Hey team!

My recently purchased 1988 2.9l Ranger came with a disconnected AC compressor. I'm told the clutch is bad, which is fine. Being from Cali, I'll eventually need to get the truck smogged and I'm told the loose hoses from the (hastily) removed compressor will prevent the truck from passing.

It all seems easy enough is the death verse of noobs.. and I am absolutely that. And I'd like not to die, but I'd also like to remount the compressor without the belt , then connect hoses back to their appropriate locations. Will I kill the truck and evap system if i do this?

Right now everything is dangling, super sloppy. Heater core also disconnected. I assume some kind of bypass is in place which I'd also like to undo. But one thing at a time.

 

This will not cause issue. If the hoses are loose, the refrigerant is gone. You have an empty system. Connect the hoses to the compressor and leave the belt off, it hurts absolutely nothing. Even engaging your A/C by using the push button won't do anything bad. If you ever want to restore function to your AC system let me know, I know a thing or two about refrigeration systems.

 

THATS FANTASTIC. I’m all ears and absolutely clueless. My goal is to reinstall the condenser, undo the coolant bypass and reengage the heater core. Can I pm you some photos?

 

i would prefer you just make another thread with the photos so someone else can chime in, I don't know much of anything about the first gen rangers or the 2.9 engine. Just tag me in the post so I get notified of it, tagging people by typing "@" and their name. Also it makes you wonder why the heater core was bypassed, maybe it's plugged? I'd go through and clean everything out just to be sure, find a way to hook your garden hose to the heater hose running into the heater core (this may require some creative thinking and spending time at lowes in the plumbing fitting section), unhook the other hose coming off the heater core, and letting it pump water through it for a few minutes to clear out the bullshit. I'd do that with your radiator and engine block too, nothing super high pressure just an easy stream running through the block/radiator with the engine running to clean it all out, you'd be surprised how much bullshit came out of my radiator on my 93.