Praise the Lord for you still being here, you are right, he has mighty plans for you! It's my prayer that that my baby girl will be better someday. She had two different kinds of cancer, the most deadly one not being found until the results came back from the lab from her first surgery. She was treated with such a strong combination of chemo that it has left her body in very bad shape. She has severe neuropathy, too many lymph nodes were removed so she is in therapy twice a week in attempt to reroute some fluids to other areas, she is wrapped from her toes to the upper torso 23 hours of the day, so she is on a walker. Her tissue in her abdomen in necrotic (dying) due to the fact that it isn't getting enough blood supply. She stays so depressed, it's just so hurtful.


I wish I knew someone like that! It looks like I am going to have to break down and take it to a shop. I wish I hadn't spent so much on it trying to fix it myself! The truck looks like a tornado ran through it! Everything is still undone from putting the new stuff in! As soon as it was installed, and didn't work, it was like...forget it, get in the house out of the heat and have my crying spell!!


I will look for someone when I get home from work!

 

God bless her!

If you need local help for your truck, have you asked at your church? Often the preacher will announce a need like this if you let him know. You'd be surprised how many people are willing to step up and help

 

I haven't, since her diagnosis I have spent every bit of off time trying to help her, but that is something I need to do. She may know some people herself, but she moved away from the community we live in and hasn't seen too many of her old friends. I think I'll ask my son-in-law (other daughter) if he knows anyone, he is a contractor.
I didn't think of this, but I may find someone on Facebook, there may be a Ford repair group on there!
Thank you so much for your help and kind words, I'm headed for Facebook! No lunch for me today!

 

Did you ever get this fixed yet?

 

Unfortunately not yet, I went to Walmart to buy a multimeter, but here were so many different kinds, I couldn't figure out which one to buy! I thought I would go back to the Auto store, they would know which one
I should buy. If I can get one before the weekend then i can get up and start at daylight, before it gets too hot.

 

I know you're trying to tackle this job yourself but you might be better off taking it to a shop. Get it done and over with.

 

That sounds wonderful, but ot feasible for me right now. I am going to try his last thing and give up. I was looking for a car, but other things interfered wih that. I need to ge started back. Hopefully I'll find something soon.
I really do appreciate all the help i have gotten on this forum. Y'all have been a wonderful resource, even though I didn't get it fixed, I have "met" some very nice guys. 😊

 

Thanks a lot 4 great thread pops. Solved my problem with a minor tweak 2 ur solution. My truck had no spacers when I removed the front thingie. So I was forced 2 improvise. I'm sure it's only a temporary fix but it is workin like a charm 4 now. I put it on a lathe and milled it down till my air gap was at 25 and re-installed it and, wa-la. Cold ac. Thank u so much.

 

Very informative thread! My 2014 F350 just quit blowing cold and I cannot hear the compressor engaging. Did this air gap issue continue through to the 2014 models? I'm taking it to a trusted mechanic this afternoon and would love to find out it is something this simple. Then I can cancel the dealer appointment for tomorrow.. Air blows, just not cold. Checked clutch fuse and is ok. Not a door/control problem that I can tell. No sound of clutch engaging, THANKS!

 

Can you see the compressor turning when you turn the A/C on? In my case, the compressor WAS turning, but the clutch was slipping. Checking then rectifying the excessive air gap got mine blowing cold again. It's a quick check and fix - you don't even need to pull the belt. Feeler gauge and a 10mm (Mine was 10mm) socket wrench is all you need.

 

I just took it to Christian Brothers here in Houston who did the dye test and determined that I have a leak in the liquid line behind the passenger wheel well. I didn't even need to use the glasses to see the green splatter. So, while not as labor intensive as an evaporator adventure, it isn't going to be as simple as the air gap fix (which I'll have them check 'while in there'). I cancelled my dealership visit and will have Christian Bro's do the work later this week. Our frriends' son in law is the GM over there, so we trust them implicitly, never mind being cheaper and easier to schedule. Out of curiosity, does anyone know if it is easier to come in from the top or from the wheel well after removing the big guard?

 

Truth!

Eleven years after the above quoted post, I found this thread. My 2002 F-250's AC was imitating a low refrigerant level. It would blow cool for maybe 5 minutes and then blow ambient air. Then it would blow cool for a bit before returning to ambient air. I had added refrigerant but there was no change. After reading this thread and SpringerPop's page, I put the feeler gauge into the air gap and got a measurement of .060". I followed the steps and after removing one (and possibly the only, hard to be sure with old eyes) shim, the air gap dropped to .022". I drove the truck around all day in 90°F temps and the AC blew constant cold air, never dropping out into ambient air. My tube of blue Loctite had dried up and I had to spend $7 at the parts store for some blue Permatex thread lock but otherwise, this fix would have cost nothing!
I will get around to checking the refrigerant levels at some point but on an older vehicle, this is now my first step when looking into AC issues.

I initially joined a different forum that catered specifically to diesels as mine is a 7.3 Powerstroke but when I'd search the web for my issues, this site consistently gave the best responses so after a year of lurking, I had to join to post my appreciation.

 

Welcome to our little corner of cyber-space.

A friendly bunch hang their hats here.

Pop

 

Going to give this a try. My AC also has been intermittent. Sometimes it will blow cold then start blowing warm air out the vent. I see what you mean about the compressor engaging. I used a feeler gauge and was able to see a gap of 0.043 roughly, could be a little bit more but was just a little snug. Couple questions for whoever may have an answer...I've got a 2015 Super Duty by the way.

1. Is the truck supposed to blow cold air when in key is in the "ON" position? I noticed that the compressor does not engage when in the "ON" and blows warm air even set to "max AC". It will engage and blow cold once I start the engine and crank the vehicle over.

2. If I remove the compressor from the belt, will I need to recharge the system? I will try to remove the center bolt and shims from being in place (read another member did it without even removing the belt) but if I can't get it that way, if I remove the compressor from the located position, I just want to make sure I don't need to recharge the AC.

3. Would a recharge possibly be the issue? I still get cold air, but hit or miss. Usually though, I get cold air more often than not. Except I had a road trip and for 3 hours the AC did not work. Worked all day, then went out. Next morning did not work and then worked all day after that. When I say not working, it was just blowing out warm air instead of cold.

Thanks for all the help. First post and great thread even from 10 years ago!

 

If you disconnect the belt to the AC unit you will not have to recharge. The key must be on and the engine must be running in order to get cold air. I had a vehicle that was low on refrigerant because it had a very slow leak at one of the fittings from the factory. It would intermittently blow colder or hotter so you might have low refrigerant. Any honest mechanic that services A/C should be able to diagnose that for you.