AC Compressor Spraying Air and Green Fluid

[tycksena]

AC compressor spraying air and green fluid

I am in the process of removing the lower intake on my 99 Ranger 4.0. I was unscrewing the AC Compressor to get it out of the way and also started to unscrew a bolt on the backside of the compressor because it wasn't moving well due to the metal tube on the backside. I think this is the tube to the condenser? Anyways it started spraying air and green fluid everywhere. I got it to stop for now but if I tighten or loosen the bolt it seems to spray. Also it looks like a green o ring or gasket of sort is showing now which I don't remember. What is it and what should I do? Thanks in advance

 

[97RangerXLT]

The "air" is the refrigerant, and the green fluid is the oil. my guess is that you loosened the 10mm bolt that held the manifold on to the compressor, this broke the seal and caused the refrigerant and oil to leak out, and your o-ring seal also came loose.


For replacing the intake/ valve cover/ and fuel rail gaskets, you do not need to remove the a/c hoses, just unbolt the four compressor mounting bolts and gently move the compressor and hoses to the side.

Here is the how to on the upper gaskets for the 4.0:
http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=94437

Now for the A/C... Unfortunately, that move probably will have cost you the use of your A/C. The good news is that it isn't too hard for you to fix. First you need to evacuate the remaining refrigerant. It is illegal to vent it into the air, so you may need a shop to reclaim it. But my guess is by the time you get around to looking at it again, all of your refrigerant will probably have leaked out...do a quick double check depressing the shrader valve with a long skinny screwdriver on the high or low side service ports in the line or accumulator. you will now need to remove that hose that you started taking off that caused the issue. Replace the o-ring, as tightening it back down has destroyed it (they are cheap anyways) put about an ounce of Double end capped Pag 46 oil (to replace the green fluid that leaked out) in the compressor where the hose bolts to it and then carefully reattach the hose. Then comes the fun part. put it all back to gether, then you will need to replace the orifice tube and the accumulator/ dryer (about 30 bucks in parts). because you opened the system, you should replace these parts. the orifice tube is like a dollar at autozone and the accumulator/dryer is maybe 25 or 30).

after all of those have been replaced and everything is sealed up again, you will need to pull a vacuum on the system for an hour or so and then recharge the system with the correct amount of refrigerant. Be careful, this amount is different throughout the years of Rangers. on My 97 it was 25ounces, but on the 98 it was different.

Here is a good tutorial on how to do the A/C:
http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=144542

The good thing is y ou don't have to replace any of the expensive parts. read the tutorial, all you need is the part on replacing the accumulator/ dryer, replacing the orifice tube, replacing the large refrigerant hose (to reconnect yours at the compressor end only), pulling a vacuum and then refilling the system.

IF you need any help or advice, but some weird luck of the draw I actually wrote both of those tutorials, give me a holler and I can do my best to help (what are the odds that someone would need both of the writeups that I created in one single post?)

Good luck,

AJ

 

[97RangerXLT]

And I forgot to tell you... Breathe... it gets better

AJ

 

[Spott]

You should take it to an A/C shop. You have lost some of your refrigerant and oil from the system, and it needs "recharged." A good A/C guy can determine how much it needs, and has the equipment to do so without releasing (additional) harmful gases into the atmosphere. He can also solve your O - ring problem.

Spott