My AC quit working and upon getting serviced at my friends house he noticed that the ac clutch was barely moving but not fully engaging. If he gave it a little tap it would start spinning. I have been reading other AC clutch threads on here and am wondering could my problem be caused by an excessive air gap or could there be another problem? Truck has 165,000 miles. Also, maybe a coincidence or maybe not, while working on the ac I realized my alternator had died. Put a new alternator in and found out that one was bad also. Could the alternator not charging keep the ac clutch from engaging properly?

Thanks, Steve

 

Both can cause the problem you are having .
Get the charging system working properly first , the gap can be adjusted with shims , either adding or removing .

 

Thanks, new alternator tested fine so battery and alternator must have died together. I'll replace both tonight and see what happens.

 

Put in new battery and alternator. Good news is the ac works, bad news is the battery light is still flashing on and off and only 12 amps at the battery. What could be the issue?

 

I also noticed this wire that appears to be lose and maybe connects to that black piece. Is this an issue?

The connector right below the oil cap has a black wire coming off of it that isn’t connected to anything. It looks like it potentially used to connect to that little black thing right behind it?

 

Looks like an RFI cap. It just keeps the ignition system from making too much electrical noise that might, for example, drown out AM radio reception. Not essential for engine operation or for the charging system to function.

As far as the battery not charging, either the alternator is still bad, something is hooked up wrong, or there's a fault in the control circuits.

Have you gone through the diagnostic procedure?

 

My AM radio reception is terrible when the truck is running. I have not gone through the diagnostic procedure. Where do I find that? The alternator was tested at Autozone and was ok they said.

 

Can I order a new RFI Cap and if so what should I search for? I tried searching for RFI cap on Autozone website and nothing came up. Is there another name for it?

 

I did a diagnostic I found on another thread that tells me that all of my wires from the alternator are intact including fusible links. The conclusion from the author is that my alternator is bad even if it tested out ok so I'm going to changeout my alternator with another new one. Hopefully that works!

 

You probably won't find it at an auto parts store.

Ford Part No.: F6AZ-18801-A

Again, not the issue with your A/C.
Have the drone behind the parts counter test it on their machine before you leave the store. Significantly improves your odds of getting a serviceable alternator.