Weberman Posted June 3, 2021 Author Share Posted June 3, 2021 It is possible that the vacuum going off and back on freed something up. But did you do any work under the hood that might have moved a vacuum hose? I'm wondering if you have a cracked hose that got moved and sealed up enough to put vacuum on the system. That's because Defrost is the default position w/o vacuum. On the topic of all this how hard is the AC in these trucks? I'm debating on adding it back in. I've found a correct LTD/Crown Vic bracket for my engine I believe. Never really thought about it before but if it has factory AC, it wouldn't be that bad I don't think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted June 3, 2021 Share Posted June 3, 2021 On the topic of all this how hard is the AC in these trucks? I'm debating on adding it back in. I've found a correct LTD/Crown Vic bracket for my engine I believe. Never really thought about it before but if it has factory AC, it wouldn't be that bad I don't think. It isn't really that hard. And if you find a working system on a Bullnose truck you can pull the whole system w/o opening any of the connections. You'll have to tilt the radiator back to get the condenser out. And you'll have to pull the HVAC plenum from under the hood. But it is easy to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weberman Posted June 3, 2021 Author Share Posted June 3, 2021 It isn't really that hard. And if you find a working system on a Bullnose truck you can pull the whole system w/o opening any of the connections. You'll have to tilt the radiator back to get the condenser out. And you'll have to pull the HVAC plenum from under the hood. But it is easy to do. The AC on these trucks is on the driver's side right? If so mine would have to be on the passenger as my alternator is there. All I have left is the tubes that are cut off flush at the box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FuzzFace2 Posted June 3, 2021 Share Posted June 3, 2021 It isn't really that hard. And if you find a working system on a Bullnose truck you can pull the whole system w/o opening any of the connections. You'll have to tilt the radiator back to get the condenser out. And you'll have to pull the HVAC plenum from under the hood. But it is easy to do. The AC system is not that hard to get working again. My 81 came with the big York compressor but none of the brackets and the condenser had crushed tubes, water pump hit it when the PO pulled and sold the motor. So wanted to go with the later compressor & brackets (junk yard for compressor & member for brackets). I replaced the condenser, you have to do a little shimming to get it to fit but not bad at all. When ever you have an old system that was open replace the drier & orifice valve. What was hard for me was finding the right hoses, I replaced them all, that would fit my trucks AC system that I was using and the newer compressor as the hose ends were different and also run different in the engine bay. I got to tell you it will freeze you out if set on high fan and even on low I sometimes need to add a little heat. Dave ---- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted June 3, 2021 Share Posted June 3, 2021 The AC on these trucks is on the driver's side right? If so mine would have to be on the passenger as my alternator is there. All I have left is the tubes that are cut off flush at the box. The compressor is usually on the driver's side, at least on the V8's. Is that what you mean? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted June 3, 2021 Share Posted June 3, 2021 The AC on these trucks is on the driver's side right? If so mine would have to be on the passenger as my alternator is there. All I have left is the tubes that are cut off flush at the box. The AC compressor in these trucks is usually mounted atop the power steering box. The evaporator coil is obviously mounted in the heater plenum on the passenger side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FuzzFace2 Posted June 3, 2021 Share Posted June 3, 2021 The compressor is usually on the driver's side, at least on the V8's. Is that what you mean? Yep even on the 300 six. Why would you need to mount it on the other side? What acc. belt setup are you running that the ALT is on the left side where the compressor would be? Dave ---- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted June 3, 2021 Share Posted June 3, 2021 Yep even on the 300 six. Why would you need to mount it on the other side? What acc. belt setup are you running that the ALT is on the left side where the compressor would be? Dave ---- I think he is saying it is on the left when looking under the hood. This flies in the face of all convention, where "side" is defined from the driving position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weberman Posted June 3, 2021 Author Share Posted June 3, 2021 Yep even on the 300 six. Why would you need to mount it on the other side? What acc. belt setup are you running that the ALT is on the left side where the compressor would be? Dave ---- Oddly enough... the motor I bought the Bronco with and the donor motor I had are from LTD/Crown Vics. Its a serpentine belt but you still use the alternator for adjustment, no tensioner. My alternator is where the AC would be on these trucks, above the power steering pump. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FuzzFace2 Posted June 4, 2021 Share Posted June 4, 2021 Oddly enough... the motor I bought the Bronco with and the donor motor I had are from LTD/Crown Vics. Its a serpentine belt but you still use the alternator for adjustment, no tensioner. My alternator is where the AC would be on these trucks, above the power steering pump. Ok I can see why its not where it belongs In that case for hoses I think I would look into the cars hoses as they should be longer and may reach the box in the truck. If they don't the only other way to go is custom made hoses. Now the only thing I can see as an issue is the hose ends. The car hoses will fit the compressor but as a guess not the box end. I say that because I went with a newer compressor and 1 of the hoses would not fit the box end. I forget what I did but was able to find a hose off the shelf that worked it just runs across the motor and not to the firewall. I did look into custom hoses before I got into the AC part as I kind of knew I may have an issue but did not need to go down that path. Dave ---- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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