Sanden on Explorer 5.0

[Lars]

I mentioned in a post several weeks ago that I was dumping the OEM Exploder compressor, of which I have burned up a few, in favor of a Sanden compressor, for use with my onboard air system. Finally got the install completed.

For those who may be curious but not up to speed, the a/c compressor on an Explorer 5.0 as well as many other 90's n' newer Ford trucks, is made by Visteon. I believe a company at least partially owned by Ford. No matter; their compressors are probably fine when used for their intended purpose, but for onboard air they fry quickly. Having toasted two of them in short order. Both are axial piston compressors, but that's where the similarities end. The Sanden SD709 compressors have a great rep for being bullet-resistant if not bulletproof in OBA applications. Those of you who may have Mustang 5.0 serpentine setups, the a/c compressor found on those engines was an oddball as far as Ford was concerned (what a surprise!)- made by, I believe, Nippondenso. A great compressor for OBA. If you have that setup, keep it. It'll work fine.

I did some research and discovered that for several years in the late 80's/early 90's, Ford supplied a dealer-install a/c setup based on a Sanden compressor, that just happens to have the same bolt mounting pattern as the Visteon pump on the Explorer 5.0. Here's a list of the vehicles where said-same Sanden compressor can be found:

FORD, Bronco (Dealer Air), 88-93, SD709
FORD, Bronco II (Dealer Air), 90, SD709
FORD, E Series Van (Dealer Air), 90-93, SD709
FORD, Escort, EXP (Dealer Air), 88-90, SD709
FORD, F Series Pickup F150-F350 (Dealer Air), 90-93, SD709
FORD, Mustang (Dealer Air), 88-93, SD709
FORD, Ranger (Dealer Air), 88-92, SD709
FORD, Tempo (Dealer Air), 88-91, SD709

More to follow...

[Delta 4 Wheel]

AWESOME. I was wanting this. Is this it?

http://www.a-aironline.com/detail.aspx?ID=2866

[Lars]

More details

Not bored yet?

OK. A friend of mine found one of the above-described compressors and shipped it to me. After admiring it for awhile, I realized that while the bolt pattern, pulley offset and a few other details were the same, it wasn't quite a bolt-on.
For starters, the Sanden compressor is longer than the Visteon (Explorer) pump. Even though the Sanden pump has the same bolt pattern and pulley offset, you can't just bolt it to the Explorer bracket. For one thing, the cast mounting bosses on the Sanden pump are about .4 inches narrower than the Visteon. Even with 1/4" spacers to move it out (part of the dealer install kit, which you'll discover if you find one), the back of the Sanden hit the no. 5 header tube on my engine. I wound up using some 3/4" spacers that I just happened to find in a McMaster-Carr order at work one day. That moved the pump out far enough to clear the header tube, but not so far that it was hard against the inner fenderwell.

The stock pump uses a couple of bushings in the front two bolt holes that match the bracket, so pulley alignment is accurate. I bored out two of the 3/4" bushings to 7/16" (the approximate OD of the bushings) and made some longer bushings out of 7/16" OD thinwall stainless tube that also mysteriously appeared in the above-described McMaster order. While I was on a roll I bored the other two spacers half way through and made some bushings for them, so I could stick the spacers on the pump before installing it. That way no need for Gumby hands trying to slip the spacers in place along with the pump. Turned out the OEM bushings are .432 instead of .438, so my bushings were a bit big. A little kiss at one end with my spiffy 3M polishing/deburring wheel fixed that right up.

The stock Exploder pump bolts work fine. No special hardware needed.

I bought a 1" longer (than OEM Exploder) serpentine belt. Goodyear part number 4080950. Fit perfect.

I used a 1" hole saw to make a couple of holes in the inner fenderwell for easier access to the bottom bolts. BIG time saver, having done it the hard way several times now.

I don't like hacking a pump to make the air connections. That way if this one takes a crap I have at least a remote chance of getting another one and installing it anywhere without having to butcher it. So I did some head scratching. As mentioned above, this particular Sanden pump is part of a Ford dealer install a/c kit. The low pressure fitting is a nice aluminum barbed elbow, which I discovered after cutting away the hose and crimp. Only thing is that it's 90 degrees, which aimed it at the fenderwell. It needed to be about 120 degrees. I heated the fitting VERY CAREFULLY with my torch while applying a bending load with a long screwdriver. As soon as I felt it relax I backed off the heat, and repeated until I got what I wanted. It looks fine; time will tell if I messed it up. If so, I have a collection of steel tubes I can heat/bend/modify.

Oh yeah, both fittings are some sort of standard o-ring tube fitting found on a lot of a/c systems. High pressure side is a -8; low side is -10. As you might guess, threads are the same as those found on AN/JIC fittings of the same size. Furthermore it turns out that a bunch of a/c parts houses sell little brass bushings that pop into the bosses on the pumps, with o-ring on one side and taper on the other. I bought 4 of the -8 size for about 10 bucks. Unfortunately they are SAE (45 degree) taper instead of JIC (37 degree). A few minutes on the lathe at work fixed that, so I can use JIC fittings on the high pressure side.

The electrical (clutch) hookup is simple: one wire. Apply 12 volts, clutch engages. I already had that circuit, so that was simple, though I cut off the Ford connector and soldered on a bullet connector as used by the Sanden pump. What ever you do, just make sure that the circuit can handle 4 amps continuous, which is what the clutch draws.

