It is starting to get hot and my ac only cuts on when it wants to. When I turn it on it will blow air but the compressor will run only about a 1/4 of the time. Sometimes the compressor will be running and then it just stops. If you look under the hood the compressor is not spinning when it is not blowing cold. I assume this is some type of electrical problem.
Have any of y'all ever encountered this or can you tell me where to start looking?
Thanks

 

Sounds like your low on refrigerant.

 

I 2nd the motion for low on freon. Get it charged before it gets too low. Is it R12 or R134a ? Just curious.

 

I was curious myself on the type in my 96 EB, does any one know? I was looking at the refill kits at WalMart and PepBoys, has any one ever used one? Is it difficult to change or fill ????
TIA
-Will

 

96 is R-134a, I’m not sure what year they switched but I know 93 was R-12. In the past I’ve always needed a license to purchase freon, but I have noticed those little cans at wall-mart. I wonder how that works out?

 

its easy
as for the r12, you need to take it to a shop to vaccume out the remaining coolant because it is hazardous to the ozone. get a R134A retrofit kit from any auto store and/or walmart. follow the directions that they give you. you will have to change the fill/recharge points (2 most times)from screw threaded to quick connect(sort of like pnumatic drill connectors)the new tips will come in your kit, they are just adapters to fit onto the screw threads. mostly, after it has been vaccumed, you need to keep a good vaccume, so dont let any air into the system when you put on the recharge hose while you recharge the system. The accumulator (cylindrical part of the system) will suck up all of the moisture in the air if you let too much air in while recharging and you will have to buy a whole new system(if you mess up, who cares, it needed to be fixed anyway)

As for weather your bronc has r12 0r r134, will01, I have never heard of any vehicle made after say 93 or even 94 to have r12. you will have r134 because it is the law after one of those years, im sure somebody can let you know exactly when the law was passed, if you need to know.

the licence for r12 is hard to get and if they sell it a walmart, it is not r12, but an r12 replacement or alternitave. If it IS r12, they have to ask to see your licence.

 

You have R134A in your 96. They stopped making R12 at the end of 95. Its next impossible to find not too mention $$$! Not sure which year Ford switched to 134A (94-95). Buy a can of 134-A at Walmart. Get a thermometer and stick it in the vent in side the cab. Turn on your system and take a reading, start charging it. You should see a valve on your cooling system that looks like a tire valve, thats the one you need. Depending on how low your refrigerant is you need to add appropriately. When your thermometer gets around 42-44F (depending on outside temperatures, shade-sun) you are getting close to a fully charged system. Remember its gonna be easier to add more later than to overcharge it and overload it. Add the 134 slowly to give the system time adjust. When I installed headers I reinsulated the condenser pack located on the firewall ( while I was there). I adjusted my inside vent temp lower by 4 degrees. I used HVAC foil tape. I would wait a few days and let someone else add to this thread. There might be some better ideas...I need to add some R12 to mine as well.

 

Thanks for all the help guys, but I am not sure if y'al understand. When I flip it to ac it blows air, but the compressor isn't engaged under the hood. Sometimes the compressor engages though, and when it does it blows cold. Would low coolant keep the compressor from runnig?

 

Yes. There is a saftey switch built in, because running the compressor with low refrigerant will damage it.

 

Either you have low pressure or the low pressure switch on the compressor is bad. The switch is not too difficult to change not something that would need a whole new compressor.

If your pressure is low then you have lost refrigerant which probably means that you have a leak somewhere.

You can probably get your system switched over to Freeze 12 easier rather than R-134a, not to mention that Freeze 12 does a better job at cooling than the R-134a.

 

Correction from my last comment. I reinsulated the evaporator on the firewall not the condenser. The condenser is in the front, behind the radiator.