A/C pump bypass serpentine belt size?

[Reaper01]

AC gone, belt size for me

I finished gutting my Explorer's AC a little over 6 months ago. The magic number for my truck (Explorer 5.0 XLT AWD) was 83 1/4" (Masterpro #K060827 6K827) As far as removal I would recommend taking the 2 bolts out of your washer fluid/radiator reservoir and 1 bolt out of the cruise control module and set those out of the way. The Ranger may be set up the same way. Then its about 8-10 smaller bolts and you can pull the whole case right out with the fan, then separate the case and pull out the AC core. You don't have to mess with the heater core and I believe you can leave the heater hoses clamped to the firewall if you pull whole unit straight out. Once I bolted the whole unit back to the firewall I sprayed a little bit of can foam (Great Stuff®) around the inside of the holes the old AC lines ran through, let that set up and put some heavy duty black duct tape over the now plugged holes. I mentioned before about only having about 1/4" (not even that) between bottom of the idler pulley and top of the water pump pulley and I haven't had any issues with it. Removed alot of weight, gained a little power/MPG, heat seems to work better, created alot more room to work and made a little $ off my aluminum. Should have done it along time ago since the AC didn't work and I wouldn't use it if it did.

Also I have not removed my condenser yet. I cannot tilt my radiator back enough to squeeze condenser up and out because of my fan. I will have to drain and remove radiator so I'll do that later.

 

[ibmp200]

thank you reaper for your input. i think the problem for me is accessing the screws/bolts that hold the case to the wall there, just underneath and below the heater hoses. more or less, the engine is in the way. ive seen parts illustrations from ford, and it looks as if there is at least one screw or nut about 5 inches below those hoses, holding the case on the wall.

i want to either remove the evaporator core from the case and plug the holes, or switch out the case with a non air case. so far as ive seen, a non air case takes less room there.

i have taken most of the other stuff out already. quite recently i pulled out the condenser, which i thought was easier than expected. i was gonna remove the fan shroud, but there wasnt enough room. i noticed that the radiator rests on a padded part of the frame. i lifted it slightly while pushing carefully toward the fan and it left enough room to pull out the condenser. i was quite amazed how simple it was, as the last thing i removed (accumulator) i thought would be simple, but took me nearly all night.

your case removal instruction seems very similar to the instruction in my haynes repair manual. but there is still accessing that bottom right screw for the case. --if there is a screw. per the illustrations, it seems there is.

i havent checked it yet, but it is my impression that the belt i have is 80 something inches already, so i dont think your 83¼ inch suggestion would be too similar; removing the compressor would make it less than 80 i think.

 

[Reaper01]

Yes the screws towards the bottom were a bit of a pain but it wasn't so much my engine, more so hoses and heat shield. I should have mentioned earlier I also took the plastic shroud off over top of the wheel when reinstalling and it made it much easier. I've finally learned those 3-4 or 5 more bolts are worth it vs fighting a piece for 30 minutes :scratch:.
I have several adapters of different sizes and lengths and some that tilt just the socket at a 45 deg angle, they are worth their weight in gold.
Also I didn't even think to look for a non AC case, I was going to try to customize so I cut mine open to get to what I needed then figured out it was not going to be very customizable. I had to take a trip to the junkyard which is where I found the easier way to get that bugger in and out. If you can find a non AC case that would be sweet for you cuz yeah, I want as much open space as I can get. But for now the holes are just plugged with foam.

 

[ibmp200]

so, what is this wheel you write about here? i dont know of any wheel by the air box. how exactly did you access the screws that are below the heater hoses?? would it help if i had the vehicle lifted, to reach it from below? i do not want to remove the heater hoses, drain the radiator or anything else. or even tear the dash apart searching for a bolt or nut to undo to remove the airbox from the engine area. i am working with the air conditioning, not the heater core. i want to either remove the evaporator and plug the holes or install a non air conditioning box. please list for me here, step by step how you did it. adding pictures would really help. thank you