So i have a issue with my trucks air conditioning system not working properly. I knew it stopped working last fall in october so no big deal i just put it off until it started to heat up in las vegas and boy its starting to heat up!! So i was aware the compressor would not kick on and i figured the clutch must have gone bad and since it was a cheap replacement compressor from amazon i figured i just needed to install a better quality compressor. I went out to oreilly's and picked up a fourseasons ac compressor new not remanufactured and a new accumulator and orifice tube. Swapped them all out and pulled vacuum on the system and it held perfectly so no leaks... I then began to fill the system with r134 refrigerant and used my manifold gauge set from harborfreight. I was able to fill maybe 8ounces and then it was just not drawing anymore into the system. I checked and the compressor was not kicking on again!!! So i figured maybe the switch at the accumulator was keeping it from kicking on due tothe lack of pressure. The gauges only read 25 on the low side and 100 on the high side. So i bypassed the switch with a paperclip and tried it and it worked. It kicked on the compressor and it started to draw more coolant from the can. It never balanced out though leaving me to shutting down the truck and the pressure reeadings are way off. Low side is at like 120 and the high side was at like 300. It shot up fast so after turning the truck off i checked the pressure again and its was holding and no change so no leaks for sure.. I know the orifice tube is installed correctly and i'm thinking the switch might be the culprit but before i go and spend more money i was hoping to find some wisdom from you guys. This has been a pain in the truck weekend. I also tackled replacing the water pump, power steering pump, upgraded to a 300amp alternator and upgraded to a big 3 wire upgrade and new optima yellow top battery so i have spent some money on this truck for sure.. Its gotten to be a serious money pit over the last 4years i've replaced every single part under the hood except for the abs braking system and the horn is original... Literally everything else is all new to this truck and most of it was replaced twice. Once with aftermarket cheap dorman crap and then again with oem ford parts which were hard to come by for some but was tired of having continous issues due to poorly made replacement parts. So im pretty sure the high pressure switch is bad and thats why it is not working because like i said i bypassed it and it worked but once i plugged it back up not wanting to run the compressor to long with it hotwired pretty much it quit working again. Any suggestions would be great?

 

Is it a '52 Packard?
Recover the 134a
Replace the fixed orifice tube
Evac and recharge
Your high pressure on the low side is most likely caused by a plugged orifice or too much freon

 

I ended up taking the coolant out and pulled new vacuum and what I had done wrong the 1st time was i turned the truck on and turned the ac on max while filling the ac coolant at the same time. That is where i messed up. So the 2nd time around prior to turning the truck on i used the vacuum that I had pulled which is the correct way come to find out which filled the ac system with approximately 12oz of coolant and then started up the truck and the ac on max and then filled up the ac system with an additional 15 to 16oz of coolant which put the pressures in the correct readings and was pushing out 38deg of cold air and the compressor kicked on instantly the 2nd time I started it because it had the correct amount of coolant and pag oil already installed and pressure was high enough from the start for the pcm to tell it to kick on. It's always something little that I miss read or don't quite understand the correct sequence but once I go back and read the manual and analyze what I have done I end up figuring it out. Now the truck runs perfect with super cold air. I also had a heck of a time installing the power steering pump and pressure line hose. I replaced both same time along with the water pump and when I put everything back I had a leak at the power steering pump. Looked and it seemed to be coming from the port at the bottom of the power steering pump so I took it all apart again and couldn't see what I had done wrong so I went and swapped the high pressure line thinking maybe I torqued the fitting to tighten and smashed the ring to much. Still leaked so I thought maybe I bent the hose around to much being frustrated with getting it all lined up and reinstalled and swapped the hose out again and purchased the upgrade Edelman power steering line hose and as I was installing the hose right before I was about to hook it up i noticed a hole in the threaded port on the pump which was a manufacturer defect and was causing it to leak so after taking the truck apart 3 separate times because each time I had to put it all back together in order to see if it's good or not I finally got lucky b y noticing the defect. After replacing the new pump with another new one it was good to go. Talk about frustrated. But my dick now has had everything replaced and I do mean everything except for the abs system and the body control module and a few interior components that will last forever. Very difficult to justify all the money and time I've spent on my truck but every time it needs a repair I just can't afford to get rid of it because I can't afford a car payment. So my 04f150 5.4l extended cab with flareside and blazing yellow exterior with custom leather seats and jacked up lift kit just keeps getting fixed and I keep telling myself it's cheaper to fix this one!

 

Good job fixing it
3rd time is a charm quite often in this business
I had a buddies C4 trans out twice (64 Mercury Comet 289) resealing the front pump and converter front seal
Found out on the 3rd time that the dipstick tube had a pinhole in it where the mounting tab was welded on there from the factory