I have '95 F150 that I use as my home depot truck and for various truck duties while daily driving a sedan. Truck currently has 253k and original compressor and condenser. My ac has not been working and I decided that I want to get it fixed. At the same time I have also been trying to track down the reason for an inoperable odometer and speedometer and a few months ago I was messing with the fuses. I find out later that my ac quit and I was like great. Add that to the list. I haven't messed with it lately and today I decided to revisit the fuses and low and behold I find a fuse on the floor board. I look up the fuses in the diagram on the truck and it's the compressor fuse. I pop it back in and the compressor roars to life. I can't believe I overlooked that and suffered in the Texas heat on the occasions I've needed to drive it. Oh well. Now. I had already had it in my head I was gonna spend some money on it. The ac in this truck works but it doesn't work that well in the hot Texas traffic. It works pretty well with significant airflow. I know the condenser is original and pretty beat up. The compressor is original too. It's not quiet but it's not too noisy either. If I take this to a shop to have them look at it can the vent temps and pressures tell the story of how well a compressor is doing ? I haven't checked the charge since it was repair about 8 years when a leak was repaired. I figure I might replace the compressor and condenser anyway or maybe just the condenser. I just don't want to replace the condenser and then the compressor crap out and then I have to replace both. I also don't want to replace a good compressor that seems to be a well built one. What do you guys think ?
1995 F150 air conditioning state of health
- Thread starter E150GT
- Start date
The vent temps and pressures are not going to really tell you how your compressor is doing. It will probably tell you if your system is full or close to it. Have you ever replaced the fan clutch and does it work correctly?
If it works well when your moving and not at idle I'd start with a new fan clutch..
The fan clutch was replaced after the ac was repaired about 8 years ago. It seems to work. I can only hear it kick in when I've been sitting in traffic and just through second gear. I think that's normal as the 4.9 is not a huge heat producer compared to the V8 engines.
I'm not saying it doesn't work. It just doesn't work as well as when I'm cruising down the highway.
If the a/c hasn't been used in while, likely that some of the charge has leaked out causing this.
Also if you can, separate the condensor and rad and blow them both out. On old trucks that are used as trucks it's impressive how much dust/pollen/mud can accumulate between the two. Certainly doesn't help a/c performance or cooling system performance.
This might wind up to not help much but it's free and typically easy. If you can just lean the rad back a few inches this should be enough room.
This might wind up to not help much but it's free and typically easy. If you can just lean the rad back a few inches this should be enough room.
I will test it tonight but sitting it doesnt spin freely.
Nick1994
$100 site donor 2024
Sounds low on refrigerant.
In addition to the above mentioned, you can try this, except try a smaller pulley on the alternator and the Big 3 instead of a lot of the stuff he tried:
I feel like maybe he's in the same boat as me and the money should have been spent to fix the ac instead of try and overwork the cooling system to fix deficiencies in the HVAC system.