orifice valve direction and other V8 swap related AC questions.

[Uncle Gump]

Fill levels will change slightly when you start mix matching parts. We delbt with that when I was teaching at the Ford dyno lab in Dearborn. They had all kinds of parts that got mix matched to make a system operational for testing. I worked with engineering to develop a class to cover this.

What it boils down to is evaporator inlet vs. Evaporator outlet temperatures. When a system is low... the inlet will be colder the the outlet. The very time when filling that the inlet and outlet temps are identical... the system is full. It's fool proof.

You would be surprised how sensitive your fingers are to a few degree temp change. Use lite touches on the pipes... you'll be surprised how close you can get it. At the dyno lab... we used thermocouples to monitor temps.... most diyers don't have that luxury.

 

[Uncle Gump]

Also... after you pull a vacuum and are about to add refrigerant... be sure you purge the air out of the charge line. You don't want the air and moisture push into the system.

 

[JoshT]

Fill levels will change slightly when you start mix matching parts. We delbt with that when I was teaching at the Ford dyno lab in Dearborn. They had all kinds of parts that got mix matched to make a system operational for testing. I worked with engineering to develop a class to cover this.

What it boils down to is evaporator inlet vs. Evaporator outlet temperatures. When a system is low... the inlet will be colder the the outlet. The very time when filling that the inlet and outlet temps are identical... the system is full. It's fool proof.

You would be surprised how sensitive your fingers are to a few degree temp change. Use lite touches on the pipes... you'll be surprised how close you can get it. At the dyno lab... we used thermocouples to monitor temps.... most diyers don't have that luxury.

I don't have a picture of both to check, but I'm almost certain that the volume listed on both my 4.0L Ranger and the 5.0L Explorer donor was the same 1 lb 14 oz. I know that the compressor, evapor, condenser, receiver dryer, and orifice tube are the same between both systems. I know those being the same doesn;t mean much, but I think I'll be ok with the specified quantity.

I wouldn't trust my temp sense, but I have got a remote temp gun thing somewhere. I'll see if I can find it tonight.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

My understanding is the key difference in condensers is the way that they mount. Ranger V6 mounts to the core support. Explorer V8 mounts to the radiator. If I replace the condenser I will be using the Ranger one since it appears to clear with the V8 radiator. The heck with trying to attach and separate the radiator and condenser int he engine bay when service is needed. I did it once and understand why explorer owners hate it. If I had realized that the system was empty I wouldn't have even done it once.

That is how the tube is currently installed and jives with what @broncc and @Uncle Gump said. Fill amount is 1lb 14 oz per the lable on the radiator support. That's 30 oz or about 2.5 of the little 12 oz cans. More I think about it, more I suspect we did something wrong during the fill process. We verified the system was tight the other night and it hasn't been opened, just need to get it pulled back down and try again.

That’s my understanding too. I was going to use the 4.0 condenser but I forget what happened with mine exactly, but things happened and I ended up with the Explorer one. I may or may not change it before filling the system.

Fully vacuumed down it should suck in a whole 12 ounce can fairly easily.

 

[fastpakr]

For what it's worth, I'm using the Explorer radiator/condensor setup, but not the clips to hold them together. Works perfectly without fooling with that mess.