The rest of my OBA details don't matter here since it already existed (see www.onboardair.com for helpful diagrams, if interested), but suffice to say that it works fine. Seems to put out more air at idle than the Visteon pump, even though the pulley is bigger. It's also quieter, and supposedly puts out more CFM. Time will tell, but a Google search on Sanden reliability for OBA sounds like they are as reliable as a rubber doorstop.

With spacers and bolts in hand, and assuming that there aren't a bunch of other bits that have to be relocated, the pump could probably be installed along with belt in 20 minutes or less. Which is to say that you could install the pump, let the pulley be an idler, and finish the rest of the OBA install at your leisure.

Pics in next post...

[Lars]

Pics...

[Lars]

OK. Still here, eh? You must not have a life. Go take a shower, shave, put on your nice stuff and head out. After all, it's Friday night. Don't stay home like I'm doing, typing on a stinkin' computer.

That said, the above was not a "how-to". Only some (hopefully helpful) information. More questions? Please post, I'll do what I can to answer, and I can take more pics if it would help.

LP

[Lars]

AWESOME. I was wanting this. Is this it?

http://www.a-aironline.com/detail.aspx?ID=2866

I want to say that the Sanden part number is 7714, but don't hold me to that. It's been awhile since I did that research and I'm having a CRS moment.

EDIT: Wrong number above. It's a 7416 or 7501 (basically the same). See link a couple of posts down.

[blwngsket]

Thanks for the info. I have the nippon from my Mustang set up. Bought the BC brackets to mount it in the smog pump mounts. Just need the hoses to hook it up.

[Lars]

Correct Sanden compressor

This is it...
http://www.a-aironline.com/detail.aspx?ID=354

[Lars]

Thanks for the info. I have the nippon from my Mustang set up. Bought the BC brackets to mount it in the smog pump mounts. Just need the hoses to hook it up.

I used the one that came with my Mustang setup for years. The First Exploder (Visteon) pump lasted maybe 3 outings. The second, maybe two. They suck. The only problem with the Nippon pump (which is not really a problem) is that Ford didn't use them on many vehicles. My experience was that it was dead reliable. Which is supposedly also the case with the Sanden SD709 series. Here's hoping...

[crawlin68]

Great info Lars! I have been using the stock pump that came on the 89 5.0 Crown Vic engine that I started with and it has worked fine for the last few years. I have no idea what brand it is, but so far so good. If/when it ever goes out, I'll have to look into the sanden.

[Lars]

Great info Lars! I have been using the stock pump that came on the 89 5.0 Crown Vic engine that I started with and it has worked fine for the last few years. I have no idea what brand it is, but so far so good. If/when it ever goes out, I'll have to look into the sanden.

Patrick- That's the same pump as used on the Mustang. If it goes out, I'd go find another one just like it. From everything I have ever heard (and my own experience) they are every bit as good as a Sanden, and it's less work than swapping in something else.

I wouldn't have bothered with this myself if it wasn't for reliability issues with the Visteon pump. In fact the pump you have is more common than what I'm using- my Sanden was part of a dealer-install a/c kit. The cast-in mounts are a pattern that's unique to Fords (don't be fooled; you can find some late Jeeps with a similar-looking Sanden, but the mount spacing is different) so you won't find them elsewhere. I'm already on the lookout for more so I have spares.

[crawlin68]

Patrick- That's the same pump as used on the Mustang. If it goes out, I'd go find another one just like it. From everything I have ever heard (and my own experience) they are every bit as good as a Sanden, and it's less work than swapping in something else.

I wouldn't have bothered with this myself if it wasn't for reliability issues with the Visteon pump. In fact the pump you have is more common than what I'm using- my Sanden was part of a dealer-install a/c kit. The cast-in mounts are a pattern that's unique to Fords (don't be fooled; you can find some late Jeeps with a similar-looking Sanden, but the mount spacing is different) so you won't find them elsewhere. I'm already on the lookout for more so I have spares.

That is good to know. Thanks for verifying that. I do run an inlet oiler and outlet oil separator, so that probably helps with it's life span.

[720Racer]

Thanks for the info, I can't decide if I should keep the stock exploder a/c pump for a/c and add a York, or forget having a/c and make this swap. Once again, nice write up!!

[Lars]

Thanks for the info, I can't decide if I should keep the stock exploder a/c pump for a/c and add a York, or forget having a/c and make this swap. Once again, nice write up!!

Thanks. I've wondered about that myself, but after driving my Bronco for 12 years without a/c, I think I'll do without. Even if I changed my mind I think I'd find a way to add an axial style compressor above the stock location. Which would require hood clearance that I currently lack, among other things. Maybe someday. First, I have an airplane to finish...

[720Racer]

.....find a way to add an axial style compressor above the stock location. Which would require hood clearance that I currently lack.....

That seems to be an issue with a/c and OBA, my thought was to notch the front/top of the driver's side inner fender and lay the York down at a ~20* angle. Then either a longer serpentine belt, or a jumper pulley on the p/s pump to the York. I don't know if it'll ever happen.

After talking to Jason at BC's about the Vintage Air setup, I learned that BC's (or Vintage) is developing some kind of bracket to adapt Vintage's compressor of choice to the exploder bracket. Depending on which compressor they use with the a/c kit, that adapter may also be a way to use a better compressor for OBA.