More musical cars,

Around and around they go.

The End of Summer edition.

My Wife took off with a few friends for a multi day Girl's Trip in the Flex. This gave me an empty right half of the driveway.

I had swapped out the '96 and the '06 Mustangs back in June, so that I could get a new set of tires on the '06. I have also wanted to drive it more. We had just returned from a trip up to Tahoe, and while the car ran fine, I don't know how I feel about the car. I like it, but I don't like it that much.

Now I wanted to take the '96 Mustang out, I need to put some more miles on it. It is due for a smog check in November, along with its registration renewal. I usually park the Navigator on the right side of the driveway so I had to move it before switching out the Mustangs. I don't like to just start and move a car that's been sitting for weeks, so I let the Nav idle in the drive long enough to warm up completely.

It's still one of my favorite cars.

The '96 needs to be driven, since I've got to sort it out soon. Earlier this year the CEL had lit up. I checked the codes and it advised of a problem with the oxygen sensor heating element. I knew that I'd have to deal with that issue before renewing the registration. When I backed it out of the garage, the CEL was not on. It had gone off on it's own, but it will usually come back on after a while. The CEL tends to get ignored if it stays constantly on, so the manufacturer made sure that it will return if the condition is not addressed. 

I put in half a tank of premium gas and decided to see if it would improve with use. I was curious about the Lincoln MKC that I'd seen on CL, so I drove up to Hayward to check it out. I lowered the top of the '96 and cruised up to Mission Blvd.

It was a warm but not oppressively hot day. Top down weather is rapidly approaching, Fall and Spring are the best seasons for open air motoring. 

The '96 is always pleasant and relaxing to drive. I found the car lot selling the Lincoln on Mission Blvd. Hayward is sort of the Used Car Capitol of the South Bay, there are endless lots located next to each other for miles and miles.

it looks just as good in person.

The MKZ looked as good in person as it did in the ad. I really liked the nice blue color, so many of these are a shade of metallic grey or silver. The interior, which was in amazingly good condition, looked like new. Unfortunately it was black leather, I would have preferred a tan or light grey interior, but it's not a deal breaker. It is spacious for me in the driver's seat, and has a large trunk. I have reached the point where I can accept the push button transmission controls. 

I'm curious to try the turbo four engine, especially after driving the MKC earlier this Summer. I liked the way that car drove. I've read that the fuel economy is very good, and I haven't heard terrible things about it's reliability. Overall the MKZ is a pleasing car, and I really don't need to buy another SUV at this point, the Flex is our everyday driver. I think that my Wife would love a car like the MKZ, it is a fancy luxury car that is a bit smaller than our '94 Seville.

The next day, after I parked the '06 in the garage, I decided to take the Navigator out for a spin. I had to run by Whole Foods store  downtown, then I wanted to check out a Cadillac XTS for sale on a San Jose used car lot. I would finish up with a visit to Barnes and Noble in Santa Clara. The Cadillac was listed by one of those brokers that doesn't have a car lot, they only list the suite number. I drove by and didn't see any Cadillac around. 

I rarely buy any new magazines, so I also spent time at Barnes and Noble browsing the DVD collection. I'd have to find something really special if I was going to spend forty bucks on it! There are lots of inexpensive used DVDs offered at Rasputin's Records and Twice Read Books.

Since I still had time before the Flex would be back, I uncovered the Riviera in preparation for pulling it out of the garage, to put some miles on that car.

The Riviera came out for a drive on the hottest day of this Summer. The weather prediction was for 100+ heat. The day did not disappoint. My car was just about the only one with it's windows open, everyone else had their a/c on. Then, while I was driving, the fan started to blow hot air out the vents! It seemed to vary in volume as if the unit was trying to regulate the temperature. Since I wanted to give it a chance to work through some of it's functions I decided to let it run and observe what would happen. 

For the most part, I don't miss driving without a/c on most days, which are only in the high 80 degree range. My Wife cannot stand it, which is okay since she seldom rides in the Riviera anyway. The thought occurred to me that maybe the valve that controls the coolant flow to the heater could be stuck open, though modern a/c systems usually keep the heater core hot to aid in dehumidifying the air. The core is only cut off when the system is operated in the max position. The air control flaps are supposed to isolate the heater in normal operation. 

The Riviera ran fine, and it has not displayed any problems with the cooling system, even though I have driven it quite a bit during the last two heatwaves. 

It takes a bit of effort to keep the cars in constant driving rotation. I have written about this in prior posts. I also mentioned the need to generate new content. I don't see any way that I'm going to add another car to the fleet, though there may be some changes coming in the line up. 

