Ok heres the deal ive had my truck for 2 years.... its a 92 f150 straight 6 5 speed 4x4... since ive had it the cold air has not worked it just blows hot air but everything seems to work right. My question is what am i looking at to get it cold? I know nothing of a/c! Should i take it to a shop and are they gunna charge me a arm and a leg?

 

Well a shop will charge a pretty penny, depending on what is needed. You may just need A freon charge

 

I thought freon was outlawed? And is that something i can do by myself?

 

Freon is original in older vehicles. Many have been updated to r134a (mine included). yes you can fill it on your own, might need to borrow a set of gauges. Does your compressor kick on at all?

 

If yours hasn't been updated you can buy retrofit kits that have the adapter and freon to put into the old 412 system but uses 134 with edsle or however its spelled so it doesn't eat the o rings and it leakes all back out.

 

Im not for sure about the compressor how would i know?

 

Run the truck, turn on the air.
Look at the front of the compressor.
It has a clutch on it.
When it cycles you should hear it kick and draw on the engine, you should also be able to see it kick on.
When off, the pulley spins and the center portion (the clutch) is stationary.
When it kicks on, the center portion (clutch) grabs onto the pulley and the whole pulley/clutch assembly will spin.

You can also check for voltage at the clutch plug, but I'm not sure what you should be seeing, without looking at mine I would guess it's just a 12v switched and a ground.

 

Look at the charging ports if they are large and threaded its old style it should be listed on the core support or on the hood stickers should be in () and say r12 not 412 phone ****ed up or r134a I think some changed in 92ish

 

Wait yea what he said

 

I let it the motor run for a good 5 minutes with ac on max ac all the way cool and it never kicked on