Question on Charging A/c

Lefty2053 · May 17, 2013

I was told you charge the upper port. My upper port has a smaller connection then does the lower port. It is on the passengers side of the car. The lower on the drivers side. The passengers side is where I charge it from isn't it? 5.0 AWD.

If that is correct my gauge is in the red and I can't get anything to go in.

Any advise?

my98nnj · May 17, 2013

You charge the low pressure side, suction, larger line size. If you've got a DIY kit, it will only let you connect to the low pressure side.

Lefty2053 · May 17, 2013

my98nnj said:
You charge the low pressure side, suction, larger line size. If you've got a DIY kit, it will only let you connect to the low pressure side.

Well I have 2 kits and they both only connect to one side which is the top passengers side of the car. The other port is too large. I guess there must be something wrong with the A/C as it will not pull in any Freon and is at 100 in the red on the gauges. The A/C worked last year and nothing this year.

Maniak · May 17, 2013

The 100 psi on the low side means there is no pressure being produced. In other words the a/c system is off. Either the truck isn't running or the a/c compressor isn't turning on.

The static pressure in the system (when the a/c isn't running) is roughly the temperature of the condenser. 100F at the condenser would be considered normal if the truck was warmed up.

So, is the compressor engaging?

Also, if you plan to do any a/c work yourself I highly recommend you get a set of gauges. Without gauges you can't really tell what is going on.

Also, check out the a/c forum of EF.. Some very good reading in there.

~Mark

radman · May 17, 2013

Clutch must engage

Lefty,
No your charge port is the one on the passenger side on top of the accumulator.
If your system is low then the pressure cycling switch will not turn on the compressor clutch. If that is the case there is no suction to pull the refrigerant into the system. You will need to jumper the pressure cycling switch which is located on the receiver/drier. A jumper can be a paper clip bent into a "U" and inserted into the plug you remove from the pressure cycling switch. it should turn on the clutch and draw refrigerant into the system. Once the charge is sufficient you can remove the paper clip, reinstall the wiring clip on the switch, and the compressor should cycle on and off on it's own. Do not over charge the system to much refrigerant will cause a high reading and not cool properly, while a worst case can cause a pressure relief pop off dumping you refrigerant out.
Mike

Lefty2053 · May 17, 2013

radman said:
Lefty,
No your charge port is the one on the driver side near the core support.
If your system is low then the pressure cycling switch will not turn on the compressor clutch. If that is the case there is no suction to pull the refrigerant into the system. You will need to jumper the pressure cycling switch which is located on the receiver/drier. A jumper can be a paper clip bent into a "U" and inserted into the plug you remove from the pressure cycling switch. it should turn on the clutch and draw refrigerant into the system. Once the charge is sufficient you can remove the paper clip, reinstall the wiring clip on the switch, and the compressor should cycle on and off on it's own. Do not over charge the system to much refrigerant will cause a high reading and not cool properly, while a worst case can cause a pressure relief pop off dumping you refrigerant out.
Mike

I am guessing there must be more then one charging system out there. Both of the ones I have only connect to the passengers side. The port near the front of the car by the support is way to large for the charging unit to fit over. I used these on my VW and on an old 86 Chevy truck with no problems.
So do they make one just for Fords?

deweyville65 · May 17, 2013

Are you trying to put R-12 into your system. The older vehicles you are talking about used R-12. ALL newer vehicles use R-134A. ALL the charging kits I have seen have a connector that will only fit the low side port.

Maniak · May 17, 2013

While I can't say which side of the vehicle its on there is a reason the 2 ports are different sizes. It is so you don't charge it on the high side. If you do that you will blow up the charging can.

The smaller port is the low pressure port. This is where you charge from.

The high pressure port is between the compressor and the condenser (thing in front of the radiator) is a larger port and is normally the smaller of the 2 hoses.

~Mark

Edit: This is a very good thread to read about a/c systems.. http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=158183 There are other good ones (stickies) in the same forum.

Lefty2053 · May 17, 2013

Well this is a newer kit and my older truck had already been converted to the R-13A. Since I have it on the Passengers side and it is the only port the kit fits on I must have some other problem. I checked out the Fuse and Relay both. They were good. The A/C isn't turning on. I will have to try the jumper trick.

koda2000 · May 17, 2013

just a thought. i have encountered R134a conversions where someone has screwed the new fitting/adapter over the old one w/out removing the old schrader valve. this has resulted in not being able to add refrigerant because the original schrader valve doesn't get opened when the new one is depressed.

also, it seems to be fairly common for schrader valves to leak slightly. as such, always replace the plastic covers over them tightly, and replace them if missing.