I drove the '96 Mustang to the local OReilly's to get a quart of oil. While I was there I also checked their prices on oxygen sensors for the car. I got into a conversation with the young counter guy. He showed me some spacers that could be used to "fool" the OBS system. They looked like the old spark plug extenders that were used to reduce spark plug fouling. They might fool the system, but I don't think that they'd pass a smog test. I mentioned that I would rather fix it right to get it ready for sale. 

He expressed some interest in the car, which he could see parked outside and asked how much I was asking for it. I've been considering this for quite some time. While I could be flexible on the price, I wisely responded with a price that would cover the cost of the repairs and leave me with some wiggle room. I told him that I wanted three grand. 

He did not act like the price was too high, in fact he wondered why it was so low. I told him that I'd owned the car for over fifteen years and that it had pretty high mileage. Then I told him about all the repairs and maintenance I'd performed over the 65+ thousand miles that the car had been in my ownership. 

We went outside to look at the Mustang and he was impressed by the cleanliness and good condition that it was in. Most of these old SN95 Mustangs offered at this price are usually thrashed. We exchanged contact information and he said that he would keep in touch. 

We'll see.

I have been kind of burned out on C&C events, but I think that I'll head over to Ronnie's Get Together on Saturday morning. I can take the '96 Mustang and stick a "for sale" sign in the window. Maybe there will be some interest?

I had received a couple of e mails from ROA members in the Sacramento area, I told them that maybe we could get together at an event in the North Bay, perhaps around Concord. I had pretty much left this effort for dead, but maybe there's a little life still there. 

My other thought was to put the Navigator in the front of my driving rotation next month. I'll probably be using it for my Wife's craft vending during the holiday season. I'll have more thoughts about the Navigator in future posts.

 Most Hot Rodders are into more than just old cars.

Pat with his '47 Chevy parts car.

Who would have been surprised by that?

Pat Ganahl wrote an editorial on this subject, many years ago in March of 1978, when he was about to take over as the editor of Street Rod magazine.

He commented on a copy of Drag Racing magazine from 1959. The announcer that was the M/C of the event, would provide the elapsed times of the racers, but would also entertain the crowd with tidbits of background information about the race drivers. One of the most interesting bits of information was what the occupation of the racer was during the week. This was back when drag racing was an entirely amateur event.

Car people come from every walk of life.

Pat recalled that the mayor of the City of Industry, a small southern California city south of Los Angeles, campaigned a successful drag car for many years. 

Others that built hot rods or drag racers led busy lives with families and demanding occupations. Actually anything that would earn a livelihood can be considered a demanding occupation. The cars were a passionate interest, of course, but they were relegated to hobby status. Other aspects of their lives took precedence. Anyone with kids doesn't need to be told this.

There are some folks that are professional car people. They work in auto related industries; classic car dealers, restoration shops, specialized machine or mechanics shops. Body and painting, and upholstery businesses. They may specialize in antique or vintage cars, or deal primarily with modern day vehicles.

At one time the stereotypical hot rodder was a young single male that that spent all their time and money messing around with old cars. They would invariably age out of the sport, as they got a steady job or career, got married and raised a family. 

They might return to the hobby at a later date. The hobby of street rodding has evolved into a more family friendly activity.

The old car community is primarily made up of hobbyists, people that mess around with old cars for fun. A large number of them are serious DIYers. They will tackle many difficult technical jobs because they enjoy the challenge, and like the feeling of accomplishment that comes from completing the job in the correct manner. It also helps keep the expenses of the hobby somewhat in check.

Even people that are involved in the old car business as a livelihood, usually have other interests. Most people do. Generally the interest in the old car hobby has to be balanced against other life pursuits.

Car people don't have to maintain cars as the sole interest in their lives.

Pat closed out the column by saying, "Nobody expects street rodder's to eat, sleep, and breathe old cars. We're just expected to have fun with them!"

Content creators in the automotive blogosphere however, have a particular problem; content! They need to constantly come up with new material for their blogs, which means that they have to be constantly thinking about cars. That leads to the need for constant action; doing something with their current cars, and it makes them continue to add new and different cars to their stable as one way to provide this new content.

Many successful bloggers have started out covering their own vehicles and situations, then transition into a format that covers a succession of "new" cars.  

This Hoovie, of Hoovies garage,
you may have heard of him.

He's gotta stay busy.

Guys like Hoovie, maintain a constant stream of different vehicles, this process is baked into the program. These different cars provide situations that will develop more continuing content.

