlist. Thank god I did. Problem solved. Caveat Emptor.
This place is great.
Used the advice in this thread as well as the search function and contacted Loren at Systems Consulting. Loren had great advice. After very little questioning on the results of my testing procedures, he convinced me my CCU was not bad and encouraged me to do more testing. Armed with the power of Rennlist I recalled a very detailed A/C Diagnosis thread. Using Brian Smith's (BS911) approach I pinpointed at least one potential problem and went out to the garage to check.
To verify vacuum -
- If present, look under dash, under ccu for rubber elbow connecting vacuum line to flap mechanism - it would most likely be unplugged due to stereo installer or other inside work bumping it free.
I had no faith this would fix my issue but it was simple to check. Pulling the CCU out I quickly noticed the rubber elbow but it had nothing inserted into the open end. I saw a small diameter white plastic tube pointed upward and guessed it needed to be inserted into the rubber elbow. Inserted into elbow and re-installed the CCU. Started the car and presto, a/c compressor cycled on, stayed on, fresh air blower blew strong cool air. A quick road test confirmed the A/C was working properly.
Back story:
Took my car in for service last week to have the evaporator core replaced because it had a leak. Prior to this service, my a/c operated normally with a charged system but over time (period of months) the refridgerant would escape and the a/c would no longer cool. I had ZERO issues with the CCU or fresh cabin air prior to this service. The only issue was the leak in the evaporator.
I picked up my car yesterday (because it was "ready"), however, shortly after leaving the shop I noticed the A/C was not cooling properly and the fresh cabin air had issues blowing properly. Dumbfounded, I called the shop. They instructed me to bring it in this morning. After many checks while I waited on the car, it was diagnoised as a bad CCU. I left fairly heartbroken that my $1800 evaporator replacement job had just turned into another $2000 for the CCU replacement. At this point, $4,000 worth of A/C repairs really had my goat. So, like any self-respecting DIYer I turned to Rennlist. Thank god I did. Problem solved. Caveat Emptor.
This place is great.