Lefty2053 · May 17, 2013

The fitting my kit fits over is on the Passengers side and just below it is a canister. The fitting sits on top the canister.

I don't even get a clicking from the A/C unit. Last year it worked fair but not real good.

Lefty2053 · May 17, 2013

radman said:
Lefty,
No your charge port is the one on the driver side near the core support.
If your system is low then the pressure cycling switch will not turn on the compressor clutch. If that is the case there is no suction to pull the refrigerant into the system. You will need to jumper the pressure cycling switch which is located on the receiver/drier. A jumper can be a paper clip bent into a "U" and inserted into the plug you remove from the pressure cycling switch. it should turn on the clutch and draw refrigerant into the system. Once the charge is sufficient you can remove the paper clip, reinstall the wiring clip on the switch, and the compressor should cycle on and off on it's own. Do not over charge the system to much refrigerant will cause a high reading and not cool properly, while a worst case can cause a pressure relief pop off dumping you refrigerant out.
Mike

Is the Switch you are talking about on top a canister looking thing? All black with the Charging system connector on top of it? There is a pull with 2 wires there. Do I use a paper clip and attach it to the prongs in the canister or the wire connector?

Maniak · May 17, 2013

There are 2 ways to make the a/c run manually.

You can force the compressor to run by putting 12v and ground onto the 2 pins on the a/c compressor itself. That way it is ignoring any controls from the truck. It doesn't matter which pin on the compressor gets 12v and which gets ground.

The other method is to jump the 2 pins on the low pressure switch which is the one you found on the accumulator/dryer/receiver. When you do this your still turning it on by using the switch in the truck but the safety switch that turns it off when there isn't enough refrigerant is bypassed allowing it to run even if your low on refrigerant.

~Mark

Lefty2053 · May 17, 2013

Here is pictures of the 2 connectors.
[URL=http://s1196.photobucket.com/user/lefty2053/media/100_1937_zpseff1e935.jpg.html]

[/URL]

First is Passengers side where the connector fits. Second picture by battery it does not fit.

Maniak · May 17, 2013

Lefty2053 said:
Here is pictures of the 2 connectors.

<snip>

The pic in the quote above is the low pressure port.

If the system is too low to allow the compressor to turn on you can pull that connector off in the pic above and jump the 2 wires using a piece of wire, paperclip or whatever.. At that point the low pressure safety switch is bypass and the compressor will be allowed to turn on even if the system is low on charge.

~Mark

Lefty2053 · May 17, 2013

Thanks for all the help. I will have to go out and buy another can of Freon as I got frustrated and used it on my VW instead. Looks like it is a little low also. I will have to get a big can.

Maniak · May 17, 2013

I don't know what those charge kit cans cost anymore (I "think" they are $25 each but look into getting a full gauge set and then just use normal r-134 cans.

The normal r-134 cans will cost $10 to $15 each (I pay $8 through my sources) and the gauge set is $60 or less from Harbor Freight tools. You can find 20% coupons for HFT in most off-road magazines so that will make it even cheaper.

That way you will be able to not only charge the system but get an idea of what is going on when you have a problem.

Its really worth the money..

~Mark

Lefty2053 · May 17, 2013

Maniak said:
I don't know what those charge kit cans cost anymore (I "think" they are $25 each but look into getting a full gauge set and then just use normal r-134 cans.

The normal r-134 cans will cost $10 to $15 each (I pay $8 through my sources) and the gauge set is $60 or less from Harbor Freight tools. You can find 20% coupons for HFT in most off-road magazines so that will make it even cheaper.

That way you will be able to not only charge the system but get an idea of what is going on when you have a problem.

Its really worth the money..

~Mark

Thanks I will look into doing that.

koda2000 · May 17, 2013

if you have any where you live, i consistently find that Fred's Discount Store has the lowest price on cans of R134a. usually about 1/2-2/3's of what the discount auto parts stores get for it, but i haven't needed any in a couple of years.

Lefty2053 · May 17, 2013

koda2000 said:
if you have any where you live, i consistently find that Fred's Discount Store has the lowest price on cans of R134a. usually about 1/2-2/3's of what the discount auto parts stores get for it, but i haven't needed any in a couple of years.

No not a Freds out here. Heck Harbor Freight is 65 miles from me.

Question on Charging A/c

Well-Known Member

Explorer Addict

Well-Known Member

Moderator-Stock 91-94

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Moderator-Stock 91-94

Well-Known Member

Explorer Addict

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Moderator-Stock 91-94

Well-Known Member

Moderator-Stock 91-94

Well-Known Member

Moderator-Stock 91-94

Well-Known Member

Explorer Addict

Well-Known Member

Featured images

Featured images

Similar Threads