While I'm nowhere close to being in Hoovie's league, I've still got a similar problem. I just finished up a twenty installment series of posts for a large old car web site. I was glad to do it. It was fun, and I like the opportunity to improve upon my writing skills. Finding a larger audience is also a big plus, but it took up a lot of my time and energy. That took it away from my efforts with this blog.

This blog is my product, and I'm very proud of it. I managed to keep producing it for over ten years with regular weekly posts. 

I usually cover three general areas: My work on my own cars, my recollections and memories, and my ramblings about the hobby industry. 

I usually haven't covered shows or events that I attend. I did post photos from the Bering Museum, the Petersen Museum, as well as a British car show I attended in Clovis. I attend Cars & Coffee events frequently, but I haven't photographed any cars there. This is an avenue that I might develop further in the future. 

This is not a job for me, in the sense that I don't derive any income from my writing. Truthfully, I don't know if I could develop a large enough readership that would provide me with any kind of income! 

However, the internet has allowed everyone the opportunity to express themselves, present their ideas, and  showcase their talents in different fields. There is no requirement that the product be good, or even worthwhile! This has it's good, and bad points. It's significant, as it doesn't keep people from giving it a try. All someone needs is a smart phone, or a lap top, and they can be off and running. 

While I enjoy writing, I don't think that I'd like to provide articles to other sites as a freelancer. I'm retired, and I don't want to be saddled with deadlines. But I might enjoy it if I could add something to the discussion. 

The need to generate new content is a nagging concern, maybe not really nagging, this is a voluntary production after all. I'm going to dedicate more time towards producing this content. I used to get an idea for a new post and jot down the main idea, then flesh it out with a few sentences. Then I'd let it percolate on the back burner of my mind, and revisit it and continue to develop it into a full post. I had several of these unfinished posts constantly simmering for a long period of time. I don't enjoy having to rush to put something together for a self imposed deadline. 

I got to thinking awhile back; what will I do if the well runs dry, and I can't come up with anything new? Would this spell the end of my blog? 

I've seen many blogs that died out over time, I suppose for various reasons. Some due to lack of enthusiasm of the producer, some due to lack of the enthusiasm of the audience. Sometimes the producer's interest shifts towards another direction. Many more due to issues of the producer, primarily health and financial problems. It takes quite a bit of time to maintain a blog. Even a weekly updated site requires quite a few hours behind the keyboard. If this time cut into the time needed for gainful employment, I could predict which would have to go. 

Luckily I'm still enjoying the process, so I will carry on.

Sometime you need to put down the parts and tools
 and pick up the guitar.

 More comparison shopping; The 2018 Lincoln  MKZ.

This color really highlights the design.
Asking price is 11,460.00 with 128,000 miles.

What can I say, I like to look at cars.

First off, why couldn't they have given this thing a real name?

Well, it used to be called the Zephyr. 

These, along with the MKS, and the even shorter lived Continental, were the final versions of Lincoln's concept of the luxury sedan. Changing tastes in the marketplace led to a narrowing of the sedan market. Luxury coupes had already died, almost twenty years ago. 

I was a die hard luxury coupe fan for many years. I preferred them over sedans, but now I have to say that I prefer the luxury SUV over the sedan. There is just so much more added functionality and utility to that type of vehicle. 

But I already have a couple of large SUV/CUVs. I will probably keep my Flex for many more years. However I'm interested in finding something that will return better fuel economy.

I am somewhat curious about the smaller SUVs with the turbo four engines. I test drove a Lincon MKC, and I was pretty impressed. 

The MKZ uses a turbo four similar to the MKC as the base engine.
Iv'e read that it can get 30 mpg.

I once had a vehicle that regularly returned over 36 mpg. consistently. It could even be feather footed to return 42 mpg. on occasion. This was a brand new vehicle at the time, a '90 Honda Civic SI coupe. I don't think that there are vintage cars that could come close to this fuel economy.

It would be kind of silly to add an MKC to my fleet, that would make three SUVs, so I think that I'll consider an actual car this time.

The MKZ was not as popular as the Cadillac CTS or XTS, and it has been out of production for several years, so this has lead to quite a bit of depreciation, as most people don't want to buy an "orphan." But Ford built plenty of Fusions, the MKZ's platform mate, so mechanical parts supply is assured. 

Of course, they don't "make" any 2018's anymore, for that matter, so every used car is kind of an orphan.

I really like the sleek fastback roof line.

The rear view is clean and daring.

I have been doing my research, watching video reviews on YouTube. Styling is a personal thing, but I've always liked the sleek design of this car. Especially the roof line and the cool, futuristic looking rear end and tail lamp. In 2017 Lincoln gave it a Continental style grille, which added a lot of appeal.  

I will often mistake these for a Continental
 when I see one in traffic.

