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Replacing AC on B2500, anyone have any luck?


brianb

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So, my AC in my truck doesn't work (2001 B2500), just blows warm air and last summer it locked up a bit so I took it to a chain repair shop and they said the compressor was locked, which I kinda suspected. Anyways, I was thinking of buying a new compressor, drier, and filter tube and doing the repair myself, but I had a few questions.

1. Has anyone had luck taking their truck to a shop to have the existing refrigerant removed? Did they charge?

2. Has anyone installed a new AC kit (compressor, filter, and drier) succesfully at home?

3. Once installed, did you have any trouble having a shop refill with refrigerant at reasonable cost?

Basically I was quoted $1200 for an AC repair and this was a costly to me (just replaced my radiator last week myself for a fraction of what I had been quoted around town). So I am thinking of doing it myself. Anyone been down this road before?
 
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RonD

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You can do it yourself.
Google: diy automotive ac repair

You can often rent the gauges needed
Harbor Freight and others have them on sale for about $40, check around.

You could probably find a local shop to "recover" current refrigerant for $20-$40, it doesn't take long.
Make sure you tell them you are swapping out the engine and NOT reinstalling the AC, that will avoid the sales talks for them to do the parts replacements and recharge.

OK, now all that being said...............you have a bit of a "what if" here.
Compressor is seized, they called it locked, but if there ain't no key then it is seized, lol.
OK, there is a reason for that, but you and I don't know what that is, if an internal part started going out then the whole AC system could be full of metal fillings which eventually cause compressor to seize(only moving part in the system).
If you simply drain, replace parts and recharge those metal fillings will wreck the next compressor, seen it happen.

So I would read up on Flushing an AC system to clear it of debris.
Often that is just removing parts and flushing with mineral spirits, but have never done that myself.

Good reads here: http://www.therangerstation.com/Magazine/June04/tech.htm

And here: http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/Resurrecting_Your_Ford_Ranger_Air_Conditioning.shtml
 
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