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1987 - 1996 F150 & Larger F-Series Trucks 1987 - 1996 Ford F-150, F-250, F-350 and larger pickups - including the 1997 heavy-duty F250/F350+ trucks

AC Redo, tips please?

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Old Jul 30, 2016 | 10:24 AM
  #1  
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AC Redo, tips please?

I'm getting ready (waiting for vac pump on Amazon) to redo my AC. Shop says compressor is acting strange, it replaces compressor which blew up, that shop said they "vac'ed the system for a really long time" So I'm going to flush the lines, condenser and evaporator, replace compressor, dryer, orifice tube and o-rings. I have gauges, necessary tools, refrigerant, oil, flushing solvent etc.

I want to make sure that I'm adding oil in the right amounts at the right points when I go to put this all back together.

Original manual (r-12) states 11 oz total oil, Napa guy says 10 oz

1989 F250 460 converted r134a long time ago
This system is only 4 years old - done by a shop - I want to make sure it's don right this time. Thanks in advance for any help, particularly specs.
(the process in general I understand from YouTube, really looking for specifics for these trucks, since I'm getting different answers so far..)
 
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Old Jul 30, 2016 | 03:18 PM
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The shop replaced the compressor and you are going to replace the replacement compressor again because it won't hold vacuum? Not holding vacuum means that there is a leak in the system. Did they not already replace the receiver/drier and Orifice tube due to the old compressor coming apart? I'm not sure I'm understand what was done.

Ideally, you should drain the oil out of the old components and then put that amount back in.
 
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Old Jul 30, 2016 | 04:35 PM
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The shop replaced the compressor 4 or 5 years ago, and it does hold pressure, in fact it just went bad recently. It has been recharged and holds pressure, but I'm getting around 64 degrees out of the vents on a not all that hot day. The tech who looked at it said that the gauges indicated an internal problem with the compressor. Other than the trip home from the previous shop, the air was never all that cold, I'm assuming this was because they did not bother with a complete flush of the system, they just drew vac on it for a couple of hours, knowing the last one had burnt up. This is why I do as much of my own work as possible anymore. The vacuum I referred to is the procedure to draw moisture from the system. It does not however deal with residue, which was not addressed last time and caused premature failure of the system.
 
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Old Jul 30, 2016 | 06:40 PM
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Yes it sounds like debris that was left in the system possibly wiped out the compressor. I agree that I would also replace accumulator and orifice tube and then flush out the lines, evaporator and condenser as best as I could.

Drawing a vacuum is not to just 'boil' off any moisture in the system but to check how well sealed up the system is and to remove air so that you can fill with the proper amount of refrigerant.
 
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Old Jul 31, 2016 | 01:29 PM
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Thanks. Planning to to this this week, once all the Amazon stuff shows up...
 
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