The interior is rich looking, but is more subdued looking compared to a Cadillac. Understated would be the best description.

I've come to terms with the pushbutton transmission controls.

The interior is nice but not flashy.

I always think of this car as being kind of small, but it is actually mid sized, (194 in.) and only six inches longer than my '06 Mustang, (188 in.). It is 13 inches shorter than my '97 Riviera, which still fits comfortably in my garage.

Anything is better than a Mustang back seat.

Again, better than a Mustang.

There is plenty of room in the back seat. The rear seats also fold down to increase luggage space. Much more useful than my Mustangs. It's not a convertible, but is available with a standard or panoramic moon roof. I'd prefer the standard sunroof option on an older car.

A moon roof adds a lot of light.

Being a newer car it has lots of nice stuff; navigation, back up camera, HID headlamps, and more. I hate to say that I've gotten used to having those items. It also would be very quiet and smooth riding, unlike my Mustang. This example has what I think are some really cool looking wheels, no need to add aftermarket custom rims! 

I like 'em!

The car is full of nice touches like that. Note the side running light integrated into the wheel opening.

This would be a very comfortable long distance cruising car, exactly what I appreciate. 

I just returned from a multi day, 600 mile trip with my Wife in my '06 Mustang. First, we went up to Sebastopol, to drop off some donated materials at a quilt store that my Wife likes. The trunk and back seat were completely crammed full! Then we back tracked down US101 to catch 80 eastbound to head up to Lake Tahoe. We cut across to Highway 50 to reach Lower Lake Tahoe. It had gotten late, and after passing Placerville, the remainder of the trip was made in darkness. Luckily the Mustang has pretty good headlights, and it handled great on the twisty road. I am somewhat familiar with this road, but it looks different in the dark! My old eyeballs were not as good, and I used the high beams as much as I could to follow the road. This portion of the trip was pretty tiring. 

The exhaust note, which is usually not objectionable, also got to be a bit much. The stiff ride also didn't contribute to my relaxation. If I had finished the trip during daylight hours, I probably wouldn't have minded the rough ride and exhaust note so much. Gas mileage averaged a bit over 23 miles per gallon. 

Would the MKZ have been a more relaxing ride? Probably. Is the MKZ an old man's car? 

Yes, but then again, I am an old man.

Maybe I'd just like something newer and nicer. Hopefully something that I would have to do any work to.

 

2014 XJL Would I ever buy another Jag?

The MKZ reminds me of the last of the Jaguar XJ sedans. The styling is very similar, very swoopy, but the Jag's rear end is a lot heavier looking. But there's no comparison when it comes to reliability. The Lincoln is no Lexus, but it's miles ahead of the Jaguar!

While bigger, it looks a lot like the Lincoln.

Both share a big chrome grille.

That's why this beautiful 2014 Jag is priced only a bit over the MKZ at 16,000 dollars with 48,000 miles.

Of course, I'm only window shopping. It would take some selling and financing to finagle a newer car like the Lincoln. I happen to have some free time this weekend, I think that I'll go take an in person look at the Lincoln, and maybe even the Jaguar. I may be old enough to know better, but sometimes I still feel young enough to do it anyway!

 More comparison shopping.

The Cadillac name is something that still holds a lot of appeal for me. I've owned several vintage models and a couple of cars that were only a few years old when I purchased them. Vintage models still hold a lot of interest for me, though I know that they are quite large and require a lot of storage space. They are also very old fashioned in their driving dynamics and in their high fuel consumption. But they have that glamorous Fifties and Sixties style which can't be replicated. 

Of course they are now pretty expensive, and any example is likely going to need more work and expense to sort them out and re-commission them.

Couldn't a later model provide some of that swagger at a lower price point?

Besides that, this could be a car that I could regularly drive and enjoy. Hopefully just requiring normal maintenance and repairs, no restoration needed!

In doing my research, I recently inspected a 2017 Cadillac CTS Sport AWD with a V6 engine at a local used car lot.

I really like the face of this car.

It sports a "California Rake."

The car has an unmistakable RWD profile.
Note how far the front wheels are ahead of the windshield.

This gold colored example is not the car that I inspected. It was from an earlier CL listing located in Modesto. The dealer selling the car took a lot of good photos. It is a 2014 model, equipped with the base engine, a 2.0 turbo four. I surprised myself, in that I actually liked the gold "ish" color.

This slightly newer example is a higher content model.
It was located on San Jose's Stevens Creek Blvd.

It is finished in White Pearl with a black leather interior
 with carbon fiber trim.

