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JK ac system

2K views 10 replies 5 participants last post by  FatCow 
#1 ·
Not sure if this goes here but does anyone know if the stock system can be stand alone, moved away from the system?

Plan to do a stand alone engine swap and would like to reuse the dash stuff, if possible.
 
#4 ·
I am ditching the canbus and BCM stuff. Swapping in a stand alone engine and essentially running everything else as a self substaining system.

I did read GT1Guy's build thread but don't recall his work around on that. Ill go back through it. Thanks
 
#5 ·
The CAN bus runs pretty much everything on a JK.... seems like the AC is the least of your problems.

Other than the CAN telling the pump when to cycle on/off and the flapper doors in the air box, the rest of the AC is pretty mechanical. Getting he pump to spin should be easy and that should make it cool I would think.
 
#6 ·
In my head. it seems like it's something that can be worked around but if not, I guess I could always call jeepair or vintage and hook something else up.

I'm ditching the stock wiring. Engine will be on a stand alone system and everything else either adapted or working independently.
 
#7 ·
Do some research before just ripping everything out.

Some engine swap providers go as far as to run both the old ECM and a new ECM for the engine side-by-side, as so much of the JK systems depend on the CANbus.

Headlights, turnlights, horn, wipers, tach, speedo, cruise and much much more all run through the CANbus. If you are building a trail rig that gets trailered everywhere, then maybe you don't need any of that. But if you expect it to be streetable then ripping it all out might be a losing proposition.
 
#8 ·
All of the above mention I actually already have a plan for. Fairly easy get around actually. It will be stripped of the canbus and will be wired around the motor but the only thing I can get an Idea on is the AC. May just have to dig into diagrams and such and see where it leads me.

The swap wont start until someone buys the motor from the jeep. It will also still be a DD.
 
#9 ·
Ultimately there is a 12 volt positive wire that activates the compressor clutch. If you don't care where the air comes out, you can put it on a toggle switch... the compressor will run, making the evaporator cold.

There's usually a high and a low pressure switch that cuts the compressor clutch in case the refrigerant pressures are too high or too low. Bypassing those would have some risk. Too much pressure and something will pop. Too little pressure (refrigerant leaked out) and you'll burn up the pump. But as long as it's in the Goldilocks zone, you spin the pump, and it makes cold.

Let us know how it works out. A couple of guys on here went through this years back, and it didn't seem like a picnic. Hopefully you can get around some of those issues.
 
#10 ·
I have nothing to add with what already had been said. However I'm not sure what state you live in, but if I were you I would verify what you are planning is actually legal to perform for a daily driver. There are a lot of states where they don't check emissions, but that doesn't mean you don't have to comply with emissions laws.

Otherwise, good luck with your build... :wink2:
 
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