Hello!
New here, and just got a 04 Ford Ranger 2.3 manual a few days ago.
I'm working on piecing together a ac system swap for the truck. I found a local junkyard with ac compressor, evaporator housing, (drier will be bought new) Fan shroud with electric fan. Condenser, and climate control unit.

Some of the lines will be bought new. The hard line behind the radiator is snapped so will need to get that but no one sells them.

I know all this runs from 2001-2011 2.3 rangers.

I will need to seek out a engine harness, I believe its two harnesses from the fuse box, My question is, are all the harness from the engine bay with ac the same?
Do I need a manual engine harness? is a 01 harness the same as 04 and so on?

Thanks guys!

 

Update:

After looking at diagrams, I think its easier to just wire in my own AC harness.

From what I see, i just need to wire the two pressure switches together, a ground and from to my PCM

And the ac clutch will be ground and ac relay

Fan same thing.

 

Hello I would like some tips on adding ac to my 02 2.3l ranger I went to the junk yard and got the switch panel the evaporate box ac compressor and condenser I see my ranger has the high pressure plug and low pressure plug already in the truck so I have them plugged in I just can't find the ac compressor plug

 

Hello! Its been a while since I did this but I will try and hardest to help you.

Only thing I took from the junkyard was the evaporator box, fan shroud and fan, all the plugs (just in case), compressor bolts and the hvac module. (the controller)

You should have two sensors, a low and high pressure sensor. My truck had a plug near the evaporator box, but not the other sensor which goes to the line I believe . (hard lines and sensors were bought from rockauto)

But if you have both plugs already, that means you already have it tapped into the PCM which is good.

Ill take pictures of my engine bay and post them here.

If you dont have a ac compressor plug, you might have to tap into the junction box from the A/C clutch relay shown in the diagram


I have attached a new diagram with better quality for you

 

Awesome thank you so much for your help I'm so close to having it done just can't figure out that ac compressor plug I've seen where people say they only made 1 harness from factory so it should be tied up somewhere just can't find it I can put 12v to the plug and it will kick suck the clutch in might have to just run it to a switch in the cab but would like to find the plug

 

If you manually turn on your A/C Compressor, you will run into low idle issues and possibility of engine turning off when coming to a stop.

If you cant find a plug, you can buy a aftermarket plug or go back to the junkyard and cut a plug out, run one cable to ground and the other one to the A/C Relay

 

Ok just ordered a plug do you know if the top pin it's supposed to be hot or the bottom?

 

Ok, so I had to wire the connector to the AC compressor and a Sensor.
I pulled all that from the junkyard with the pins

You have two options,
if you are comfortable with removing pins from a plug you can go back to the junkyard and go to the plug as shown below and de-pin some wires, cut them and use that to plug into your harness.
(or cut all the wires to the plug and take the plug with all the pins)

Second option
cut the wire on the other side of the harness and butt connect / Solder the wires together.

Since you have both hi and low pressure plugs you just need to worry about the ac compressor.

If you know how to use a multimeter I can try my best to guide you to the correct wires to tap into

 

On the second picture you can see the 2 plugs (2 males and 2 female)

 

Or.....
you can simply ground one wire to ground, and the other other straight to the A/C relay

I personally wouldnt do this, but its the easiest option if you are not comfortable with soldering/ depinning / butt connecting

From the wiring Diagram you would want to stick/wedge the wire on pin # 5 on the relay, and the other wire on a good ground.

As mention, i wouldnt do this personally but it is a option.
This can also be done to check if your setup is working before doing all the wiring to the plug

 

Dang thank you so much for the detailed pics and info it really helps I dont know to much about this so I think my best opinion is to take a wire from the ac relay. Looks to me I need to take a wire from pin number 5 to the ac compressor

 

I guess I’m slightly slow after reading your thread LOL. I’ve collected all the parts except the lines which I will order new to do the swap. My truck is an 08 so I believe it’s the same but that’s where I could be wrong. I have 1 sensor plug like you did and the compressor plug along with the other sensor plug are no where to be found. I have the pigtails to wire everything. I understand I can wire the compressor to pin 5 and ground it that’s fine but how do I wire the other pressure switch??? How did you tie it in? I tried to follow your pictures but don’t quite get it.

Thanks in advanced for a response,
Zach

 

Hi Zach

Which plugs did you find and which plug do you need help on?

Please confirm that you have a 2008 Ford Ranger 2.3L
If so, the wiring diagram is different. I can upload diagrams for your vehicle

 

Only plug I found was the one located near the black box (blower motor) for what I believe is low pressure. Could be high I don’t know.

My truck is a 2008 2.3L 5 Speed

I read where I can use a switch with a relay to wire it up myself but your method seems to be the most “factory” way I have found.

Did you directly swap the black box or did you just add the evaporator to your non-AC box?

 

The plug near the black box goes to one of the sensors, not sure if its high or low.

I replaced the black box with one I found at the junkyard. Since the original did not have the vacuum lines running through it
you should replace the evaporator since your in there
One of those vacuum line does connect to a heater core coolant valve which I had to add
check rockauto for all your parts

if you use a switch and a relay to turn on your compressor, your car will not idle properly as it will not take in the added load.
So the proper way would be connecting it correctly.

I have attached the HVAC and ECM/PCM Diagram for your car

 

I have the heater core coolant valve. If I don’t include this there still could be hot air coming through and therefore system not running as efficiently.

I don’t see how low idle would be an issue wiring yourself vs tapping into existing. Doesn’t the PCM tell the truck to idle higher? Who knows.

If your could clarify how you wired in the missing switch plug and the compressor plug that’s all I need. Thank you.

 

I might have misunderstood your comment with the self tapping. As i have seen some people add their own toggle switch for the compressor. If this is the method you go with, the engine will not idle higher.

now for the AC compressor and Switch
(i dont own the truck anymore)
Ac Compressor for the 02 ranger, according to the wiring diagram, one wire will be grounded to the chassis, engine or battery. While the other wire ( dark blue) will be wired to my Ac relay. I already had a wire coming out of the fuse box which i tapped into.
Switch, the red/yellow wire connected to my main harness which led to the other sensor. The black/yellow wire connected to my PCM which i had to run

Your 08 has different coloring, I have attached the PDF for your setup
Your Ac compressor should be Black/gray to ground and violet/white to the A/C relay
I would use a multimeter to check continuity from the relay to the harness (while looking for a violet/white wire) Tap into that one

The switch, you would have to follow the diagram. One to the PCM and other from your climate control
I believe you'll need to be connecting the green/blu wire to the PCM and yellow to the other switch
the connector near the evap might be your high switch. Confirm with the coloring of the wiring to the diagram

Its a bit difficult to tell you how to connect a system without seeing what im working with.

 

Your assistance is very helpful.

I'm going for the most stock like install I can and I believe this is the way.

I have the parts laying in my garage ready to go in just waiting on new reciver dryer and lines.

One more question is regarding the water drain. I havent found anything regarding where the water is going to drip (hopefully not my floor pan). What did you do for this?

Once I start diving into the install if I need assistance I will PM you or continue on this thread.

Thank you so much,
Zach

 

Hey guys! I have decided to go for putting an A/C system in my pickup. I may have questions along the way, but from what I have read on this forum, it seems like I’m in a similar situation with not having certain sensor hookups. I’ve never dug into A/C systems at all, so this is all new to me, but hoping to figure it out! I have my parts ready to order on rock auto, so I’ll keep you guys updated on how it goes in a few weeks. Thanks!