Howdy all, new member here. I was looking around for some information on this 96 ranger ac issue. First off I know very little about ford systems, im mainly a mopar addict. I do have a good understanding of vehicle repair though.
now the issue.. Its a 1996 Ranger 2wd with the 4.0 in it. the ac will blow but hot. I checked the AC clutch, no voltage.
Checked the low pressure cut out, 12v in and 12v out.
checked the high side presure cutout, 12v in and 12v out.
hooked up my guages and had a static pressure that was equaled out, I believe it was around 125lowside 125highside and it was an ambient temp around 96 degrees.
tried to turn on ac on max setting, compressor would not cycle on.
With guages on, i quiclky jumped 12v to the hot side of the compressor. it cycled and would stay on. pressure went to i believe around 30 lowside and i think it was 225 high side. cold air at center vent. (dont have a thermometer)

After some digging around I tested the pressure and the low side was near 10 psi, and high side was around 225 still. the low side would stay down with the compressor switch enguaged.

I was thinking that maybe the orfice tube could be clogged, would it be safe to assume this?

for the orignal issue of ac clutch not cycling on. the high and low cutout switches have 12v in and out, but no power to the ac clutch pigtail. is there a cycling switch that is after the hi and low cutout? i checked fuses on the drivers side panel and couldnt find a blown one, checked each one with the multi meter.

what am i missing?

 

AC compressor power comes from the Switch in the dash, besides the low/high pressure switches it also goes thru the WOT(wide open throttle) Relay, this relay will be in the engine fuse box, and should be closed, passing power to the compressor.
If driver needs extra power for passing or ??, then when the gas pedal is pressed to the floor(WOT) this relay will open cutting power to compressor until gas pedal is no longer at WOT.
I would check this relay.

All AC systems work pretty much the same, in a car or house, your guess is a good one.

Ford trucks, like the Ranger, use a Blend door for the temp select, it moves to adjust air flow thru heater or cooler, it is electric, and does have know issues.

Google: Ford Ranger Blend door

On most vehicles Max AC is just a vent adjustment, it closes the fresh air vent, so cab air which is already cooled is being recirculated, on some models it also closes a heater hose valve in the engine bay, completely cutting any hot coolant flow into cab.

So with an AC system compressor is either ON or OFF there is no Max AC setting for that.

Good page here if you have gauges: http://www.agcoauto.com/content/news/p2_articleid/257

 

Ok thank you RonD. If I can get home from work before the sun goes down I'll check all that.

 

Ok got some time today here is what I got.
Check the wot relay. Good power on the two pins, and checked continuity on the ground to battery. Perfect .00 reading. Plugs relay back in and hit key switch and compressor kicks on. Then right back off. So I was thinking bad connection or bad relay. Switched it with other relays and same thing. I jumped the pins bypassing relay and ac works. I have a few new relays for a Ford at work so I will grab those tomorrow. When the ac was running while bypassed on wot relay I had readings fluctuations of 25-35 low and 150-175 high. Sorry didn't have my thermometers to test ambient temp but phone said 91 degrees. The compressor did cycle on and off though. I'm going to check connections tomorrow if I get a chance and try the relays I have at the shop. Also thinking that I need to check the tps to see if it's reading right.
Just keeping y'all updated in case I fix this someone else could try it to troubleshoot theirs.

 

Thanks for the update, good tests

 

Ok got some time today here is what I got.
Check the wot relay. Good power on the two pins, and checked continuity on the ground to battery. Perfect .00 reading. Plugs relay back in and hit key switch and compressor kicks on. Then right back off. So I was thinking bad connection or bad relay. Switched it with other relays and same thing. I jumped the pins bypassing relay and ac works. I have a few new relays for a Ford at work so I will grab those tomorrow. When the ac was running while bypassed on wot relay I had readings fluctuations of 25-35 low and 150-175 high. Sorry didn't have my thermometers to test ambient temp but phone said 91 degrees. The compressor did cycle on and off though. I'm going to check connections tomorrow if I get a chance and try the relays I have at the shop. Also thinking that I need to check the tps to see if it's reading right.
Just keeping y'all updated in case I fix this someone else could try it to troubleshoot theirs.