Hello all,
Welcome to the month of May. Since we got hardly any rain at all in April I don't expect to see many May flowers.

Jim

 

Is today May Day?

 

That means protesters are everywhere. In every flavor. For everything.

Stay away from high profile locations. Don't go to Oakland.

 

CCW was approved on Friday, they say it will take 1-4 weeks to get the permit and card via USPS.

Jim

 

Don't shoot anyone I wouldn't shoot.

 

LOL I don't plan on shooting anyone. However, I would rather have the weapon and not need it, then not have it, and need it.

Jim

 

Just something to keep in mind. If I discharge my firearm during the course of employment, my employer is liable for damage. Suppose I fire off a warning shot, and it hits the Goodyear blimp - you'll see that on the news........ In my own time, if I discharge my firearm, somebody could sue me for damages. Most idiotic claim I've ever seen? Someone returned to their parked vehicle, hours after an incident, and the area was still taped off. That person sued because she was traumatized, no longer felt safe, and was so emotionally distraught that she lost sleep, woke up in the middle of the night with bad nightmares, had breakdowns at work and eventually could no longer return to work..... which of course caused a loss of medical insurance, loss of income, and that turned into a personal bankruptcy and eviction. Remember that anyone could sue you, for anything, and it will cost you money to defend the lawsuit. You could easily rack up a quarter million in legal fees to prove that you did nothing wrong. Without mentioning any names - a civil jury once awarded $$$$$XXXXX to family members of 2 crime victims, even though the person that they sued did not commit the crime.

 

People shoot at the Goodyear Blimp all the time. Look it up!

 

If I fire a warning shot, I have already screwed up. The firearm is for self-defense in a life or death situation. Warning shots tell the attorney it wasn't life or death. Anybody can be sued, even OJ. Even though he was "found" innocent he still lost the civil suit. At the end of the CCW course there was a representative from a company called US Lawshield. For $10.00 a month they provide insurance in case I am sued due to my discharge of a weapon. Again, I don't plan on shooting anyone, but then, I do plan on being covered in case I am forced to. Similar to auto insurance. I don't plan on having an accident, but accidents by their very nature are just that, accidents. Besides, in this state it is mandatory to have auto insurance. It isn't mandatory to have firearm insurance but it sure makes a lot of sense to have it.

On another note, it looks like I will be getting the AC and heater problems fixed in the Ranger a week from Saturday. A friend of a friend works as a mechanic at the Fresno Mission repairing cars that are donated. He also buys cars from the mission cheap from time to time. (like a BMW for $500 cheap) Anyway, my friend took his Mustang there to have the AC fixed, and I got a chance to talk to him regarding the Ranger. He repairs vehicles on the weekends for a side job. Must be doing well too, I saw three BMW's there, as well as a Mercedes. Anyway, he is too busy this Saturday, but told me to bring it by a week from Saturday. Even if he has to put in a toggle switch from the compressor to the battery I am ok with it as long as the AC works. The Ranger looks like a work truck anyway, so it is no big deal to have an additional switch on the dash. And it will be nice to have AC in these brutal summers. Especially if I can't get the Stratus to pass smog and am forced to sell it.

Jim

 

That should not be the solution.

​​​​​​​HVAC is not that complicated. Just a lot of work. With a lot of Fords, it's a problem behind the dashboard. Wiring harness, switching, and those little actuator motors. Take out the radio, and the dash should come apart. Every once in awhile, there may be a bad compressor. Sometimes, a bad condenser. Or leaks in the lines. The hard part is all the work of taking off and moving other parts out of the way.

 

The computer is not telling the compressor to turn on. Yes, a toggle switch shouldn't be the solution, but I don't want to buy a new computer even if I could find one for a 30 year old truck.

Jim

 

In my old Explorer, the AC went out. With no experience at all, on just gut feeling, I pulled the dash apart. I had no idea what I was doing. I unplugged harnesses, sprayed them with some sort of electrical contact cleaner spray. Then added dielectric grease. I put everything back together. It still didn't work.

I went to a shop. I don't know if they ripped me off. They said that they purged the lines and added new refrigerant chemical.

According to the guy on the internet making YouTube videos, the computer will not allow the AC to turn on when the chemical is low. That almost sounds like it makes too much sense. According to the mechanic at the shop, it's not as simple as buying a can of chemical from the store, and adding it yourself. He said that whatever is currently in the lines needs to be purged and recovered. Then you can all new chemical, and get the correct amount of pressure. He laughed and said something about that's why shops have machines that cost thousands of dollars. You just can't do it with a $20 can from the auto parts store.


therangerstation.com and explorerforum.com has quite a bit of information regarding the older models.

https://www.wheelsjoint.com/ford-ran...how-to-fix-it/

 

Right after I got the Ranger running last year, the AC worked the first time I used it. Then it stopped. I took it to an AC repair shop (they only repair AC and heaters) and was told the system was full of freon but needed a relay. I bought the relay at O'Reilly's and installed it myself. Still no AC. I took it back to the shop. that is when he told me the computer is not telling the compressor to turn on. Since I had already received the Stratus by then and all it needed was a freon charge, I did not mess with the ranger. Just used the Stratus when I needed AC. However, the Stratus will need to be smogged in July, and I am pretty sure it will fail. It burns too much oil. So, if I am forced to sell it, I want the AC working in the Ranger. I am unable to do much work on vehicles these days, so I have to pay someone. This guy works cheaper than any shop, so I will go to him. Besides, the shop I went to didn't even fix it.

Jim

 

It doesn't sound like that shop is very good.

I suspect that more diagnostics is needed.

And maybe not go back to that 1st shop. Get a 2nd opinion if you have the time. See what another shop thinks.

 

The pressurized part of the AC system is not something that I will work on myself. I don't even want to add a can of refrigerant.