Thread: Beginning of an Automatic Climate Control System, all juiced up on Fusion

To answer my own question, I think I found the exact manifold pictured in the first post on eBay, the seller claimed it was for a '93 Lumina with the 3.1L engine, but I couldn't find the part on RockAuto. I got it for $10.

Originally Posted by Laminar

I skimmed through most of the thread, but I didn't happen to catch a part number for the vacuum manifold used. Would anyone that knows of a good vacuum manifold (at least 6 ports or so) care to share a part number or vehicle name?

The Vibrant performance one isn't too bad, I wouldn't spend too much on it since it really is a simple piece.

Well for the rest of us, could you guys please explain where you found these vacuum manifolds? I've been searching eBay and Google for days and I can't find something similar!

awsome project!! i was wondering i have a auto Climate control unit for my 89 crx si that im itching to install but iv noteced a few differances in wireing between the two. if anyone has any ideas on whut else i may need to scrounge up to get this thing workin let me know.

figured it out thou i am interestin in whut else this thing is capable of

I'm back in town... fyi, dusting things off and scratching my head, trying to figure out where I was. Taking things slow though. Anyone still looking for the vacuum module? I have one

back

Originally Posted by h3rk

I'm back in town... fyi, dusting things off and scratching my head, trying to figure out where I was. Taking things slow though. Anyone still looking for the vacuum module? I have one

Just found this thread and it was interesting to read the learning/design progress. I see a few people trying various ideas and the “universal” HVAC control idea is the hardest. Mainly with the work involved designing an elegant solution to different hardware interfaces.

I am building a stand-alone micro-controller to replace the existing HVAC in my car. You still have full graphic display and control from the PC but everything is simplified.

This means that only the hardware interface board would have to be changed for various installations. The HVAC control, diagnostic, trim, calibration and state information is built in. A communication link to the PC is optional and need only be used to calibrate, fine tune or select the appropriate control program (or to upload a new hardware profile to the PIC).

The Stand-alone PIC can work with or without the physical user climate controls. If PC controlled then it powers up in Auto mode until the PC is communicating. Full Graphic display and control is a cinch. Physical controls and full graphic interface to CarPc is the mode I will most likely be operating under (Controls may go if I run out of room).

I can certainly see why you went the way you did but in hindsight it certainly complicated things, still, you can’t beat the learning experience from doing it and quite often great final designs are the result

My stumbling block is not the code or the interface but the finer points about the logic behind cycling the compressor from the point of fuel and cooling efficiency, do they even worry about that?

It appears to me that (in simplified terms) some run the compressor to just short of ice up and output air temp is controlled by air mix. I would appreciate any input you have on compressor on/off time? and look forward to seeing how your design pans out.

so this is something I am pondering for my truck, I am going to follow this to see if there would be any hope of doing this on my Dodge Ram; I think it will not be too terribly complicated as the 05 is all electrically driven so its a matter of interfacing with the control unit the part that scares me is if there is a electronics module on the control head for the HVAC system.