
1978 Lincoln Continental Coupe
Moderators: Basement Paul, MostMint, Fred32v, ttamrettus, wxo
Re: 1978 Lincoln Continental Coupe
Serious fun while you had it. The Hot Rod Lincoln made for a great time at the Rock! 

Fred32v
GMC Canyon Crew Cab Short Box 4x4 V6!
GMC Canyon Crew Cab Short Box 4x4 V6!
Re: 1978 Lincoln Continental Coupe
Don't think the Lincoln wants to be sold. I was taking it to get it cleaned up for a car show where I was going to park it with a "For Sale" sign on it. On the way the AC wasn't cold. WXO and I worked on it and found the refrigerant gone. Scheduled an appointment at Pep Boys to have them locate the leak. Before I got out of the neighborhood it was trailing smoke. The transmission cooler line came apart and dumped fluid on the exhaust.
Think I learned why the hose was coming off the 3/8" tubing. The Gates 3/8 Transmission Cooler hose fits quite loosely on the tubing. It actually wiggles a bit on the line. And, it compresses under the clamps after just a few days allowing the hose to slip off the line even with doubled-up, tight EFI clamps.
The lines were all removed and, by BP's excellent suggestion, a small flare was put on all ends. The flaring tool also made some small ridges in the aluminum tube which adds to the grip. After a few days, the clamps were all re-tightened. No way those rascals are coming off now.
Next stop is Pep Boys to find the AC leak.
Think I learned why the hose was coming off the 3/8" tubing. The Gates 3/8 Transmission Cooler hose fits quite loosely on the tubing. It actually wiggles a bit on the line. And, it compresses under the clamps after just a few days allowing the hose to slip off the line even with doubled-up, tight EFI clamps.
The lines were all removed and, by BP's excellent suggestion, a small flare was put on all ends. The flaring tool also made some small ridges in the aluminum tube which adds to the grip. After a few days, the clamps were all re-tightened. No way those rascals are coming off now.
Next stop is Pep Boys to find the AC leak.
Maverick
Re: 1978 Lincoln Continental Coupe
Didn't get to Pep Boys to find the leak before they closed. WXO and I have not had much luck charging the Lincoln AC for some reason. In the past, the low side was so hot it was hard to get refrigerant to go in. So, I decided to wait for cool weather to try again. Got at it with the cool weather on Monday. Low side stayed cool this time but the R134a still didn't want to go in?!?!?!?
WXO got on the Internet and learned some key info. We knew the R134a comes in two styles of cans, new and old. In the old style the can tap/adapter punctures the seal on the can nipple. The new style (which we were using) adapter/tap has a pin that opens a Schrader valve in the new style can nipple. Big advantage for new style is the ability to use part of a can and remove the tap/adapter without losing the remaining R134a.
There's an important difference is in the way the tap/adapter is used. With the old style, a pin is screwed down to puncture the seal then the pin is backed off to allow the R134a to exit the can. With the new style the pin is screwed down to open the Schrader valve in the can nipple then NOT backed off. If the new style tap is backed off the Schrader valve closes preventing the R134a to exit the can. We didn't understand this in previous attempts to charge the Lincoln and the lack of understanding was part of the problems we were having charging the AC. With the new understanding and cool weather, the charging went OK.
Picked up this leak detector from Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/LotFancy-Refrige ... 201&sr=8-4
It works but we did not find a leak. However, the charged system showed the compressor is working.
The condenser was also functioning great, hot on input and ambient temp on output.
So, even though we didn't find the leak, we learned some important things. We successfully charged the system and proved that the compressor and condenser are good.
WXO got on the Internet and learned some key info. We knew the R134a comes in two styles of cans, new and old. In the old style the can tap/adapter punctures the seal on the can nipple. The new style (which we were using) adapter/tap has a pin that opens a Schrader valve in the new style can nipple. Big advantage for new style is the ability to use part of a can and remove the tap/adapter without losing the remaining R134a.
There's an important difference is in the way the tap/adapter is used. With the old style, a pin is screwed down to puncture the seal then the pin is backed off to allow the R134a to exit the can. With the new style the pin is screwed down to open the Schrader valve in the can nipple then NOT backed off. If the new style tap is backed off the Schrader valve closes preventing the R134a to exit the can. We didn't understand this in previous attempts to charge the Lincoln and the lack of understanding was part of the problems we were having charging the AC. With the new understanding and cool weather, the charging went OK.
Picked up this leak detector from Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/LotFancy-Refrige ... 201&sr=8-4
It works but we did not find a leak. However, the charged system showed the compressor is working.
The condenser was also functioning great, hot on input and ambient temp on output.
So, even though we didn't find the leak, we learned some important things. We successfully charged the system and proved that the compressor and condenser are good.
Maverick
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