A/C help 5.4l
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Posting Guru
Joined: Mar 2010
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From: Upstate NY
A/C help 5.4l
My current superduty is an 04 with 64k miles on it, I bought it off the orig owner 3 months ago with 61k
It would sit for 6 months out of the year so lots of things deteriorated, I bought it know the a/c didn't work
I am in upstate ny but we may be moving to arkansas, I want to get the a/c working
What I can tell you so far is.. I hooked up my gauge to the low side with engine off 34psi turn truck on, max a/c and blower maxed pressure does not change it stays at 34 psi
So I then unhooked the sensor near the low pressure port on the canister and shorted it and my compressor will turn on which is good
I am thinking that there is not enough refrigerant/coolant in the system to make that sensor trip and activate the compressor clutch
I'm sure the o rings deteriorated and there is a leak which caused this
Should I get a can of r134a and try to recharge the system from the low pressure side? And see how long it takes to leak back out, I believe some of them have dye for a uv light
Comments/ suggestions please , thanks
It would sit for 6 months out of the year so lots of things deteriorated, I bought it know the a/c didn't work
I am in upstate ny but we may be moving to arkansas, I want to get the a/c working
What I can tell you so far is.. I hooked up my gauge to the low side with engine off 34psi turn truck on, max a/c and blower maxed pressure does not change it stays at 34 psi
So I then unhooked the sensor near the low pressure port on the canister and shorted it and my compressor will turn on which is good
I am thinking that there is not enough refrigerant/coolant in the system to make that sensor trip and activate the compressor clutch
I'm sure the o rings deteriorated and there is a leak which caused this
Should I get a can of r134a and try to recharge the system from the low pressure side? And see how long it takes to leak back out, I believe some of them have dye for a uv light
Comments/ suggestions please , thanks
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Posting Guru
Joined: Mar 2010
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From: Upstate NY
Also I didn't think to look at the gauge when I tripped the safety switch to see if it dropped when the clutch engaged
I didn't want to keep the compressor engaged for long but maybe that is something that needs to be known?
I didn't want to keep the compressor engaged for long but maybe that is something that needs to be known?
Elder User
Joined: Sep 2012
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From: Philly, PA USA
with the truck off the psi should read about 100 on low side. 34 sounds quite low, so by that it sounds like system is low in freon. If you have access to dual gauge tool even better. Truck off, both high and low sides should read the same. truck on with compressor running psi should be anywhere between 32-45 on low side depending on ambient temp...hotter outside, higher the psi. and about 210-230 i believe on high side (been a little while)
Lead Driver
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 6,676
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From: Milford, MI
Give your ac system components a good look over. If you have a significant leak you'll have an oily spot or fitting. But since you have some pressure I don't think you'll find any. Recharge and monitor. As a side note when my last truck (a 2000 SD) got to that age I had to recharge the system every two years or so, never could figure out where it was going (evaporator my guess) but a leak that small wasn't worth much effort to fix.
Hotshot
Joined: Jan 2004
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From: St Louis
Static pressure depends on the ambient temperature. If it was cold out (39°), 34 psi is completely normal. In order to get a static pressure of 100 psi, the ambient temp would have to be 88°. The cycling switch isn't supposed to engage until about 45 PSI which correlates to an ambient temp of 49°.
Therefore, postpone any service activities until your weather warms up, otherwise you will waste time and money.
Therefore, postpone any service activities until your weather warms up, otherwise you will waste time and money.
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Posting Guru
Joined: Mar 2010
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From: Upstate NY
Static pressure depends on the ambient temperature. If it was cold out (39°), 34 psi is completely normal. In order to get a static pressure of 100 psi, the ambient temp would have to be 88°. The cycling switch isn't supposed to engage until about 45 PSI which correlates to an ambient temp of 49°.
Therefore, postpone any service activities until your weather warms up, otherwise you will waste time and money.
Therefore, postpone any service activities until your weather warms up, otherwise you will waste time and money.
It was 57* F when I was doing this stuff yesterday when it showed 34psi, so it should have been more then right?
I will postpone until after this weekend our weather is funny right now, one dy it's 55 the next it's 35 lol
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Hotshot
Joined: Jan 2004
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From: St Louis
Yeah, at 57° F static pressure should have been higher - there's a rough but not entirely linear correlation between ambient temp and static pressure.
You might want to check out the HVAC FAQs, the link is in my signature.
You might want to check out the HVAC FAQs, the link is in my signature.
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I am an HVAC technician by trade so I'll give you a little free advice.
1) Only 2 things should go into the system. Refrigerant and Oil.
The refrigerant must be R-134A. it should not contain any leak sealer, UV dye, super lubricant, Viagra, etc.
It should not be a R-134A substitute.
The refrigerant oil used in an R-134a refrigerant system is a polyalkylene glycol (PAG) oil meeting Ford specification WSH-M1C231-B or equivalent.
You can purchase recharge kits which have both R134-a refrigerant and PAG oil in the can and this is acceptable but at most use only 1 can with oil and if a second can is needed use refrigerant only.
If there is no visible oil loss charge only with refrigerant to prevent excessive oil in the system.
When charging the system using their instructions err on the low side of the scale. your A/C will be colder than on the high side of the scale.
1) Only 2 things should go into the system. Refrigerant and Oil.
The refrigerant must be R-134A. it should not contain any leak sealer, UV dye, super lubricant, Viagra, etc.
It should not be a R-134A substitute.
The refrigerant oil used in an R-134a refrigerant system is a polyalkylene glycol (PAG) oil meeting Ford specification WSH-M1C231-B or equivalent.
You can purchase recharge kits which have both R134-a refrigerant and PAG oil in the can and this is acceptable but at most use only 1 can with oil and if a second can is needed use refrigerant only.
If there is no visible oil loss charge only with refrigerant to prevent excessive oil in the system.
When charging the system using their instructions err on the low side of the scale. your A/C will be colder than on the high side of the scale.
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