My 1991 s10 did not come with ac. it is a 5 speed i should add, i do not want to sell my truck because it is a good little ride i got for cheap, I am wondering how hard it is to swap in the A/C components. i can get all the parts at the junkyard for dirt cheap! Has anyone done this?
s10masterman
Yes, you can do the swap, but it's not an easy one, it may take a day or two. You may have to remove the passenger inner fender or the fender to swap out the plastic box for the evaporator. You will need the lines, the condenser, evaporator, box for it, correct blower motor, etc.... You will want to buy a new dryer, orifice tube, and flush anything you use that's not new.
The hardest part of ths swap, aside from the evaporator install (firewall box) is the A/C control panel in the dash. It is all vacuum operated. The regular heater controls have cable operation (IIRC).
I seem to remember having to pretty much remove the entire dash to do the job correctly, which is really not that big of a deal, but it is slightly complicated.
It usually is best to have a donor vehicle, you really need alot of parts to do the job correctly.
I seem to remember having to pretty much remove the entire dash to do the job correctly, which is really not that big of a deal, but it is slightly complicated.
It usually is best to have a donor vehicle, you really need alot of parts to do the job correctly.
If you have face vents already, you can get by with just adding a switch to turn on the a/c compressor, it won't be factory, but it'll get you a/c at least and won't be a lot of work.
Yes good point, there are three types of ventilation systems in S10 trucks.
Heat only, WITHOUT dash vents. Just floor vents and defrost vents.
Heat only, WITH dash vents and floor/defrost. (Called "deluxe heater".)
And then the trucks with factory AC which has all the vents as well.
If you have the super basic truck without dash vents, your going to need another dash or modify the current one to put the dash vents into. At that point with the dash out, minds well swap the entire HVAC box and all the ductwork, lines, and vacuum hoses.
If you have a truck with the "deluxe heater" then you can either; A: Swap in just the underhood components (AC box, compressor, lines, condenser etc) and then rig up a toggle switch inside to trigger the compressor. Or B: Remove the dash and also swap out the heater only stuff for all the AC stuff.
Option A will get you cold air, the compressor would probably still cycle as it should (?) but you won't have recirculation mode, nor will you have the options for Bi-LEVEL or MAX AC etc which is all different zones that require the under dash components to be swapped, along with the main control panel.
Heat only, WITHOUT dash vents. Just floor vents and defrost vents.
Heat only, WITH dash vents and floor/defrost. (Called "deluxe heater".)
And then the trucks with factory AC which has all the vents as well.
If you have the super basic truck without dash vents, your going to need another dash or modify the current one to put the dash vents into. At that point with the dash out, minds well swap the entire HVAC box and all the ductwork, lines, and vacuum hoses.
If you have a truck with the "deluxe heater" then you can either; A: Swap in just the underhood components (AC box, compressor, lines, condenser etc) and then rig up a toggle switch inside to trigger the compressor. Or B: Remove the dash and also swap out the heater only stuff for all the AC stuff.
Option A will get you cold air, the compressor would probably still cycle as it should (?) but you won't have recirculation mode, nor will you have the options for Bi-LEVEL or MAX AC etc which is all different zones that require the under dash components to be swapped, along with the main control panel.
Max a/c and re-circulation are the same thing, when you switch it to max, it causes the truck to circulate the air from inside. The compressor will still cycle as long as everything under the hood is wired up correctly, cycling switch and low/high pressure switches (if applicable). And most of those other settings for a/c are a joke, I guess everyone is different, but when I use a/c, I pretty much always just use face vents a/c, nothing else. THe only exception is defrost, but he would still have that even with a toggle.
Since you are installing a used system, it might be a good idea to add a filter AC Delco PN 52474432 and of course a new (and inexpensive) orifice valve. The filter could help avoid some problems due to random contamination that may be in the system.
Got all the engine bay stuff bolted in tonight. Replacing all o-rings, flushing, and charging tomorrow. Probably this weekend pull the dash and swap the rest of the components.
Couple notes...
If you have PS you already have half of the ac compressor brackets.
If you're running a 4.3 radiator you'll also need the 4.3 condenser (luckily I had one lying around)
If you have inner fenders good luck using the non ac heater core. Without inners its pretty easy.
Now to order my belt and do some wiring (need to tap the compressor clutch into the fan relay so it kicks the fan on)
Couple notes...
If you have PS you already have half of the ac compressor brackets.
If you're running a 4.3 radiator you'll also need the 4.3 condenser (luckily I had one lying around)
If you have inner fenders good luck using the non ac heater core. Without inners its pretty easy.
Now to order my belt and do some wiring (need to tap the compressor clutch into the fan relay so it kicks the fan on)
ac, PS, pulse wipers all added onto a base model truck. Also has Taurus e-fan.
The stock belt (k060810) didn't fit. I ended up needing k060819. I'm thinking the wp pulley is smaller on the fully loaded trucks for more coolant and air flow at idle. If this is the case I'm not concerned with the 4.3 radiator and electric fan.
I still haven't swapped in the ac heater box yet. Right now there is minimal airflow out the dash vents. Most is coming from floor. When I get the digital dash harness to do that swap I'll swap in the ac box and vac harness to report back. Its still cold enough to sit in traffic at 90° and still be comfortable.
Don't worry about the battery hold down. I bought the truck wrecked and the stock tray was destroyed.
I decided to swap the entire engine harness just to keep things cleaner as the clutch and switch wiring are run in the engine harness and my base harness didn't have it. Used the ecu that was in my truck as it was already a delco reman and had the same pn as the ac truck.
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