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a/c cuts out

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Old 07-19-2011, 09:21 AM
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a/c cuts out

So my a/c will be blowing fine when idling and then as I accelerate it will cut out and bearly blow on the floor vents. Once im done accelerating and just cruising it goes back to to normal. Im thinking its something to do with vacuum tubes but I don't really know where to start. Any suggestions?
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Old 07-19-2011, 09:49 AM
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It's not the "air conditioning", it's the vents (just to clarify). This is common on the n/a models. The vent doors use vacuum from the intake manifold to open. When you full throttle the car, there is no vacuum in the intake, thus making the vent system go to default... floor & defrost.

The only way to fix this is to install a vacuum pump like the turbo model or bigger vacuum reservoir.
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Old 07-19-2011, 11:39 AM
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Sorry i didnt mention this before but mine is a turbo. So in that case would the problem be with the vacuum pump?
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Old 07-19-2011, 12:00 PM
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In that case, I imagine the vacuum pump / reservoir has been bypassed... Just follow the vacuum lines that come out of the firewall below the a/c refrigerant lines. They should go to the pump by the hood light (behind right headlight). If it goes to the intake manifold, you found the problem.
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Old 07-19-2011, 12:33 PM
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So I took a look and found one line that comes out of the firewall and goes to a pump and then there's a pump right next to it and another lines goes to the manifold. It looks like this...
*red goes to the manifold and blue goes to the firewall.*
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Old 07-19-2011, 12:36 PM
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I also tried switching those two lines to see if it made a difference and it made no difference.
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Old 07-19-2011, 12:40 PM
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The vacuum pump to the right should be making quite a racket (noise) when you have the fan on... is it?
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Old 07-19-2011, 12:57 PM
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Yeah I didn't hear anything...
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Old 07-19-2011, 12:59 PM
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Your vacuum pump is either disconnected or toast. Check the wiring plug underneath. If connected, try putting 12v to it.
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Old 07-19-2011, 01:02 PM
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Alright, thanks for all the help man.
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Old 07-19-2011, 01:18 PM
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... well i just checked the vacuum pumps and they are working. Lol could it be lines switched some where in the dash?
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Old 07-19-2011, 01:47 PM
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no but the switch that controls the vac pump could be bad. you should hear the vac pump start and run when you turn the ignitiion to run position. be sure the tubing isn't so old that it is split or somehow defective.
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Old 07-19-2011, 02:06 PM
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I can feel suction when the car is on but I can't hear them or anything when I just turn the key. And the tubes look fine, from the outside atleast haven't checked the ones inside yet.
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Old 07-19-2011, 05:00 PM
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Pull the tubes out and cut the first quarter of an inch off then put it back on. The line gets old and hard and stays stretched out. If you cut that first hardened piece of you'll make a better seal. It sounds like you are loosing vacuum along the way. I just rebuilt my entire climate control and I cut every single fitting including the butt splices back a quarter. I had to add an extra section coming in from the engine bay to the main vent unit because there wasn't enough slack to cut a quarter of an inch off every piece.

I had a leak at the pump as well and it was a quick fix by taking the first quarter of an inch of the vacuum line then putting it back on for a good seal. There are two vacuum lines going back - one for the idle speed control and one directly to the AC unit. Check the vacuum diagram on page HA-71 on the '83 diagram from www.xenonS130.com
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