Can I wait till spring to charge my replacement AC....
 

.....with refrigerant? I replaced locked original compressor along with dryer and orfice tube on my 1997 F150. I don't need AC now since winter and don't have time or money to take to auto shop to charge it up. I've added the proper amount of PAG oil to system. Any problem waiting until warm weather?

I would at least get a vacuum pulled to get moisture out of the system.

Yes, pull vacuum to displace the moisture. If you were to charge it right now, chances are you'd be off when it gets warm out.

you need to get the moisture out of the system. you don't want it freezing in the refrigerant lines

I would definitely charge it up. The refrigerant carries the oil throughout the system and keeps the seals throughout lubricated. Also whenever you run the defroster, the AC runs to remove as much moisture it can from inside the cabin. Just imagine having to scrape the inside of the windows because of the moisture left behind from melting snow left behind from your feet and the moisture just from breathing.

Not sure what you mean.... It won't turn the compressor on if there is no 134A in the system. He's already put PAG in the system. I have unplugged my compressor on my truck a couple of times in the winter, and never had an issue with ice on the inside of the windows.

Exactly, the compressor does not run, which means the pag oil does not circulate to keep all of the rubber seals lubricated, which then dry out and crack which then he is tearing the system apart yet again to replace all of the dried and cracked O-rings because the system was not charged. Do you really want to start chasing down leaks when you need the system to be operating. Honestly, if you don't have the money to have the system charged, you should have just removed the compressor from the block and tie it up and install a bypass pulley till the job could be done completely.

If it where mine. I would never let it go with out a charge. With out positive pressure on the seals you risk getting moisture in the system. But hay that is just me. The op would of been better of waiting till spring to replace any thing.

This is a post by JohnnyR back in 12/10:

I started a thread the other day asking if anyone knew the belt # needed to bypass a seized AC compressor but didn't have any luck. This morning I did the fix to my 99 4.6 4x4 scab and it was too easy. The belt needed to be shorter and I swapped the idler pulley for one the same size but ribbed since the belt now runs over it instead of under it. The end result works so well that I can't figure why Ford went to the trouble of designing the AC/non-AC setups so differently. Here are the Gates part #'s needed to do the job.

Belt...#K080806 8 rib/81 1/8" long

Idler Pulley...#38052 8 rib/90mm dia.

The parts can be looked up here...
http://www.gates.com/index.cfm?location_id=3359
for all the details.

I hope this helps anyone else who encounters this all too common problem in the future. The fix is inexpensive and only takes a minute or two to swap the pulley then just change the belt bypassing the compressor and putting it over the idler instead of under it. Back on the road againhttps://www.f150forum.com/images/smilies/thumbsup.gif

J.R.


Hope this helps anyone in the future that wants to bypass their AC compressor.