Compressor
Lubrication. I did one final thing before
installing the compressor in my Jeep--I checked the oil. While cleaning
the compressor, earlier, I had it sitting upside down for several minutes and
noticed that a foamy, yellowish oil was leaking out of the manifolds. So
I removed the two manifolds and the head of the compressor to see what was
inside. It appears that there are two chambers within the compressor:
the oil reservoir on the bottom half and the upper air chamber. It
didn't seem to me that there was supposed to be any oil in the upper chamber,
so I turned the compressor upside down again (with the head still removed), and drained about two tablespoons of oil
from the upper chamber. Then I turned the compressor back upright, and
reinstalled the head and the manifolds. Next, I removed one of the oil
fill plugs on the side of the compressor and drained another two tablespoons
of oil out of the reservoir (since this compressor can be mounted either
vertically, horizontal right, or horizontal left, there are oil fill
plugs on both sides of the compressor--you can use either one to drain or add
oil).
CAUTION: Regarding the mounting
position--this compressor was manufactured as an air conditioner
compressor. For our conversion to an air compressor, it must be mounted in the vertical position
only! If you mount it horizontally, the oil will
seep out of the reservoir, into the upper air chamber, and into your air
supply. You could use an in-line air-oil separator and/or filter, but
that would totally defeat the whole purpose of using a York compressor in the
first place.
Anyway, I'm glad that I checked the oil, because it seems that it was
extremely low. One of the web sites I used extensively throughout this
project was that of Ben
"Obi-Wan" Hollingsworth. Specifically, his York
Compressor for On-Board Air Page. From there, I learned that the
compressor oil capacity is 12 ounces (much more than what I had been able to
drain from my compressor!). I fashioned a dipstick, as described on
Obi-Wan's site, and used my little 6-ounce, trigger-pump oil can to fill the
compressor with fresh 10W-30 motor oil. Since I knew how much my little
oil can held, fine tuned with the dipstick that I made, I was confident that I
now had the proper amount of oil in the compressor. It's kind of hard to
see, but the lower end of the dipstick has two little black marks on it.
The lower mark is at 1 inch and the upper at 1¼ inches. With 12
ounces of oil, the dipstick read exactly between the two marks.
Compressor
Installation. The compressor is finally ready to
install in my Jeep! However, it wasn't quite as easy as I had
expected. Although the Kilby compressor brackets are very well
engineered, it is nonetheless an extremely tight fit. The four bolts
that hold the compressor to the bracket are very difficult to get to with
anything but an open-end wrench. So I modified the installation
procedures a little bit. First of all, I removed the passenger
side engine compartment support rod (attached with one bolt on each end of the
rod). Next, I removed the mounting bracket that I had previously
installed and loosely attached the compressor to the bracket using the
four bolts that came with the Kilby bracket kit. Then I reinstalled the
mounting bracket/compressor assembly to the engine and slipped the V-belt
(which also came with the Kilby kit) over the new alternator pulley and the inside
pulley on the compressor. Using a crowbar and a block of wood as a
lever, I raised the compressor upwards on the mounting bracket until the belt
was tight (but not too tight--about ½-inch deflection while pressing on the
center of the belt between the alternator and the compressor). Finally,
I tightened the four mounting bolts.
The Kilby bracket kit installation instructions warn you that, depending
how your rig is set up (e.g., body lift, engine lift, etc.), you may or may
not have to either cut the fender well to clear the compressor or bend the
engine compartment support rod above the compressor. I have a M.O.R.E.
one-inch body lift and Currie one-inch lifted motor mounts in my Jeep.
And although I did have to bend the engine compartment support
rod slightly upwards and to the right (towards the center of the engine
compartment), I did not have to cut or crush the fender well to
clear the compressor. Once installed, I immediately cranked up the
engine to see if the compressor worked properly. It got all tingly when
I touched the clutch wire to my battery and felt the massive rush of air
gushing out of the discharge manifold! :-) Here are a
couple of shots of the completed compressor installation. Notice how the
passenger side engine compartment support rod is slightly bent in order to
clear the discharge manifold.
