Adding A/C
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Adding A/C
I have a 92 f-150 that did not come out with factory air. I just purchased a 96 parts truck and was going to attempt to add the a/c system from it to my 92. However after looking up numbers I have found that the part numbers are not the same. Does anyone know if I can make this system work or do I need to try to find something from a 92.
It looks like the plug for the compressor and accumulator switch are already in place on my truck. Can I just plug these things in and will it work? Any info would be helpful. Thanks.
It looks like the plug for the compressor and accumulator switch are already in place on my truck. Can I just plug these things in and will it work? Any info would be helpful. Thanks.
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I've done this swap in reverse.I pulled the a/c out of a wrecked 92 and put it in my 96.I don't know what engine you have.My 96 and the 92 both had 300's.I pulled the a/c out of the 92 first to figure out where all the bolts were.It required pulling the rad, the right inner fender and the right kick panel.The harness connecters are under the kick panel.Use the controls out of the parts truck.Your dash harness already has the plugs.I got lucky with mine having a 300 as my buddy and I were able to lift the whole system, still charged, and drop it in my 96.The only wiring change I made was to install a toggle switch in line with the compressor clutch wire as I don't care to have the a/c run in defrost mode as most modern vehicles do.Hope this helps.
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Yes it does. Both of my trucks have the 300 also. So if i understand you correctly, i will need the AC/heat controls and wiring from the 96 and then they will just plug into the harness connetors that are under the kick panel?
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Yes the controls are a plug in.The wiring harness was attached to the evaporater case and we just lifted it all together.There is at least vacuum connecter involved but it was a plug in also.Since I now know what engine you have I'll also suggest you swap the water pump pulleys.The pulley for the a/c equipped truck is larger to slow the circulation down and allow the coolant more time in the radiator.Mine tended to run hot in traffic after the conversion.I traced it to the wrong pulley.I'll keep monitoring this thread in case you have more questions.Hope this helps.
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After getting a look at the donor truck I have discovered that the evaporator case is busted due to the truck rolling over. All of the other stuff (compressor, condensor and hoses) look good. In searching through car-parts.com database, it looks like the 88-93 have the same evaporator and the 94-97 have the same. Do you know what the differance is? I am hoping that the physical size is the same so that I can just get another evaporator and case from a 96 at a salvage yard.
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The only difference I know of is the older systems used R12 refrigerant.94 and up used R134A.The case from my donor truck bolted right up to the firewall with out any modifications.If my memory is correct R134A is not quite as efficient as R12 and requires a larger volume of refrigerant.This in turn would theoretically require a slightly larger evaporator.
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Thanks very much. Thats what I was hoping. I am going to get a new evaporator and case and see what happens.
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OK. I got the evaporator and case in and ran the wires and vaccume lines that go through the evap. case inside to my plugs. All of the heater controls work great and the evap. fit perfectly. (Although not an easy job). In looking at the water pump pullys I notice that the one on my 92 non-AC truck is larger than the 96 that I'm taking the AC from. Should I leave the large one on or swap them out? Also, if I leave the large one on, will the belt be long enough?
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Swap the pulley out and use the belt (or a new one) from the 96.When I first did my swap I wound up playing musical belts untill I found one that worked.It was after that I learned about the difference in the pulleys.At the time I did the swap my 96 was in the driveway and the parts truck was behind my buddy's shop about 15 miles away.Sound like the rest of it is working out fine.
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I got the compressor installed but am having a problem figuring out how things are suppose to be wired. The plug for the compressor is already there on my 92 so I just puged it in. There is a plug up by the evaporator with a purple and a black/yellow wire that pluged into the accumulator. But there are also two more plugs in that area (both with purple and black/yellow wires that I can't figure out where they plug into. Also down by the compressor there is some type of pressure sensor that had a plug on the 96 comming out of the wiring harness, but I can't find it on my 92.
I was thinking that I could just jump across the plug that goes to the accumulator and get my compressor clutch to kick in, but it is not doing it. The fuse is in the fuse box for the A\C system. Are there anymore fuses for it? Any suggestions?
I was thinking that I could just jump across the plug that goes to the accumulator and get my compressor clutch to kick in, but it is not doing it. The fuse is in the fuse box for the A\C system. Are there anymore fuses for it? Any suggestions?
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Apparently I hit this same thing and forgot about it.I have two extra plugs on the evaporator case harness.One plug is round and has 1 purple and 1 black wire.The other is square with 1 red/yellow wire.As far as I know these are for options that weren't on either truck.Now, the part I forgot.I ended up running a wire from the load side of the low gas switch (on top of accumulater) to the hot (positive) side of the compresser plug.I used a meter to determine which side of the compresser plug was ground then ran the wire to the other terminal.To figure out which terminal was hot on the low gas switch I set the controls to a/c with the key on and checked for voltage.The wire I added is hooked to the other terminal.This should allow the system to work as designed.At the time I did the swap the only diagrams I could come up with were not clear enough to find the difference.
Sorry about the lag time for a response.I checked in late (for me) and didn't have time to run outside to look.
Sorry about the lag time for a response.I checked in late (for me) and didn't have time to run outside to look.
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