I found an amazing deal on Ebay for a R-134a retrofit kit from Ford and I thought I would share this swap as my first ever story/write up here on FTE. It involves the installation of a redesigned A/C condenser, specialized air flaps, a new center support bracket, heavy duty fan clutch and an improved fan blade. I found a complete kit with the part number F1TZ-19D783-A. Here is the shortened text from the TSB:

TSB
98-4-8
AIR CONDITIONING - R-12 TO R-134A RETROFIT KIT AVAILABILITY - VEHICLES WITH FACTORY INSTALLED A/C ONLY
Publication Date: MARCH 2, 1998

FORD LIGHT TRUCK:
1988-1993 BRONCO, ECONOLINE, F SUPER DUTY, F-150-350 SERIES, RANGER

ISSUE:

This TSB article announces the Ford OEM air conditioning retrofit kit availability. Retrofit kits convert R-12 air conditioning systems to operate on R-134a refrigerant. All Ford kits are designed for specific vehicles and offer equivalent performance to the original R-12 system.

ACTION:

When a consumer inquires about a retrofit kit, refer to the following Charts to see if a kit is available from Ford. If the vehicle is not listed, a kit is not available from Ford.




I am using the F1TZ-19D783-A kit shown in this Ebay link:
New OEM FORD R-12 To R-134 A/C Retrofit Kit For 88-91 Bronco, F-Series 5.0L 5.8L

I will start this project sometime next week, add pictures and post results. Hopefully if anyone else with a 90's truck wants to do a similar conversion this will help.

 

Ok guys, I received the parts on Monday and performed the install on Friday. I've had two days worth of driving and testing the system to evaluate performance. I can confidently say the kit was worth it. I am getting consistently 45*F and lower at the vents - even at 100*F ambient temperature at idle in traffic. Here's what I had to do:



Welcome to my stall at the dealership! First step: recover refrigerant. I am also swapping radiators and took the time to drain the coolant.



The new condenser - basically from a 1994 F-150, which is designed for R-134a.



The new radiator, with a 2 1/2" core.



Fan shroud was already busted. Fan and clutch are out, read to remove the radiator and condenser.



Size matters! Old on bottom vs new on top.



With the truck empty, I added a new coolant temp sender made by Ford for a more accurate temp gauge reading.



I also removed the throttle body and installed a new gasket. Note the EGR buildup. I took the coolant line from the bottom and moved it to the radiator, bypassing the throttle body, and plugged the lines here with vacuum caps.



The kit came with unique air flaps to direct air through the condenser more efficiently. These helped a lot! Left side



Bottom



Right



The condenser is in place.



Almost put back together!



The kit supplied a badass seven blade fan and heavy duty fan clutch. The one in the kit was defective so I swapped it out with one from o'Reilly. Spark Surplus compensated me, which was nice.



Size matters!



Not a part of the TSB but I wanted to do this anyways. Newer vehicles include a heater control valve to keep hot coolant out of the area where the evap. core is. When MAX A/C is on the valve is shut, routing coolant back to the water pump.

 

So i am very very interested in this. But i have a few questions. Did you get new hoses also? And did the evaporator work with running 134? I dont imagine an issue. Did the compressor need to be updated to run the 134 n have no leaks? I saw you got a new condenser, was that required for the swap? And what radiator is that? I am needing to replace mine here before too long. I have all the certs and machines for a/c work, just curious as tp before i start trying to piece everything together. The kit you got was not abailable. Any idea where i could find that?

 

What was the point of doing this? My '94 U-150 was factory filled with R-134a and had the throttle body coolant lines hooked up. It would take a little while to initially cool off the Bronco interior but once it did it would stay cold.

 

I already had a new compressor, evap core, lines installed. The condenser is new and part of the kit. This was a rare find, I doubt there are more complete kits but I can tell you what to buy if you want to try this yourself.

 

This was not a procedure recommended by the TSB but I wanted to do it anyways. I asked my foreman, 30+years working at my dealership, he said the point of coolant in the throttle body was to reduce icing in cold climates during start up. I didnt want to risk a leak into my intake at some point and cause the engine to lock up from coolant intake.

 

i am all ears. Ive been wrenching for years now so i so have a very good understanding, especially in ac. What parts were used that i could find?

 

For the best results, use parts from a 1994-1996 F-series with the same engine. I found a lot of the other parts from O'Reilly/NAPA, and my Ford dealership for the others. That wpuld include compressor, high/low lines, condenser, evap core, blue fixed orifice tube and a R-134a clutch cycle switch. The air flaps will be nearly impossible to find but you can make some using foam or plastic cut to fit and secured with push in fasteners or zip ties. Also, I recommend finding a 7 blade fan like I show above, but you may have to go to a wrecking yard to find one. I got my cooling fan clutch for a 1995 even though mine is a 1991. And the heater valve will definitely help if you want to try it.

 

i live in michigan so ill be keeping my throttle body heated. What do you mean by clutch cycle switch? Are you meaning the switch in the ac line the tbrwads onto a schrader valve? And what rad did you use? I liked the thicker rad.

 

That doesn't make any sense to me: 30+ years at the dealership or not. The throttle body shaft in two of my trucks wore out from almost 30 years of use and didn't leak a drop of coolant. I have never heard of a throttle body leaking coolant internally. I live where it gets cold in the Winter so I wouldn't disconnect the lines from the throttle body.

 

When I looked at the inside face of the throttle body I saw two expansion plugs like those in our engine blocks and they had dried green residue (coolant). They are probably leftover holes from when they were cast. Either way I get peace of mind knowing it was done.

 

This is the clutch cycle switch. It mounts to the accumulator and turns off the compressor if the low side pressure drops too low. The radiator was from O'Reilly Auto Parts and it is designated as "for trucks with A/C". It had the incorrect radiator before the conversion.

 

yep thats tbe one i thought you were talking about. Alot of times tney are on the line. What did you find a difference on the red orfice and blue? I know one lowers pressure more than other i think, or is it red for 12 and blue for 134? I just wasnt finding my answer. I think this may be the next update on the truck. I would love to go electic fan but the fans can be so expensive.

 

Use the blue tube, trust me. I wouldnt try an electric fan, the mechanical works great as is.

 

I know this thread is a little old but I'm taking a long shot here. Do you happen to remember what the Ford part number is for the heater control valve? If not, then what vehicle is it off of?

Thanks