a/c on '86 series

Dave from MN

Well-known Member
How hard is it to work on IH a/c systems? I have a 1086 that works good but loses refrigerant rather quickly, I wouls like to just convert it to 134a as the tractor has all been overhauled and mechanically new. I also want to get the a/c in the 986 and my 1420 working. Everything is complete. I am a good mechanic, but my ih books have no A/c instructions in them. Would like to do as much as posssible myself. I have a shop close by that has all the test gauges I would need.
 
I know they can get expensive to work on and leaks are hard to find. Thats about it.

I would reccomend for you though to check out Envirosafe R12 replacement refrigerants. Price is the same as 134. The 134 swap will blow cool air but struggle to keep up when you really need it.
 
Often times requires all new hoses and pipes. The ones going up through the cab rust out. Hose kits are available and also kits to replace the original york compressor with a sanden. Lots of different ways of doing things.
 
Reading your post I have a question, when you say that your 1086 looses it's refrigerant charge rather quickly, are you talking hours, days, weeks, or months?
 
Well, within 5 days of it getting 2 cans of ref, it no longer had enough to operate and the ref light came on in the ca, and it would not cool at all
 
The first place i would check for a leak is at the compressor shaft seal, or the suction/discharge fittings on the compressor head.
 
Believe me, there is no one place they leak. Sure the compressor is a logical place to check, but at the age of that tractor, it can be in so many places no one here can tell you. You just have to find the leak or all leaks. I gave up on dye. I use my sniffer and visual inspections. Some use high pressure nitrogen. Just don't use stop leak of any kind. Remember also, R-134 can leak right through old hoses. New hoses have a barrier in them . Old hoses do get impregnated with oil and not leak, and then you flush the old oil out and they leak. Leave the old oil in they sludge up . The fun of air cond.
 
If your system is going flat in 5 days you have a bad leak. I'm sure that I'm going to have people throwing rocks at me, but what I do, when I'm looking for a bad leak is to pressurize the system with compressed air. I hook a fitting up to my shop air hose and open it up to pressureize the entire system to 140 lbs. I then get a spray bottle full of soapy water and start spraying down the system, all the fittings, hoses, connections, condenser, and everything you can gain access to. You are watching for air bubbles. Once you find and fix the leak you need to pull a vacuum, and make sure that your system holds that vacuum for 30 minutes. I then would replace the receiver dryer, pull full vacuum again, before recharging. The point is you need to find where it's leaking, so you know what needs to be replaced. Good luck
 
i agree with bill it will cool on R134 but nearly as cold as it did on R12. I cut hay in the hot summer (90-100 degrees)with our 186 and when you start to think its not working very well about that time you have to get out and fix something then get back in and it sure feels better than outside. because i have a small leak i like the fact i can buy and add a can or 2 a year myself so i wont change my back.
 
Even after replacing all the hoses, o-rings, recever dryer, and expansion valve on several tractors in the shop we were still having problems with leakage. As it turns out when you convert to 134A the front seal in the york style compressor doesnt make the grade. We tryed replacing the seal and normaly the shaft was pitted up from rust so we replaced the compressor with new, same problem. AP Air offers a conversion with a jap compressor that cured our problems.
 

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