2006 6.0

What's the easiest way to drain the pag oil out of the compressor? I recharged the system a few weeks ago and had it blowing ice cold air, but the clutch kept kicking on and off so I'm thinking the system needs oil so I'm going to start from scratch and see if that fixes the issue and if not I'll troubleshoot from there.

Thanks 🙂

 

Cycling compressor is one of the switches or the system pressure, not sure low oil would cause this. Have you checked the pressures?

One very common issue with these is the filter in the orfice tube, did you change that?

Honestly the only way to completely remove the oil and start new is to remove the compressor and manually drain it into a measuring cup. Remember to work the pulley as it is draining to assure its all out.

I believe the system takes 9oz total of PAG 46, but don't quote me.

You'll have the remainder in system and that calculation is another factor to your total ounces needed.

 

I did not change the filter so will do that and I had the pressures within range for the ambient temp. I'm not sure how long the system was non functioning before i got the truck 2 years ago, but the system holds vacuum after 6 hours and did get it blowing ice cold air, but the cycling gave me pause so I tried adding some red tek canned oil to the system which I now know was dumb so I want to start from scratch and add the proper liquid pag oil.

Figure I should just remove everything and drain as much oil as possible from the components then replace, vacuum down and make sure it holds vacuum and then turn pump back on and add oil to low side then add the refrigerant or could just add the oil to the compressor when i replace it i guess. Learning as I go as usual lol.

 

You could technically add oil to the compressor, recap it with the protective caps and reinstall.

I did not want the mess so I emptied the compressor, noted the amount and subtracted that from the total, up to you on how you want to do it.

I am not sure the compatibility of both oils and I remember reading a few years ago when I replaced my entire system new, PAG 46 was mandatory. Take it for what its worth I guess.

Definitely do yourself a favor and replace the orifice tube filter, I would almost bet that is your issue and it is partially clogged with the desiccant from the receiver-drier. Make sure and ORIENT it correctly and check orientation from a reliable source.

My ac would blow cold then warm, then cold, pressures were good and I finally said FK IT, got tired of the problems and replaced every bit of the system a few years ago.

Blows colder than new.

Good Luck

 

Just don't overcharge ...

 

Imo, and experience, messing with old ac components and mixing and matching new, old, how much oil is in the system?….. is almost a complete waste of time. Anytime I’ve done it personally, or just had a component swapped out by a shop, it doesn’t last long or work properly anyway.

As far as oil, without knowing the history of the truck, imo, you’re just guessing. There is a Ford TSB (97-10-5) for the OBS, any time you open the system to add 2-4 oz, not that applies to anything newer than ‘97, but it shows how out of whack a system can get on its own.

There are charts on line that should tell you how much oil to estimate is left in the components. Again, imo that’s a big assumption, who knows who has added what to it.

You can have it evacuated, change the orifice filter, and add refrigerant by the oz to the specs, while monitoring pressures - the only sure way of adding the correct amount of refrigerant. If the pressures get out of whack you know something is plugged up.

Don’t use the off the shelf refrigerant here in Canada now either. The auto store chains etc, you will never get the pressures correct. If you do/have used it, make sure to tell who ever is evacuating the system, they won’t want that mixed in with their 134. The off the shelf stuff is also flammable - it smells suspiciously like propane to me.

As of 2022, you can’t buy r134 off the shelf in Canada anymore, it was banned for sale here in quantities less than 20kg, so no one stocks it or sells it anymore. You have to order it in from the USA. You can find it on Amazon. Technically, it’s legal - you’re not buying it in Canada. I just bought a couple boxes of it from there a few months ago, it takes forever to get here on the slow boat. But it works well. Don’t forget to make sure you have a set of guages, vacuum pump, and a SELF SEALING tap, not the puncture type for those cans.



It’s expensive enough to not want to waste it. Make sure you have no leaks and are starting with a fresh system. You can try draining the compressor and then by math for the other components. If it were me, I’d just replace it all, it’s actually not that expensive. I won’t bother mixing and matching old and new components again in the future myself either.

Good luck.

 

I agree wholeheartedly on the cost of all components being worth the headache fighting if you'd like to start new. The worst part was opening up the box on the firewall and sealing it properly...very tedious.

With a 19 y.o. truck and not knowing its history, you may want to go that route IMO.

Hope the fix is easy, but AC is like plumbing....it never is.

 

Forgot to add :

If you’re using the universal replacement refrigerant for sale here now, the weight on the can IS NOT the weight of the refrigerant. That is the weight of the universal refrigerant. Read the fine print on the can and it will tell you the equivalent.

Ie: If for r134a, a 12 oz can may be the equivalent of 17oz of 134… and different for other types of refrigerant.

I can only imagine how many systems are over charged… with flammable refrigerant.

 

I am guessing the OP lives in Canada?

 

I could be mistaken, but I thought so…

Hence the Cdn Amazon r134… If I’m mistaken, ignore that part, lol.

 

Last time I did a full charge, I used a digital scale and measured the before and after weight of the cans. The 12oz by volume can was only 6 or 7 grams over 12oz by weight.

 

Yup I'm in Canada 🇨🇦

I've already purchased the red tek coolant stuff and the ac recharge manifold thing plus the vacuum pump so I'm going to try fixing it myself as I'm tired of paying shop prices and I have to do my ram 1500 as well which I have all brand new parts for aside from the functioning compressor so see how I do I guess and go from there lol.

If the R134a equivalent red tek stuff doesn't work then I'll order the good stuff from down south and try again.

Thanks fellas 👌

 

Yeah already noticed that on the can. I'm no genius, but not a dumb dumb either lol 😉🤣

Appreciate the heads up though 👍

 

Yea, definitely need a small scale. I measure the weight of each can full, then empty just to be sure. Or as I need on the last can to top off.

This ‘replicant’ refrigerant is terrible stuff, imho. I’ve tried it, and the pressures won’t match up either..

There are various brand names of it.

 

There's tons of posts online of guys doing their ac systems with this stuff successfully so I'm going to give it the old college try at least. Already spent the cash on everything, but it's always 3rd times the charm on these trucks lol so just cross my fingers and see what happens 😑