I had an 89 Ford F250 with a 460 in it that I just recently put new air conditioner system in but it was in a wreck. After that I bought at 93 Ford F350 with the 7.3 non-turbo diesel that the air conditioner system went out on the other day I try to use the air conditioner compressor from the 89 Ford and put it on the 93 Ford and I was wondering if that will work? Even with the system in the 93 Ford uncharged I still had it plugged up and My daughter drove it today and turned the air conditioner on and it actually turned it on even with an uncharged system. It started making a lot of squeaking noises from the clutch. I pulled the belt off and I tried to spin the clutch freehand and it would spin counterclockwise pretty easily but it would not spin clockwise without getting hung up. I tried looking at Belt diagrams of the 460 engine versus the 7.3 diesel engine one diagram indicated that the 460 belt diagram turned the opposite direction but I don’t know that that’s true. When I go on to buy a new compressor it does say that the ones for the 89 Ford are not compatible with the 93 Ford and vice versa although they look identical. All that being said I know the system should not have turned on with no pressure on it but that’s a whole other issue I’m just wondering if this compressor is compatible or if I compressor in general should be able to spin either direction freely I’m worried that it got turned on with no pressure on it and might be burnt up now.

 

Its not the lack of pressure in the system that would have caused an issue, but if there wasn't any oil in there (due to no refrigerant/oil mix) then it could have burnt out the compressor. The oil mixes in with the refrigerant and circulates through the system, but also leaks out with the refrigerant. Also need to figure out why the 93 stopped working in the first place.....? Did it just leak out, or did the compressor go. If the compressor went and you just swapped in a new one without cleaning out/replacing the rest of the system, you've signed the death warrant on whatever compressor you put on there.
I'm also not sure what you mean by having the AC "plugged up" was the clutch plugged in? or do you mean there were plugs in the ports on the compressor.

As to them rotating different directions, I have no clue... But I think you may have damaged the 89 compressor....

You may want to look into upgrading the system to R134a instead of using the older R22 (or is it R12?) I swapped out the condenser, compressor, dryer, and lines on my 93 for ones from a 94+ system (that would have had factory R134a) I kept the evaporator, but pulled it from the heater core and flushed it really well. AC damn near froze me out after that, although I do have to chase down a small leak this spring when it warms up again.

 

^^^THIS^^^

When you buy AC components from the auto parts store they don't offer a warranty with their parts unless you buy multiple components AND new refrigerant/oil.

You should be able to detect the clutch engage when someone turns on the AC. If the clutch engages you need to put a set of gauges on the system and see what the pressures are. Most auto parts stores rent R134A gauges and sometimes they rent R12 gauges too. It's a different connector.

I don't suggest swapping to R134A. I converted a 90 Buick Estate Wagon I had and it never cooled well. R12 isn't impossible to find now like it was 20 years ago. Plus, you can even get Freeze12 from Canada (I think it's R12A) that's designed specifically for R12 systems.

I put Freeze12 in my 86 F250 when I bought it and it worked great. It just all leaked out again.

 

The original compressor still works but the electrical plug was not making good contact. So I took this opportunity to put on a newer compressor.
the refrigerant leaked out when I moved the compressor bracket too much and the high pressure line busted.
I had plans to replace the other major components too.
Having the AC “plugged up” I just meant plugged in.

 

If you're replacing the other AC components do you plan on buying a vacuum pump to install your own refrigerant, or are you going to take it to a shop after replacing the hoses, drier, etc?

 

vacuum pump