Imperial AC, Stereo woes (Was Re: IML: 82 Imperial vaccuum routing forclimate control)

[Nat Hall <nathall@xxxxxxxx>]

>I guess I was too late about the warning/suggestion of not converting to R-134
>
>
> In a message dated 05/13/06 03:53:15 PM, nathall@xxxxxxxx writes:
>
>
>
> Thanks to those who replied.
>
> I spent this morning retrofitting the system to R-134a.  Lo and behold, it
> cools!  The system seems to be working as it should.
>
> Wanting to complete the project, I set out to replace the interior blower
> switch on the climate control panel (the old switch had blown and the
> blower was stuck on low). I read and saved Dick's procedure from a couple
> years ago about using a brand new switch from NAPA. As a last resort, I
> would tackle it.
>
> Luckily, I was able to find an entire working climate control cluster
> complete with fan switch that was in better condition than mine at my local
> wrecking yard from an '84 NY 5th Ave.  Apparently they use the exact same
> cluster.
>
> In the process of removing the old cluster from the Imperial I didn't
> realize I had inadvertantly pulled the vaccuum hoses that control the air
> flow direction out from where they attach to the harness.  They are all
> color coded, but I have no idea how they go back into place.
>
> Yes, I am working on getting a copy of the FSM for this car, but in the
> meantime would someone be kind enough as to give me the proper routing
> schematic? :)  Thanks!
>

Apparently whether or not to convert is a heated (no pun intended) issue.
After reading various testimonials of those who *had* converted with many
years of success, I decided it was worthwhile. IT seems the main argument
not to convert is simply that R12 cools better than R134a. After
retrofitting my '82 Imperial with a R134a system, I have to say the air
blowing from my vents is pretty icy. I imagine any difference in
temperature between the two coolants is minimal.  I'll happily spend a
couple bucks a year if I need to to recharge the system.

Anyway, back to the vaccum routing for the ATC unit.  Unknown to me, the
entire FSM for the 1983 Imperial is available online at our very website.
Using this, I was able to correctly reconnect the vaccum hosing.  I now
have a completely working AC system with a brand new blower switch. Cranked
that sucker to Max A/C with the fan blowing at hurricane force and I
thought I was going to get hypothermia.

While I had the dash apart I really wanted to find a solution to my stereo
situation.  What I did was labotomize the old defunct Quartz Lock stereo
and create my own wiring harness to adapt the AM/FM cassette from the '87
NY to the wiring in the Imperial. I didn't want to damage any of the
Imperial's actualy wiring so I chopped off all the terminals (with wire)
from the back of the Quartz Lock unit. Then I actually opened up the Quartz
Lock stereo and found a few ribbon cables and other six-pin female
terminals inside.  As fate would have it, these internal connectors just
happened to fit perfectly (well, a small amount of tweaking was involved)
to the pins on the back of the '87 stereo.  I spliced these to the
terminals I removed from the back of the Quartz Lock and wah-lah! I had
myself an 82 Imperial->87 NY wiring harness.  The hardest part was
determining what wires are what on the Imperial side.  I found a nice
breakdown in the archives here that lists what each wire does in an '81
Imperial.  The catch is, they changed a lot for wiring in the '82. Some of
the wire colors changed, and there are 4 *fewer* wires for an '82 as
opposed to the '81.  The '82 only has six speaker wires as opposed to eight
and no "Rear Amp Switch" wiring. Lucky for me, the '87 stereo says right
next to each pin what it is for so that saved me a lot of trouble. Long
story short, I got it right on the first try.  The '87 stereo works
beautifully and sounds great as long as the "Rear Amp" is turned on. It
sounds a little flat otherwise. The faceplate on the '87 is chrome so it
maches the rest of the instrumentation and you wouldn't even know it wasn't
original if you weren't one of us. ;) The cassette player was "refurbished"
some years ago when it was still in my NY, but only used a few times before
I replaced the whole deck with a CD player.  So the cassette player should
have lots of life left in it, too, always a bonus. I'm glad I didn't chuck
the Quartz Lock right away-- turns out it wasn't completely useless after
all.

As of now, all electronics and instruments have been repaired and working
great.  Interior restoration is almost 100% complete-- I just need the
armrest for the driver's door. Unfortunatley, it looks like it's part of
the whole door upholstery and will probably be hard to find.


-------------------
Nat Hall
1982 Imperial Coupe
-------------------




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