Working on a 2001 5.4 Screw 4x4. The AC does not work, Heater works well and blend door is fine. The compressor had a known slow leak but never had a failure. Previous owner just topped off the 134a every time it stopped blowing cold. The truck has sat for the last 5 years mostly. Do I really need to replace the whole system or just the rubber hoses (they appear rough) Compressor and Dryer?

Trying to save some money on a 23 year old truck but all I can find are Re-Man Compressors on rockauto and the big box stores.

 

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You say that the compressor had a know leak, so my question would be, have you verified where the leak
might be, actually the compressor or another part of the system? Have had many old systems evacuated
and charged and have not even needed to replace the dryer, now, if the compressor actually failed or
locks up, then other components might be necessary. Thinking about that statement, I've actually had a
compressor lock up, replaced just the compressor and good to go.

Problem is with the compressor warranty, most will only honor the warranty if everything replaced.

 

I have not verified the leak yet personally (previous owner did, is family did and just didn't care as long as they could recharge and it works), I'll be getting it back on the road this weekend after replacing the front end ball joints control arms and shocks. Its been refilled at lest 3 times that I know of with a vacuum pulled each time the system in the truck is all OEM except the orifice tube was replaced once.

 

If they're still pressure in the system IE no moisture.... All you have to do is add refrigerant. If it leaked out such that moisture got in there... That's a problem... And Mr compressor will have a short life. It's up to you to fix what you want to fix... There's a leak, where is it? Do you want to keep putting refrigerant in until the leak gets so bad you can't?

If there's no refrigerant in the system.... Do leak test, find the leak, replace the bad component, add a new compressor just for grins too if the old one is that old..... Bearing will probably go out on it eventually.. And get on with life

I replaced my compressor last year..... Original compressor made it 19 years without any issues until the bearing failed. Denso would be my choice since you can't get the OEM anymore. What a night and Day difference from a GM Z71 I had who's oem delco compressor failed every 2-3 years like clockwork.....pos.

 

Nope, I'd estimate its been empty for at least a year or more.

 

​​​​​​ thing about moisture Plus freon... Is it makes small amounts of acids.., which can then eat holes in paper thin aluminum condensers and especially evaporator cores.

You can pressure it with air or you can pressure it with a little bit of freon.... Then you soap y water to find the leaks. I would sniff the evaporator cord drain after sitting overnight to see if it shows a Freon leak from there...

I

 

Try Ebay, only buy from sellers with near perfect feedback. I found a compressor for my 01 maxima for $100, worked great, perfect. Came from Miami FL.

 

i recently did the whole system on a 2000 f250 and it wasn't that bad $ wise. 500-700$ maybe a year ago? used a denso compressor and uac or gpi on the rest, don't recall which. still going good and i don't have to worry about it. I would just replace it all. There are how to guides to pull the dash in under an hour.

 

Find leak (s). I wouldn't necessarily replace an evaporator core for no reason on a 23-year-old truck..... It's actually most of the work.

Replace it only if there was a compressor failure or.. it has a leak.. or it has a leak you can't find by soaping everything... Because then it's probably the evap anyway. However a freon detector shoved up the evaporator drain will often id
​​​​​small leaks after sitting overnight. As the last resort dye can conclusively ID a hard to finally too