There was a post about making a duct to help cool the engine bay,does anybody remember it.I keep having compressors fail.I have replaced and flushed parts till I am almost CRAZY! So if anybody can help save me from my Aerostar,THANKS,

 

The best place to do something like this would be putting louvers in the hood. Otherwise, the normal air flow out of the engine compartment would be through the wheel wells, and then under the van.

I read somewhere (here?) that if you are experiencing frequent compressor failures, and you're sure that your AC system has been cleaned of crud, you should check your fan clutch. If it's not working properly, it's not going to pull air through fast enough, meaning the air that does flow through will be hotter than normal. This will be harder on everything in the engine compartment, especially parts near the front.

 

Also, if you have rear AC, it is almost impossible to flush the whole system. I would suspect if you are having multiple failures, that something is slipping through. I would install an inline AC filter to prevent crud from circulating back through the system.

 

I have replace the condensor,remove and flushed both evaporators,replace the hoses(all of them)replaced the accumulator,installed an extra inline filter as per TSB,6 gallons of Ford approved flush. I have been working on cars for over 30 years and never have I had one this difficult.The fan clutch is good.Help

 

When you say your compressors fail, do you mean that they just stop compressing, make a lot of noise, or do they grenade, sending shrapnel throughout the system? Are you getting rebuilt compressors? If so, maybe you want to look at a different source?

I'm not sure if it's possible to completely flush the evaporators or the condenser. They are all parallel tube design.

When I was fixing my AC last year, I ordered a compressor from eBay. I told the seller explicitly NOT to pre-charge it with PAG lube, since I was still using mineral oil in my R12 replacement system. Mixing the two can cause the compressor to fail very quickly. I get the compressor and guess what? It was filled with PAG lube. I flushed it out completely several times with mineral spirits first, then a couple times with mineral oil. Then I installed it with fresh mineral oil, and charged it up. It's still working a year later (which is a lot longer than any previous repairs made by Ford or myself).

 

new compressors -Visteon. The inline filter start showing black and I unplug the compressor so it doesn't go thru the system.I am checking the inline filter daily.I have set the system up on R134a freon. The flush that ford recommends dries without leaving a residue.