The Ford Barn - View Single Post

Daves55Sedan · 11-23-2018, 12:16 AM

My experience with condensers goes kinda like this; If it starts and runs, leave it alone (especially now that good condensers are very difficult to find). I have run the same condenser in a distributor for 20+ years without fail. There have been a couple of times that a very old condenser, having been rode too hard and put away hot caused the condenser to break down enough that it let me know it was time for a change. After a long trip I had a little trouble starting the next morning. The second morning, the car would not start at all. Changed the condenser and the engine started right up. But I have never had one fail in the middle of a trip before. Not saying it couldn't happen, but maybe much less of a possibility.
If you need to buy a new condenser, I would warn against getting any from the repro parts suppliers. They are Chinese junk and many of them are bad right out of the box and the ones that do work are lousy quality and only last a year or so.
Right now, I am running a Lucas brand heavy duty condenser from NAPA in my '55 Fairlane sedan. Getting good service out of it.

11-23-2018, 12:16 AM	#13
Daves55Sedan Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Granite City, Illinois Posts: 3,008	Re: Car died 2 blocks from home. My experience with condensers goes kinda like this; If it starts and runs, leave it alone (especially now that good condensers are very difficult to find). I have run the same condenser in a distributor for 20+ years without fail. There have been a couple of times that a very old condenser, having been rode too hard and put away hot caused the condenser to break down enough that it let me know it was time for a change. After a long trip I had a little trouble starting the next morning. The second morning, the car would not start at all. Changed the condenser and the engine started right up. But I have never had one fail in the middle of a trip before. Not saying it couldn't happen, but maybe much less of a possibility. If you need to buy a new condenser, I would warn against getting any from the repro parts suppliers. They are Chinese junk and many of them are bad right out of the box and the ones that do work are lousy quality and only last a year or so. Right now, I am running a Lucas brand heavy duty condenser from NAPA in my '55 Fairlane sedan. Getting good service out of it.