The CTS was somewhat unique in the Cadillac line up. It is a mid sized, RWD based platform, which shares a lot of DNA with the Chevy Camaro. It is larger than the ATS, though the ATS, also RWD, has the distinction of offering the only Cadillac coupe. The CTS carried that model for several years. There was even a second gen station wagon.

These have been around for quite a while.

The CTS debuted Cadillac's Art and Science design themes, in 2003, and the initial models were very angular and flat planed in style. The interior was lacking a bit in richness. There have been three generations before the name change to CT5.

The interior was nice enough, but still a little too "plasticky" looking.

The second gen arrived in 2008, and the styling was more curvaceous and the interior definitely looked more upscale. I feel that it started the trend towards the "road locomotive" appearance best displayed by the current Escalades. Not a bad look, it certainly is in line with earlier Cadillac's bold styling themes.

I prefer this style better than the original.

The coupe was stylish but the looks were polarizing.
It certainly wasn't the return of the Coupe de Ville.

A definite step up.

The third generation debuted in 2014, it has a more athletic and richer appearance. The navigation screen is a bit small and it was not standard equipment yet.

Now, That's more like it!

The 2014 and newer models have the kind of interior that I like, with a more exciting modern design, combined with a nice use of wood trim. They also have retained a console mounted shift lever, no push buttons... yet.

There are a lot of CTS models to choose from, prices are quite reasonable for earlier models, but of course it is important to find a well maintained and preserved example. There are also many combinations of rear wheel, or all wheel drive configurations in the later versions. 

The later models are available with a wide variety of engines. The base turbo four, the natural aspirated V6, and the twin turbo V6 models. The V sports models are ferocious performers, but even the base models provide adequate levels of driveability. 

As a used car buyer, I usually prefer the less complex arrangements, I'd choose a RWD, base V6 engine equipped example. Though I am curious about the turbo fours, could they return high fuel economy numbers? Especially under my feather foot?

Lately I've been concentrating my interest on later models, as I prefer to find a late model car in good original condition with low mileage. I want to choose a car that I can use and enjoy, and that still has a lot of life left in it. 

From everything that I've read, the newer CTS models are quite a good driver's car. It compares very favorably to a BMW. There was a lot of development done at Germany's famed Nurburgring. I think that these are very good cars and well worth considering as a purchase. I have sat inside the 2008 and 2014 models and they are fine for four passengers and their luggage. They are not quite as roomy as my old '94 STS.

These later model cars, especially those post 2014, are quite a bit more expensive than my usual old car budget. The latest models are selling for around 15,000 to 20,000 dollars. But I would expect a car like this to be usable as a daily driver. Since I am also seriously considering cutting down on the size of my hobby car fleet.

But would a late model Cadillac really fulfill what I'm looking for? As nice as they are, aren't they just "used cars?"

Isn't the point of being a car enthusiast to own and preserve something that is special?

I have a former co worker who has a Dodge HellCat as well as a Camaro SS, both either purchased new or almost new. He told me that he takes them to Cars and Coffee events. They are newer, but they are what we used to call "special interest" models. There have always been interesting new cars, either sports or low production specials, that had a lot of enthusiast interest from the time they were introduced.

The easiest way for a car to be considered to have special interest to enthusiasts, is to be an old car. Once they have disappeared from the roadways and are not a common sight, that alone will add interest. 

Do I really need a car that I can take to Cars and Coffee events? Well, I already have one. My Riviera is not that old, but it is kind of rare and seldom seen. I suppose that I can have other cars that do not have special interest. I will definitely be looking for later models cars to replace my hobby cars in the future.

As always, looking is almost as much fun as buying, and a lot cheaper.

Thinking about automotive a/c Part Two.

This photo was taken during the Navigator re-test.

I had the a/c in my truck flushed and recharged, but I wasn't satisfied that there was a substantial improvement.

I felt that the a/c wasn't cooling enough, before the recharge, but I didn't have a base line measurement to compare it with after the service.

My complaint was that the a/c wasn't cooling enough when the temps were above 90 degrees, or higher. It should have still cooled the air, but my truck is 17 years old. It's never had the a/c serviced since the compressor seized up right after it was out of warranty! The entire system was replaced, and was working satisfactorily until just recently. 

So I googled, how cold should my car's a/c get? There was some conflicting info. One site said that the a/c has to be 20 degrees cooler than outside air to be effective. Another site came right out and said that the temp of a properly functioning a/c should be between 35 and 45 degrees. That is pretty cold.

I watched several videos on the web about how to measure a/c performance. It was pretty easy, use a probe type thermometer, stick it in the vents, and measure the temp. Even if it isn't super accurate, it will give me a reference point.

