XR4Ti Purchase

[Awadecki]

Hi all,

Always loved Merkurs from my 80s era childhood and finally found what appears to be a really nice original, super low mileage copy. Noticed a few issues: metal heater tubes that run by the valve cover seem to be corroded and in need of repair; car spark knocks on anything above 1/3 throttle acceleration (gas has been in car for ~10 years; wondering if this is why); motor also doesn’t run 100% prob due to bad gas; and AC was non functioning (engine fan turned on upon engaging the dash switch, but compressor didn’t turn on).

Anyone have familiarity with these issues? What should I look out for if I end up buying car? Thanks for the help. Hoping to become a proud owner soon!

[andyofcolumbusmerkur]

Use all that stuff to talk down the price. I'd take the AC out if it were up to me.

[Ed Lijewski]

I'd never delete a/c, in any car. XR a/c is excellent.

Compressor might not switch on because: refrigerant level is too low, deicing switch is bad, trinary switch on receiver/dryer is bad.

Re knocking, timing could be off, timing belt coukd have slipped.

YMMV

[andyofcolumbusmerkur]

I'd keep AC in if it worked. But stuff before 94 was R12 and you can't get it. If you can it will cost more than the car. You can convert to R134a but that will barely even blow cool with tiny system designed for r12. You could get a setup from vintage air I guess. But again pretty pricey. Are there really Merkurs from the 80's still charged up and blowing cold AC? I'm guessing his freon leaked out long ago.

[Ed Lijewski]

I run R12 in 3 Merks.

Duracool refrigerant works very well per Merkur2.3Turbo here.

YMMV

[John Brennan]

I run R12 in 3 Merks.

Duracool refrigerant works very well per Merkur2.3Turbo here.

You can still get R12 here in AZ (can't imagine why... ), and although it's more expensive than it should be, it isn't prohibitively so, especially when compared to changing over to, say, R134 and having it work properly and last. There are some other substitutes such as Duracool and Freeze12 (if that's still a thing); it would be worthwhile to get more input on this, as I haven't seen much in the last few years.

Definitely agree that on any sort of daily/street-driven car, it is advantageous to keep A/C working, if not just for comfort/fatigue levels in hot weather, then for its ability to enormously speed up the defrost process, which is a potential safety issue. There are even some much-improved (and shorter, so you can run that FMIC), aftermarket condensers on the market, which would probably be a good investment vs. your 30-year-old part.

[andyofcolumbusmerkur]

Well all my stuff was removed long ago by previous owners anyway. I remember talking to a mechanic about running an AC system to cool an intercooler. This was back in like 2000 and I thought it seemed possible. Wondered why nobody had ever done something like that. Now I see on a jays garage video this actually in use on a new car. Wow I should have got a patent or something. Think it was the video on the redeye challenger.

[Ed Lijewski]

Freeze 12 never was as effective as R12 (easy to verify; it's a mixture of refrigerants including R134 IIRC). Duracool claims to be as effective as R12 and develops less compressor head pressure in extreme conditions.

I have an unopened case of Freeze 12 if anyone is looking for some.

YMMV

[andyofcolumbusmerkur]

They must have improved on them. I remember when my old man took the Nissan hardbody into the shop when the AC stopped. They converted it to newer freon and claimed they couldn't get the old stuff. This was back in the 90's. It barely could keep up when the temps went past 75. We took it back but they never could make it work very well. Then I learned how certain shops snatched up all the freon before the federal laws went into effect. Supposedly that was all that was available anywhere and those shops basically named their price. I will have to check out that duracool stuff since I have a car that could use it.

[foundnemo25]

Well all my stuff was removed long ago by previous owners anyway. I remember talking to a mechanic about running an AC system to cool an intercooler. This was back in like 2000 and I thought it seemed possible. Wondered why nobody had ever done something like that. Now I see on a jays garage video this actually in use on a new car. Wow I should have got a patent or something. Think it was the video on the redeye challenger.

The Dodge demon runs the AC through the intercooler

[andyofcolumbusmerkur]

What if you had the intercooler submerged in a container of liquid nitrogen? That would be so cool.

[Bob Weir]

Awadecki

Did you buy it?