2004 F-150 Heritage AC

[kenlou]

He was going to use this in his 2004 but he sold that truck so he still got the stuff. It’s all brand new.

[kenlou]

I took a little time to look at the truck today. Just for my own curiosity:
I removed the two caps from both ports and depressed one of the schrader valves and got absolutely nothing.
I pulled a vacuum for 45 minutes. It went to just below 30 in a matter of one minute. What does that tell you?
Within 3.5 hours it had gotten to 20.
I’m going to have to find out how to locate the condensate drain and see if there is anything I can see from there.
I also think there may be an issue with the blend door.
I do have a FOUR UNCLES AC Flush Kit and flush fluid that I used on an 86 Corvette conversion that I got a lot of help from this forum a couple of years ago.
Just out of curiosity, I think I am going to get that OT out to see what I might be looking at.

[JohnHere]

I removed the two caps from both ports and depressed one of the schrader valves and got absolutely nothing.
I pulled a vacuum for 45 minutes. It went to just below 30 in a matter of one minute. What does that tell you?
Within 3.5 hours it had gotten to 20.

The system has a leak...somewhere. It fails to hold both vacuum and pressure.

I’m going to have to find out how to locate the condensate drain and see if there is anything I can see from there.

If the system has fluorescent green UV dye in it, you might be able to detect traces of the dye in the condensate, indicating a leaking evaporator.

Just out of curiosity, I think I am going to get that OT out to see what I might be looking at.

Good idea. See an earlier post about the OT.

[kenlou]

A little update:

I’m not meaning to write a novel here but……
Between the rain and the heat, I was able to get a little more done in this quest. For quite some time, my blower motor only ran on high, so I decided to get that fixed before anything else. The resistor was toast….so rusty and crusty. The electrical plug was burnt and partially melted also. I went ahead and got a new pigtail and resistor and also replaced the blower motor,

I started on getting the compressor removed and created a problem for myself. I got one bolt loose and started on the second and decided to use an impact to break that second one loose and in the process rounded the bolt head. I decided to come back to that later and focus on getting other parts removed from this thing. Steps taken so far:
a. I removed the condenser
b. I removed the accumulator
c. I removed both lines going to the evaporator (not as bad as I have heard they can be)

When I removed the lines to the evaporator there was a little oil that leaked out and I could tell that it had dye in the system. It looked clean. I put rubber caps over those fittings for now. Every fitting I took apart showed only a trace amount of green colored oil.
The orifice tube was a bear to get out, I actually broke it (it is really clean, hardly even any oil on it)
Next day my brother-in-law came by and brought those parts I mentioned in an earlier post. Larry ran his own shop for years until retiring and like his dad he is a die-hard FORD man. NEVER owned anything but FORDs. All for $350.00.
a. Pressure cutoff switch
b. Cycling switch
c. Accumulator
d. Condenser
e. Compressor
f. All metal lines
g. Orifice tube and pag 46 oil
h. Four 12 oz cans refrigerant
i. All O-rings and springs

We got to talking about that evaporator and he tells me that he has the Rotunda A/C Fittings set that I can use to pull a vacuum on just the evaporator while it is in the truck.

I have not gotten around to locating the condensate drain and see if there is anything I can see from there but I still have that blower motor out so I will also get my inspection camera up that cavity to see what that looks like.

I did get those fittings connected to the evaporator inlet and outlet tubes and connected my gauge set to it and pulled a vacuum on just the evaporator today.
The FSM states running the vacuum pump for a minimum of 45 minutes and that the gauge should indicate (30 in-Hg) (I ran it for two hours) It has held steady after three hours and I am going to let it sit in a vacuum overnight and will check it tomorrow.

Several questions:
1. If in the morning the vacuum is holding steady, do you recommend I still flush that evaporator and then blow it as dry as possible? If so, can I dry it with shop air? I do have a couple of driers on my compressor line.
2. If I see that the interior side of the evaporator is relatively clean and shows no indication of dye anywhere, would you think the other side of that evaporator is fairly clean?
3. What purpose does that black foam serve on the accumulator? Is it a big deal to leave it off?
4. If you were a betting man, John, seeing all that I have found so far, would you say that the evaporator is probably good?

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[kenlou]

I have everything taken out but the compressor. The evaporator has been holding vacuum for two days now and the gauge has not moved.
Is there a way to pressure test only the evaporator while in the truck?

Thanks
Kenny

[kenlou]

This compressor is killing me.I got one lower bolt out with no problem. The second lower bolt I managed to round the head of that bolt and it is still waiting to be removed. The top bolt is not budging. I have been working on it for two days now and it will not give. Tomorrow I will try an induction heater to heat that sob up. If that does not work, I think I will burn the thing to the ground.

[JohnHere]

An induction heater sounds like a good idea, or an acetylene torch if it's safe to use.

Alternatively, can you get a die grinder in there to grind-off the bolt heads and then use a set of locking pliers to remove the studs after the compressor is out?

[kenlou]

Alternatively, can you get a die grinder in there to grind-off the bolt heads and then use a set of locking pliers to remove the studs after the compressor is out?

That will be my last step,but to get the compressor off of the truck, I have to have no more than an inch of that bolt left. So I will have to cut into the compressor also. Ford managed to squeeze that compressor in a very tight spot.

This truck calls for 9 oz of oil, Will I be able to get all that in the compressor?

[JohnHere]

I was afraid that you might not be able to remove the compressor with the studs in the way.

The oil is a question mark. If you can't get it all in the compressor, you'll have to "oil-balance" the system--that is, ~1.5 ounces in the evaporator, ~1.5 ounces in the condenser, ~1.5 ounces in the R/D or accumulator, and the balance in the compressor.

[kenlou]

Well, I managed to get the compressor out of the truck. The induction heater did not work for me. With the limited space I had to work with, I ended up using an oscillating saw to cut the bolts. I can’t believe the amount of rust I have had to contend with on this project. The long needle nose vice grips worked on getting the studs out of the block.

I had to remove the fan and radiator shroud to get the compressor out from the top side.

Kenny