1995 Ford E150 Club Wagon (I believe it's The XLT)
I just bought this Van a couple weeks ago and I am in Love with it already, but the AC not running to good.

It had a leak on the liquid line behind driver side back tire. This line goes to the rear evaporator coil. I cut out the old rusted tubing and replaced it with copper. I brazed the copper to the existing steel tubing, using 45% solder. Evacuated the system to 490 microns, weighed in the 64oz & started it up.

-1st issue: only blows out of defrost vents. I believe this is due to a vacuum leak. Can anyone help me locate the vacuum lines for the AC controls.

-Issue #2: the rear or auxiliary AC blows warm air(maybe even hot air). I'm thinking my heating valve is stuck open. I believe this valve also uses vacuum for control. Can someone confirm that the valve is indeed controlled by vacuum and point me in the right direction for the location.

-3rd and final issue (I hope): the air in the front of truck, blowing from the defrost vents is cold, but definately not as cold as it should be. I had gauges on the high and low side. Was reading 310psi on high side and 58 on low. When I seen the pressures that high, I panicked and dumped some refrigerant in recovery bottle. If I had to guess I took about 16-24 ounces out. My high side pressure is still high, it's about 235psi. The low side is 38psi. I'm going to clean the Condenser and flush the radiator ( I have a leaking radiator hose I have to replace anyway). Is there anything else that could cause this what else could I look for.

Thank You

 

i would flush the entire ac system , at that age the whole thing probably has way to much oil in it , check the evaporater for leaves and stuff , mine had plenty. change the dryer and orifice tube you will find crud on it . fix the vacuum leak then you should be fine .

good luck

 

Excuse my ignorance, but where is the drier and orifice tube? Some say change the accumulator also, what's your opinion on changing that?

 

the accumulator and drier are the same part different name . the orifice tube meters the compressed coolant into the evaporater. you need a tool to remove them the tool and part are cheap.
old ac systems need to be clean as a whistle or you will Never get the performance it is capable of . any time the system is open to the environment the accumulator Must be changed .
good luck

 

Whoa wait a minute what's this tool you speak of?
I bought the part (never got around to changing it) and I know nothing of a special tool.

 

the tool is a little puller that grabs the end of the orifice tube and retracts when turned

 

I have read that the rear heater is controlled by a valve that is installed in one of the coolant lines that goes to heater coil, is this true? I just traced those lines from the radiator to the rear heater coil and do not see a valve. Is this correct, should it have a valve? If so where should it be located? The original line has been repaired a few times. Section of the steel tubing has been cut out in different locations and repaired with rubber hose. Maybe the section with the valve was leaking and someone cut it out and repaired with rubber hose. Can anyone confirm this for me?

 

Also, both coolant lines that go to rear heater where in bad shape. whenever I even get close to it underneath car it leaks. It's basically rotted from where it leaves engine compartment to where it renters the vehicle in the rear. I cut both lines where it leaves engine compartment and capped them. Is it ok to cap each line like that or should I have piped them together so it loops back??

 

capping is fine , there was a water control valve that is vacuum operated on one of the lines . on my 1996 conversion it was under near the drivers side door connected to a vac line . every outfitter did them a little different.

i ran new lines from the engine bay all the way to the rear heater core as the metal lines were rotted, i installed a ball valve .

in the winter i open it and in the spring i close it , low tech but it works .

if you don't stop the coolant flow to the rear ac heat unit you will not get cold air when the ac is on as the fan blows through both the heater core and the evaporater.

thats how it is in mine ,

 

Here is a fairly decent video about orifice tubes. How to remove and install them. There is a problem with the video but you will still get the idea. He explains how to install the tube correctly and use an orifice removal tool but when demonstrates how to use the homemade tool for removing broken off tubes, he has the tube turned the wrong direction..



AZ lists a orifice removal tool in their loaner tools.
Air Conditioning Loaner/Rental Tools for Cars, Trucks & SUVs

Be sure to get the proper color orifice tube.