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AC blowing hot air


Lee

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Yesterday on the drive home the AC in my 96 ranger XLT 2.3L decided I was cool enough.

For the past 2 years my AC compressor / clutch has leaking grease or oil out of the pulley it hasn't been much & the AC has always worked perfectly.

When I got home I popped the hood & noticed that the clutch on the compressor wasn't engaging, sitting at an idle AC on MAX cranked all the way up & it still wouldn't kick on.

The clutch did try a few times to engage but it disengaged after only 2 or 3 seconds.

I checked the fuse & it was good & had power to it aswell.

I shut off the engine and rotated the clutch by hand thinking it might be bound up or something thinking possibly that was why it kept disengaging after only a few seconds & when I did it started making a hissing sound right behind the clutch.

Is my compressor shot??

Or do I need to replace the clutch??

In my research I've learned to check the electrical first because that's where most problems occur, could this be the case, is there some electrical component that controls the clutch on the compressor???

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks Lee
 


bf750

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It is what it is
compressor is shot
 

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You gotta fix the leak and refill the system.

Also, MAX is not a good position to check compressor operation, normal will get it to kick on more often. MAX sets things up so you can get lower temps with less compressor run time.
 

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Make sure the compressor relay has not failed.
 

Lee

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Is there a seal between the clutch & the compressor ???

If there is I'll just replace it & the clutch if not then I'll replace both the compressor & the clutch.

I checked for power at all 3 wiring plugs, the compressor, the condensor & the clutch relay. I only had power at the clutch relay, this was done with koeo & koer with the a/c on max then on reg a/c.

The clutch did not.engage at all. Is there a way to test the clutch relay??

Is this normal to not detect any voltage at the condensor or the compressor???

Or does the clutch have to be engaged in order for power to be supplied???

Thanks Lee
 
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Lee

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OK so I thought I got real lucky saturday afternoon, one of my neighbors came over while I was tinkering with my AC, while I was talking to him about replacing the compressor, flushing the line, putting it under a deep vacuum, etc, etc...

He kindly offered his shops services, it seems he is floor manager for an auto repair shop. An hour later I met him at the local parts house, he used his shops discount to get a pretty good deal on a compressor & only a couple blocks away was his shop.

We hooked up the fancy dancy Snap On AC machine, it evacuated the system & held it under a vacuum. It Beeped & told us the system was empty, we removed the old compressor in a couple minutes flat.

We put in 3-4 ounces of PAG Oil in the new compressor & then tried like hell to turn it & not dump it all out, when I asked one of his tech's how they got the whole 7 ounces in there he said you don't, you get a few ounces in, rotate it a couple times & call it good any more & it will just dump out when you rotate the clutch. The rest of the oil gets added with the refrigerant.

We put everything back together, hook up the fancy dancy Snap On AC machine & recharge the system, & nothing, no cold air, clutch won't engage, hook it back up machine & it says everythings good.

Head back to the parts house picked up a new serpentine belt & a compressor clutch cycling switch, replaced both back at home & still nothing.

Sunday morning I spoke with one of the guys at my local Napa Auto & he told me how to "jump" the clutch cycling switch, now after doing so the clutch will engage but its like it was before I replaced the compressor, it kicks on every 5-10 seconds for only a second or 2.

I had a small ammount of AC PRO leftover from recharging my wifes car a while back so I've been watching the pressure on the guage & heres where it gets goofy, with the clutch engaging / disengaging every 5-10 seconds, the pressure on the guage is going up & down with it.

Every time the clutch engages it drops down to 25lbs. then it disengages & the pressure climbs up to 55-60 then it does it all over again down to 25 then back up to 55-60.

WTH????

Any help would be appreciated, Lee
 

clflorida

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We put in 3-4 ounces of PAG Oil in the new compressor & then tried like hell to turn it & not dump it all out, when I asked one of his tech's how they got the whole 7 ounces in there he said you don't, you get a few ounces in, rotate it a couple times & call it good any more & it will just dump out when you rotate the clutch. The rest of the oil gets added with the refrigerant.

Idk about that one.

You really shouldve bought the compressor and clutch together like the one from Rockauto. It already comes with 7oz of oil. That one worked for me.
 
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Lee

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I did buy it all together but it came without oil in it.

Lee
 

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all they did was replace the compressor?

no other components?

you are heading for the fail train if that is the case. bare minimum that needs to be replaced along with the compressor (and just about every compressor manufacturer will void your warranty if you do not) is the accumulator dryer, orifice tube, and a complete flush of all the components that are not being replaced. you will destroy your new compressor if you don't.

generally the 7 or 8 ounces of oil gets equally distributed through the system. 4 or 5 ounces in the compressor (rotate the compressor to get it in) and the rest in the accumulator dryer or you can put it in during the charging process, but I would worry about a slug of oil going through the compressor and hydrolocking it...

I rebuilt my system on my 97 last year. I did not have to jump the compressor at all to get it going. I hooked up the guage set and opened both high and low ports (with the truck OFF) and once I got enough refrigerant in the truck so that it was about 60 or 70 lbs both high and low side I closed the high side port and started the truck to fill it up the rest of the way.

remember, you need to charge the truck with the exact amount of r134a, no more. if it is not cycling properly, check your high/ low side pressure switches.

in your case I am wondering if the the high side switch is cycleing your compressor because the orifice tube is plugged and causing the pressure to build up and then shut the compressor down.

I did a write up on the a/c rebuild, it has a lot of stuff to look at and how the a/c works. check this out:

http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=144542

Good luck!

AJ
 

sblake01

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I had a small ammount of AC PRO leftover from recharging my wifes car a while back
Hope you didn't actually put that crap in the system. It contains sealant and will clog up the system and also clog up the shops recycling equipment if they don't use a sealant detector before they recycle it.
 

Lee

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Thanks for the link AJ, kinda wish I had found that before I replaced the compressor, hopefully this weekend I can get it back down to my neighbors shop & do it again, only right this time.

Thanks Lee
 

Lee

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I bought a new accumulator, orfice tube an 8oz bottle of pag oil, a set of manifold gauges, a pneumatic vacuum pump & 2 12oz cans of R13a refrigerant.

I had a local shop drain the system so as to be legal, I got home set up the manifold gauges pulled a vacuum to make sure everything worked ok then I removed the accumulator then The orfice tube, I replaced all the o rings & the orfice tube, then I added 4oz of pag oil in the accumulator & slapped it back in place.

Following AJ's directions the whole way helped out quite a bit even though his write up is about a 97 6 cyl & mine is a 96 4cyl.

I warmed up the truck for a good 1/2 hour or so then I put the system under a deep vacuum for a half hour holding a strong 29 the whole time.

Charging the system was a PIA, again the clutch would engage & then disengage over & over which made recharging the system take forever, literally it took over an hour for the first can to empty, but once it did & I hooked up the second can instantly the clutch engaged & it practically sucked the second can into the system & ice cold air poured out of the vents.

I put 2 full 12oz cans & just a wee bit of a mostly empty can I had laying around for a rough 1lbs 9oz.


Thanks again for that link AJ

Lee
 

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For future reference, placing the bottom of the freon can into a pot of hot water will rapidly accelerate the speed at which it's contents get sucked into your system (should empty it in less than 5 minutes). :icon_thumby:
 

Lee

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I did use the pan of hot water and it still took quite a while for the first can but the second one blew right in there.

It's a great trick and I will definitely use it again.

Lee
 

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