On the afternoon that I performed my tests the ambient temperature was 85 degrees. 

So I tested the a/c in my truck first. I closed all the dash vents and stuck the probe in the center vent.  The results varied: 48.6, 46.4, 45.0, 42.4. This was after I had cleaned the condenser. 

Then I tested the Flex, I assumed that my newest car should be pretty good at cooling the air. I haven't had any complaints about the a/c. The results were 41.2 and 40.6. That didn't seem to be much better than my truck.

I knew that the Navigator couldn't handle temps over 90 degrees. I had taken it to the Santa Rosa area on a weekend getaway where temps were 105 degrees. It just didn't get cool enough. On the drive home as I approached the Bay Area, temps were in the low 80s and the a/c felt much more effective.

I decided to test the Navigator just as it was.

results of the first test.

The results were 63.5, 60.1, 59.5. 60.8 and 62.1

Bugs.

Yeah, the condensor was a bit dirty.

There were some bugs and dirt on the surface.

The shop vac with brush attachment will clean the surface
without damaging the coils.

First, I used a brush attachment on my little shop vac to remove a small deposit of leaves and a few smashed bugs

After that, I blew through the core with compressed air.

Having a big shop compressor comes in handy.

Then I sprayed a diluted mixture of Castrol Super Cleaner on the core, and let it sit for ten minutes.

I used a spray nozzle on the garden hose to flush the coils, and followed that with more compressed air to blow that water out and dry off the engine a bit. I wasn't going to replay my mistake that I had made with my truck! 

The condensor looks a bit better.

I started the engine and let it run to dry off the radiator and engine area. 

Then I retested the a/c to see if there was any improvement, and there was! Look at the gauge, up to a 10 degree lower reading!

Any improvement is welcome.

The radiator area of the '06 Mustang is not as accessible as my other vehicles. My visual inspection didn't reveal any junk blocking the condenser. I first used compressed air to blow through the core. Then I used the cleaner and rinsed the condensor off. Moe compressed air dried the area. The initial test results were pretty good; 38.8, 39.9, 37.2. 40.6, 41.0, and 39.4. This was the best performance of all my cars!

You might be wondering why the temps vary. It's not like the a/c compressor runs continually. On most modern cars the a/c compressor cycles off and on. On many cars, the a/c compressor will cut out when the engine is idling, or if the engine temp gets too hot, or the engine is racing during acceleration. Also, remember that my procedure was kind of crude, but at least I used a digital thermometer! 

The performance should be better when the car is in motion and air flow is increased. 

The takeaway from my experience is that the best thing is to periodically clean the condenser and radiator. It can help a marginal performing system work well enough to get through the Summer. 

When the a/c in your car is not working as well as it used to, you shouldn't ignore the problem. Systems will lose some refrigerant over time, and over the years it makes quite a difference. If there is a substantial drop in system pressure, a switch will cut out the compressor clutch, so that the system is protected. The refrigerant not only provides the cooling, it also lubricates the compressor, So if the system completely fails to work, there might be a leak. My '96 Mustang had a leaking a/c hose early in my ownership. They were both replaced and the system was charged back up. It's still working after ten years, but I haven't had the chance to test it yet.

Working a/c in a car is a big deal, it adds so much to the comfort of the driver. It makes an old car really useful for the owner.

My Riviera HVAC system isn't working at all. Part of the problem is that the digital control panel doesn't appear to be working. I can't read the numbers or control settings. The fan doesn't work in the vent or defroster settings. I plan to change out the blower control resistor module and look for a rebuilt control panel. I've already replaced both of those components with used items from a wrecking yard, without success. I also pulled the blower out and found that it worked fine. 

The shop that I used for my truck might be a good place to get work done, but I'm still a bit leery. I might retest my truck and then return to ask what else could be wrong. The blower and vents work correctly.  

Further investigation will be needed, before I let the shop work on my Navigator.

 Maybe I'm really not a car guy, Part Three

Iiit's baaack!

Chewing the same buffalo fat, over and over,... again.

I was at Barnes and Noble and was checking out the magazine racks, though I seldom buy any magazines anymore.

As I was searching the titles, I encountered a guy and we began a conversation about cars. 

He asked what kind of car I owned.

Later he asked me what car I would like to own. 

He told me that he had his collector cars stored in a country property and that they had been lost in one of the recent big forest fires. 

He had two Lincoln Mark IIs that were burned and another car was lost at a body shop in the same area. 

Worst of all, he'd also lost his home and ranch.

I'd read about some serious collectors who had suffered similar losses, and it seems to me that he was one of those serious collectors.

He was now living in Santa Clara while his legal battle with PG&E and the insurance company played out.

