Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Duratec Performance a/c killer!!!

I don't know if this helps but when my car is idling and the A/C is off the tach is just below 1K RPMs but when I turn the A/C on it drops to just below 750 RPMs. I think this just goes to show you how much power the A/C drains from your engine.

Mine idles at 750. Put the A/C on and it idles at 800. I guess my A/C adds power OR my IAC is working. While the A/C draws a bit of power, the idle problem is a poorly working IAC that isn't compensating for the load.

You can also do what I did and go to your local parts store and buy the belt minus the air conditioning. The only thing you have to do is run the belt a little different than the pic under the hood shows. I did this on my Svt and it ran a lot better. The only down fall is it gets hot as hell in there during the summer and you take the chance of burning the a/c unit up if you let it sit there and not run for to many months. Cause the a/c unit lubricates itself when it runs that is why sometimes you will feel a decrease in power sometimes if you turn on your defroster. That is just my 2 cents worth. So take it or leave it but I did it for a few moths and I noticed a nice increase in power during takeoff and acceleration.

Bypassing the A/C pulley (which is a FREE wheel pulley) garners no performance benefits at all.
Plus what you said about the A/C unit locking up do the heat cycling without lubrication is another reason why not to do this.
If you don't want to free wheel the A/C pulley then you might as well remove the entire A/C system and lighten the car a bunch.

However the part about that being why you lose power in defrost mode (or bi-level) is wrong. You lose power because both of the modes employ the A/C system to supply dry air. This clears the windshield much faster.

I just think it should be the DRIVER'S choice to have the A/C run or not. Not the manufacturer's. The majority of the time I don't need dry air and I Definitely do not want the A/C unit running killing my performance and mileage.

the mondy v6 does it aswell, sucks the power

my tour is a slushbox when the ac is on ..although the magnaflow sounds unbelievable ...lol...go figure