Trying to get the truck running for the Tech meet on Saturday here in San Antonio.

I need to replace my compressor, pulley seized up, and just going to replace the whole thing b/c I believe the compressor is bad anyway.

This is a LOW Budget, so I'm looking for DIY with a used or a reman.

2003 V10 F250. Thanks

Or if you in SA and know how to do it, and willing to come help a brother out, that would be awesome!

 

Post me your email and i'll send you the pages from the Ford Shop Manuel in PDF form.

 

If there is any chance there was internal damage to the old compressor and it let pieces of debris loose, I strongly advise against used or reman.... unless you're willing to do it again. And again. And again. Even one little piece of shrapnel left in the system will take out the new compressor.

Experience has shown doing a low budget AC repair turns out to be very expensive in the long run. Do it right and do it once. Do it HA and you will be doing it several times.

Also, let the person who is going to do the vacuum/recharging install the new parts so they do not have any one else to blame if it goes sideways.

 

Easy to say, until you're laid off like myself and now have to work a BS job that doesn't cover the bills.

PM sent with my e-mail CC

 

**Let first say that I do not recomend the following, however in an emergency, it can get you by. If you try it, it is at your own risk, because you can ruin a replacement compressor if it doesn't work right...

I once had to do my wife's compressor and didn't have access to anyone who could do the vaccum charging of the system. In my case, a leak had already evacuated the refrigerant, so I didn't have to worry about this. if your system is currently charged, you may be up the proverbial creek. I would not try to evacuate the system yourself as you would be dumping the refigerant into the air, and I would assume it is probably not healthy to breath.

Normally, once the compressor is on, you have an AC tech recharge your system with a vaccum system that pulls all of the air out and fills it with the riight amount of refigerant to bring the system up to pressure. Understand that the refigerant contains the lubricant for the inside of your compressor, so if you try to run it without any kind of a charge, you can sieze up a brand new compressor. Your truck is going to have a couple of safety sensores (a low pressure and a high pressure) that prevent the compressor from engaging unless there is adequate refigerant. What I did was simply go to Wal Mart and bought several cans of refigerant. Before I mounted the compressor, I 'sprayed' some of the refigerant into the compressor so that there was at least some in it. After mounting the compressor, I then hooked a can up to the low pressure connector, just as you normally would when recharging your system. Without the compressor running, it realy doesnt fill the system. So, I simply used a screw driver to open the high pressure valve. Since this is on the opposite end of the system, it allow air to escape, while the pressurized can forced refigerant in. I felt reasonably confident that after the can emptied that I had at least enough to keep the compressor lubricated. In order to bring it up to pressure, I unplugged the low pressure switch and shorted it so that the compressor would turn on when I turned the AC on. At that point, I was able to bring the entire system up to normal pressure by adding a few more cans of refigerant.

The problem with this is that it still leaves air in the system which can cause damage. So, I then took it to the local shop the following week and had them evacuate and recharge the whole thing for $90.

Again, this is something I would not normally try. I was in a situation that I needed to get the wife's Explorer back up and running in very short order before leaving town for a business trip in the middle of our heat wave.

 

Thanks, I had a leak at one of the connections (probably bad seal from o ring) then it just gave out and my pulley seized and shredded my belt. I have a guy who canrechaege it, but he is busy and don't have enough to pay him to do the whole thing. Or else I would trust me. Working on vehicles isn't my thing.

 

Thanks for the e-mail CC.

Question though...If I replace the compressor/pulley and DO NOT use my A/C, will the shavings get into my compressor without it running? Basically right now I just need my truck to run, so I need a working pulley. So if I replace and run the truck withOUT A/c on, can I drive it to my buddies shop who can flush everything and recharge it the right way without ruining the new compressor before I even use it? Or is it a MUST (even if not running the A/C) to flush everything before installing the new compressor?

 

Also, any tips on a tool that is easier to fit into the small opening to get that a/c manifold off? Or just a small pair of hands the only solution?

 

Just keep your new comp unplugged,it will not engage while u drive,good idea to replace dryer and expansion valve.keep us posted.

 

I'm laid off too.........i can relate. When I bought my truck it had an A/C bypass pulley on it. Not knowing any history and planning on keeping the truck, I put a new compressor, dryer, orifice tube, all O-rings, and flushed the whole system. From start to cold air took me about 5hr.

Wouldn't buy a rebuilt.

Tell ya what, when I bought my truck the previous owner gave me a compressor he bought from the junkyard and had planned to install. Clutch seems smooth and looks clean inside... you want it, pay shipping and it's yours.

 

PM being sent! Thanks for the heads up.

 

I guess you can't receive PM's for some reason, e-mail me @ jorden_espinoza@yahoo.com

Shipping (overnight or 2-day) to 78250.

 

Dunno why I can't receive PM's ? For $11 should go in a medium flat rate priority box (3 day). Anything faster is gonna cost ALOT more.

 

Just did some research, in 2002 ford changed from a 8 groove belt to a 6. Wouldn't have thought that, but glad I checked.