94 B4000 4.0, Compressor seizes when AC turned on

[94_B4000]

OK I read the sticky on AC. I still have a few questions though before I do anything to my system. My idler pulley recently seized up from bad bearings and then fell off. When I replaced the pulley and belt I heard a clicking noise coming from the AC compressor. So I turned on the AC and watched the compressor. It seized up immediately and started burning up the belt.

For now I just unplugged the compressor's electrical pigtail. But I want my AC back. I keep reading about black death in the Ford systems. I was hoping to just replace the compressor with a junkyard part or one of the $160 online replacements I found. I figure I can swap the compressor, bring the truck to the shop and have it vac'ed and recharged.

But I don;t want to spend money on a new compressor and then find that it seizes once again from black grit. What should I do?

 

[exbass94]

I'm currently in pretty much the same situation. Whenever you replace a compressor, you should always replace the accumulator and orifice tube as well. Luckily, these are cheap parts. ($35 and $2, respectively) When you start taking things apart, look for black gunk. If there isn't any, then I would flush the lines, evaporator, and condenser, put it all back together and evac and recharge and you should be good.

If there IS black gunk, you NEED to replace the condenser as well. It's pretty much impossible to get all that crap out of the condenser and replacement is the only option. You should be able to flush and reuse the evaporator and lines.

 

[94_B4000]

Thanks, that should give me a place to start.

 

[TomJenks]

Your lines need to be replaced as that is where the "black death" comes from, the deterioration of the lines from the inside.