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68 Camaro gets hot air from vents

1K views 9 replies 5 participants last post by  CarlC 
#1 ·
I hope I'm posting in the correct segment..it didn't seem to fit in any other catagories so...

Anyway. I have a 68 Camaro v-8 with factory A/C..I've owned this car for nearly 14 years and it's had this problem ever since I got it and have not been able to solve it..hot air blows out of the A/C vents all the time..in the summer it gets it's very noticeble.It's totally stock with stock exh. manifolds. I've removed the evap, all the doors are fine, I've resealed the case to the firewall. I resealed the two halves of the evap case,and relpaced the drain pipe rubber...still hot air...I have a 67 with A/C that is fine. Anyone have this problem?

Thanks

Gary
 
#2 ·
I've got that problem in mine, but its probably my fault. I had done a heater core, and I guess something didn't seal, and I get HOT air seeping in during the summer. Rather than go through it all again, I got a nice looking valve to shut off flow to the core in the summer. Mine isn't origonal, or I guess I would have to fix it right! Just an idea, though.
Oh, yeah- I be sure to run with it open occasionally to keep any crud from building up.
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76 Camaro/mild 350 .030/M21/Z28 body parts/lotsa other goodies

[This message has been edited by XK1 (edited 10-25-2001).]
 
#3 ·
Yep, I had the exact same problem with mine for many years. It drove me nuts.

During restoration, here's what I did:

1) Verified that the cowl flapper valve was sealing correctly and operable.

2) Made a new seal for the kick panel flapper door. If you drill out the rivets you can make a new seal out of sheet rubber and rivet the two halves back together.

3) Re-sealed/inspected all of the doors in the heater box for proper operation and sealing. It took the better part of a day to get it really sealed well. Also note the position of the cable attachment arms are supposed to be at the travel limits. I wish I could describe it better but there is a clearish plastic component that over time warps and causes a poor seal. Until you study the airflow pathways this seal, as well as others, can easily be missed.

4) Carful adjustment of the cables so that over/under-travel of the arms does not occur.

5) Protect the engine side evaporator box from heat. All air coming out of the vents goes through the evaporator box so keeping it cool helps keep the air cool.

Since it has been back together it has worked significantly better.

What a pain.

Carl

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The Red Beast http://www.geocities.com/casanoc
 
#4 ·
I'm sure you've checked to make there is plenty of R-12 in the system, Compressor will come on even if there is no R-12, due to not having a low pressure switch in-line with the clutch electrical lead.

If suction hose is sweating all the way to the compressor, then I'd say you've got plenty of R-12. Otherwise, you might have a stuck POA valve at the outlet of evap. This was very common, allowed the compressor to cycle on&off in short cycle times, less than 2-5 seconds due tothe compressor thermal switch.

Next I'd look is to remove glove box and glove box. Move TEMP knob and see if door is really moving. There is a pinch bolt for the cable housing, it may need loosen, adjust cable for max cold, move cable to make sure door is closing all the way. Monitor air temp at vent(s). Check other cable operations, too.

CarlC gave very good tips, as well as the rest did.

Good Luck,

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Everett 68/350/PG/11.90/115mph
 
#5 ·
cavemate, have you checked you heater hose shutoff valve? They can go bad and let hot water into the heater core. It's the vacuum operated valve on the pass inner fender.
You could even disconnect the heater hoses and see if you problem goes away.

Luck, Kevin

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69' SS-350 Convert, M20, 3.55 posi. Totally Disassembled & in boxes (I'm working on it!)
69'(Hugger Orange -originally, Burgundy now) Z-21 Convert 327/PG, Driver
 
#9 ·
Carl, I was thinking about 69s, thanks for setting me straight, but if hot water is still going to the heater core in his 68, could that be causing or contributing to his problem? Maybe a small ball cock shutoff valve, that can be turned off manually for the summer?

Kevin
 
#10 ·
Kevin,

The vacuum shut-off valve is a great idea if it can be made to fit.

Since all of the circulated air must go through the hot evaporator case any reduction of heat is helpful.

After 30+ years of having a hot heater core stuffed in that box something is bound to go haywire. It does work reasonable well after all the box seals are fixed.

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The Red Beast http://www.geocities.com/casanoc
 
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