A/C charge good, still no cold air

[F14CRAZY]

Howdy. Looking for some opinions...

My '92 XL air con isn't doing much good. When I stored it, the compressor spins fine, and I had my mechanic check the pressure (R12) and he said it was within spec (I watched). Nevertheless, it's only doing like 10 degrees cooler than outside temp. 70 degree air doesn't cut it

He said something must be Effed in my compressor and should be replaced. Do you guys agree with this, or is there something else I could go after and not have to replace the compressor ($$$)? I guess I'd also have to replace at least the O rings, and if you guys think so, then the dryer can and the "orface tube". The truck has 150k+ miles on it and was from Texas, so I'm sure the system has provided a lot of service. Should I replace the compressor regardless, due to age/miles? Anything else I should know? The system will be refilled with R12, and I don't plan on ever selling the truck, so it will stay R12 for the next ever.

When I take it to a shop to be "evacuated", won't the shop do it for free or even pay me, since I'm essentially giving them my valueable R12?

Thank you. I'll go do a bit of searching and read some stickies in the meantime.

 

[shamaal]

Just some thoughts,

I'm kind of curious, how an A/C system that meets spec would have a bad compressor. Generally speaking, the freon gas at low pressure goes to the compressor and gets ...compressed and exits at a higher pressure. For a 92 Ford the pressures are 22-50/160-250 for LP/HP pressures; dependant upon temps and other factors.

Assuming that the pressure differential is there, as a minimum, the compressor is ..... compressing. It's possible that the compressor is marginal and there is a blockage (orifice). Also, we've seen a bad compressor clutch in another thread last week. So nothing is out of the question. Do you have a black line of oil underneath your hood?

Other common causes for poor efficiency are a low quality freon load or a blocked orifice.

Even though you're planning on keeping the vehicle, you will become reliant on this R12 mechanic for future service. It can become real expensive, real fast, should your A/C die in Ypsilanti and the mech's in Dimond, or your mechanic retires to Mackinac to go trout fishing.

Should you decide to replace the compressor, consider the R134a upgrade, it's an extra ten bucks in parts, and you get to remove and flush the condensor.

 

[F14CRAZY]

Thanks shamaal for the reply...

Maybe "in spec" wasnt the right thing for me to say, but my mechanic didn't see anything wrong with the amount of freon. He's a smart gentleman, doing some other Ford work before for us and he rebuilds auto trannies out of his own pole barn (we've had him do several for us). I don't doubt his words or findings.

Hmmm, black line of oil. Oh my. I have experienced that. I figured it was from leaking power steering fluid or something getting caught on the serpentine belt and splattering oil on the underside of the hood (no sound baffle) and like the coolant and washer fluid tank. I'm thinking this is the compressor "black death"...?

 

[shamaal]

No, not black death, that occurs when the teflon seals break down and contaminate the inside of the system. The black line across the underneath of the hood is a leaky compressor spewing oil. An experienced A/C tech who sees that knows you got a leak and where it is. How long you can live with it is subject to conjecture. I wasn't dissing your mech. There are other signs of bad compressors besides compression.
FWIW, I got my last compressor kit (compressor, oil, orifice and accumulator) on ebay from some place in Texas.

 

[F14CRAZY]

Thank you Shamaal, big help. He may not have seen the oil, since I've actually made it habit to power wash the oil off when washing the truck.

I did see those "OEM" kits on ebay for $250 or so. I think I'll go with that, though I do need a front end rebuild along with driveshaft joints.