1988 E150 5.0
I started replacing all the AC compoinets on my van today. I was amazed how easy the condenser was. The evaporator is another story. I removed the battery, all wiring harness tie wraps, blower motor, anything i could get loose to give me room to remove the evaporator housing. I even had to pull the connector from the ECM as the lower part of the housing has a cut out where it fits over the ecm.
Finally I got the housing loose from the firewall. After much struggling I managed to get the housing out of the engine compartment and replaced the evaporator coil..

Now the problem is getting it back in..
I fought with it quite a while to get it out. I remember somehow getting it in the position where the coil was facing upwards and then turned it 180 degrees and was able to tilt it out..

Does anyone have experience ding this on a 88?

Thanks
Anna

 

No joy, Anna, closest I could find was blower motor in the Tech folder:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post10403979
jim

 

Thanks Jim! I managed to get it back in.. It is hard to explain how I got it back in because i tried twisting and turning it for quite some time but i did come to a point where it was almost there. It lacked about a 1/4" fitting under the crowl so I took 2 flat screwdrivers and pried it in there..... Didn't break or bend anything..

there was also a place for a drain tube to fasten on to at the bottom but it had no hose. I went to HD and bought some 1/2 ID clear tubing and managed to get it connected.
Boy changing that evaporator was a job... If the engineer wold have just allowed 1/2" more space it would be easy..

Well for now its blowing cold air!
I am going to go back through some of my older posts and follow up with a few of them.. i don't know if you remember or now when I was ordering parts I found a manifold hose that specified for 5.8 engine.. The only difference between my old one and this one was the bend in the suction line that comes off the manifold, the new one had a lower angle to the bend. WE decided it might be for clearance reasons as the 5.8 sits higher then the 5.0..
Well there was a clearance issue using the 5.8 hose on the 5.0.. The lower bend hit the top of the distributor before It could be bolted down to the compressor...
Well having already installed the dryer and wanting to get it vacuumed down, I took the hose to the shop and tweaked it just a bit! Now I have an inch clearance above the plug wires on the distributor cap and no visible damage to the tube..

That leads me to believe that either the 5.8 compressor mounting bracket is just a little different from the 5.0 or else the distributor is..

 

I have done it. I am not sure I could explain it to anyone other than you don't need to stand on your head. However you are going to do everything else.


Did you install with the receiver drier connected or install the RD after installing the box?


Regarding hose routing - my vote is the compressor mounting bracket is different.


Congrats on a very difficult job!


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