As our conversation progressed I asked him if he was familiar with the AACA forum. thinking that he might be a member.

He replied that he had belonged to the Lincoln Continental Owner's Club. He said that he didn't follow any online forums.

I thought that it was funny that he didn't belong to, or follow any online forums. He told me that he didn't know how to use a computer well enough to go online. He did say that he watched programs on Motor Trend TV. 

I thought that was kind of strange. Even I know to negotiate the web well enough for my purposes!

I asked him if he had any grandchildren that could help him with that, and he said no. 

He started to offer me advice on which cars would be a good buy, he said. "you could find a nice Lincoln Mark II or Continental for less than fifty thousand dollars." I laughed and said,"Maybe, but fifty thousand dollars is a lot of money to me." He seemed kind of puzzled by my saying that, I guess he expected me to have that kind of money to play around with. 

I told him that I had a blog, and my emphasis is on participating in the car hobby in a manner that is comfortable for the individual. Usually at a lower price point.

My point is that everyone should participate in the car hobby at a level that they are comfortable at. 

The '40 LaSalle that I was interested in, and went to see, has been relisted on CraigsList once more. 

I hadn't forgotten about the car, I'd replayed several scenarios of what owning that car might mean to me. This would be a car that would not be a daily driver, it would probably only be taken to Cars and Coffee events and shows. I really don't know how much I would drive it, it is important to me that it can fit into the garage. I wouldn't want it parked in the driveway.

I got to thinking about my '70 Mustang coupe, that I fixed up about five years back. It was a simple, basic, no tech car, that was easy to work on and had great parts support. It was a simple as a '54 Ford or a late 40's Ford, for that matter. It was much the same as an early 1960's stripper. The only options had been an automatic transmission and power steering. The LaSalle is at a slightly lower technological level, it has a manual transmission, but doesn't even have turn signals, seat belts, or tempered glass windows. 

Some might consider it kind of a death trap.

Would I actually be happy owning and driving a car like that? Would I even drive it?

I had my old cars back in the early 1970's; my '57, '64, and '70 Cadillacs. The '70 was a late model car, but the '57 as well as the '64 were already pretty old, but I thought of them as "modern cars" and I drove them as such, at regular freeway speeds. 

I sold my '70 Mustang because I got tired of it. It didn't seem to offer any intrinsic traits or appeal that outweighed it's Spartan equipment level, or its poor driving experience.

It would be awful to buy that LaSalle and then discover that I hated driving it.

I'm thinking that if I really want a Cadillac again. I'm going to look for something around ten years old. 

It's lucky for me that I don't have the money to buy the LaSalle laying around. Instead, I'd have to get serious and sell a few of my cars, starting with my '06 Mustang. It's the only one that will bring in a little money. I'd have to make some hard choices. I'd have to do the same to buy the newer Cadillac, but I'd be buying a car that I know that I'd love to drive. 

I remember when these were new. 
Guys were ecstatic when they bought them!

There have always been lots of enthusiasts that bought new, or almost new cars. They bought the muscle cars and the latest versions of the Pony Cars, back in the '60's and '70s. I remember how happy guys I knew were when they could afford to buy a new Trans Am! Or they bought little imported sports cars. Or a shiny new Harley Davidson! However, there were always traditionalists that stuck with old time hot rods and Fifties models. 

Of course, the benefit of buying a new car is that it is something that you can drive and enjoy- right now! No rebuilding needed. 

So maybe my time with old cars came to an end back in the mid 1990's. I had my '66 Riviera, '56 Cadillac, and even a '22 Dodge hot rod project. Most of my other cars since then have been ten to fifteen years old. The important thing was that I was still having fun with my cars. Actually, I'm still having fun with my current collection of cars.

I think that still qualifies me as a "car guy."

 Thinking about automotive air conditioning. Part One.

The old fashioned "hang on" swamp cooler. This one looks pretty spiffy!
photo from web.

To be more specific, thinking about the a/c in my vehicles.

The hottest days of Summer are here, and it is now that you'll focus on how effective your cars a/c system is working. What seemed adequate in 80 degree weather isn't cutting it at temperatures of over 100 degrees!

Automotive a/c has been one of the most appreciated developments that has come from American manufacturers. American a/c was renowned for years, as it was so effective in bringing down high temperatures quickly and effectively. 

Cute, but not very effective.
photo from web.

A lot of people lived in homes that were not air conditioned, but at least they could find blessed relief during their commute home. Cooler drivers are not only more comfortable, they are also much calmer and practice much better judgement.

