Could someone tell me where to put the refrigerant in for my 2003 excursion with the 5.4. If I'm correct it goes in at the top of the accumalator on the back right next to the firewall and the blower motor. i know how much, I jjust need to confirm where it goes. I'm putting leak detector in it to find out why it leaked out. Also, I don't think it had anything to do with it, but someone may know different. I changed out the blower motor this winter, could that have possibly been the reason it leaked out. thanks for the help.

 

I have an 04' with the 5.4 and I added mine on the accumulator, but I'm having issues with my a/c right now too. I used a sniffer to try to find the leak, and didn't find anything.

 

Yes the low side fitting is on top of the accumulator and no just changing a blower motor would not cause the refrigerant to leak out as long as you did not damage to evaporator coil when changing blower. What is the psi reading when you connect gauge not running?

 

I haven't connected a gauge yet, the blower motor came out pretty easy. It was making noise and rattling. When I pulled it out and inspected it, it was just the fan wobbling. I replaced the whole thing, but kept the motor for the old one till I get a new fan for it. I'm going to try to add refrigerant to it with that leak detector and see what happens. Just needed to confirm where it went. I'll tel you what though, ford did a good job in hiding the compressor. Unless I'm blind or something.

 

There should be no need to add dye to the system. It already has UV dye in it from the factory. Look around with a UV light, the leak area should light up nicely. The yellow tinted glasses make it much easier to see the glow.

Pay close attention to the compressor body and shaft seals.You might need to pull the clutch hub from the compressor to see the shaft seal leakage.

 

Look for oil accumulation around the a/c lines. They should be clean. If there is oil around them a leak is present.First try tightening the fitting down ,then make a soapy solution and dab around the fitting,and see if any bubbles are present,which means you have a leak. If you had a fitting loose and leaking on the high side,you probably didnt get any air in the system . If the leak is on the low side it probably sucked in air, and the system will probably have to be put on a vacuum pump to get ride of the air and noncompressable's.

 

But the pressure switch should stop the system from running in a vacuum on the low side so this may not the case.

 

I didn't say the a/c system is running in a vacuum. I said if there was a leak on the low side of the system air could have entered. It will still work,but not very well. If you charge a system with leaks still present you didn't fix anything. The proper way is to find the leak and repair it. Then you must put the system on a vacuum of 30"(29.92" to be exact) to remove all air and nons, prior to adding refrigerant. Yes yo are correct that the pressure switch will shut the system off,if there is insufficient refrigerant in the system causing low pressure.

 

If the low side is running in a positive pressure how would air enter the system?

 

It's on the suction side (low side) Low pressure low temp

 

But unless it runs in a vacuum it wont draw in air.

 

If it's running below 14.7 psi it could.

 

Refrigeration gauges reading in absolute pressure is news to me.