All of my current fleet have a/c, a few of my cars are pretty old, and my '96 Mustang needed some work shortly after I bought it. It developed a leak in an a/c hose, and they were replaced and the system recharged  over ten years ago. It still blows cold, but it's not as cold as it once was. 

I would guess that some of my cars need to have the a/c recharged. This was a common service years ago in many corner gas station garages. Now there are fewer places to have this done. My regular mechanic retired, and his replacement recently went into another line of business. 

So I've been looking for a local place that could handle this for me. 

I happened to be driving my truck and I was thinking that it wasn't as cold as it used to be, though I didn't find it's performance to be particularly lacking. 

I had found a shop along White Rd. on the East side. I had some tire work done at this shop years ago. There was a big sign indicating that they did a/c work, so I stopped to ask about it. The technician, a serious looking, older Indian gentleman, named Sunny, advised me that they could do it, but that he should first hook up the gauges and take a pressure reading as a diagnostic test. I asked him how much this would cost, and he said that it was free.

gauges and a vacuum pump.
photo from web.

He hooked up the gauges and told me that the system was a bit low

He advised that it needed a flush and recharge, at a cost of 157.00.

I asked when he could do it, and how long would it take. 

Sunny said he could do it right then and it would take around twenty minutes. 

I have several cars that might need a/c service, and I needed to find a  shop that would do this at a reasonable price. I decided that I needed to trust someone. I've been dealing with my Ford dealer for some extended warranty work, and really don't trust them, or like dealing with them. 

So I let Sunny do his thing. Her told me to sit in the passenger seat while he performed the service. The engine was running and the a/c was on during the process. Once completed he told me that I should clean the condenser when I got home, and I would feel a bigger improvement. I saw him use compressed air to blow through the condenser fins before he charged the system. He told me to just use compressed air and a garden hose, nothing more powerful than that. 

On the drive home I didn't feel that the a/c was any cooler than before. I parked the truck in the driveway and used my compressor to blow debris from the radiator condenser area. 

This isn't my radiator, but you really should check and clean
 this area once in a while!
photo from web.

I hadn't cleaned under the hood of my truck since I bought it, but it wasn't too encrusted with dirt and bugs. Then I sprayed some Castrol Super Cleaner on the core, let it sit, then flushed it with the garden hose spray nozzle. I should have used the compressed air to blow the excess water out of the area, instead I just decided to let it dry with the engine running.

Bad Idea.

I fired up the engine with the hood open and water started spraying up, out of the area. So I closed the hood and decided to drive the truck around. It was okay for the first few minutes, then it started to misfire. After a minute or two, the engine would only run at part throttle and the CEL lit up! All that water had wet something electrical, and resulted in the misfire. I decided that I would keep the speed down and hope that things dried out on their own. A few miles from home I pulled into a parking lot, opened the hood and let the engine continue to run. It seemed to be a lot drier! 

After another ten minutes I closed the hood and headed home. Luckily the CEL had gone out and the engine seemed to be running normally, so I continued my driving and entered the freeway. I added another ten miles or so and returned home.

During this drama, I'd forgotten about the a/c, but switched it on during the final miles home. It was working, but didn't seem any cooler than when I started. I knew that the shop had done the service, I watched them perform it. I didn't think that they had cheated me. But I didn't have any objective measurement that could demonstrate an improvement. I hadn't tested the system beforehand.

I went online and asked, "how cold should my a/c system cool the air.?"

Most of the initial responses indicated that it should cool the air a minimum of twenty degrees cooler than outside temperatures. That made sense, as even home a/c systems can only be effective up to certain temperatures, once it gets hotter than 100 degrees, maintaining a low temp like 68 degrees isn't possible. Our old home system couldn't maintain the temp at 78 degrees under those conditions, and would run constantly. Recently we had a new HVAC system installed which performs much better, and is capable of maintaining that temp more consistently. Hopefully this will reduce our energy bills, but when the heat exceeded 100 degrees like it did recently, it had it's work cut out for it in our old, not well insulated house. 

Some of the responses indicated that the car a/c should ideally cool the air as low as 35 to 45 degrees in moderate temperatures. Then I found a couple of videos explaining how to measure the effectiveness of the a/c system. It involved using a probe type meat thermometer placed in the center air vent, after closing the other dash vents. 

There are other factors that can affect the system, like a blocked or dirty cowl vent, or cabin air filter, as well as a dirty or blocked condenser. It makes sense to change the filter if your car is equipped with one, and to clean the condenser prior to testing the temp. You might find that the system is working well enough without a need for service. 

I did perform a test of my truck's a/c system, I''ll describe my findings in a future post. I will also detail how I cleaned and tested the a/c on my other vehicles.