hi, hope this is the right place to post this , anyway ac was working perfect but i had a freon leak in a hose , took my ranger , a 2003 xlt 2.3 to a mechanic he took the hose off to get a new matching hose. so ac didnt work for a few days then he installed the new hose added freon and air blows out nice and cold but only from the defrost , he has no idea whats going on but finally gets air to come out the middle vents by conecting the vacuum hose that goes from the engine to the vac res to the gray hose that goes to the heater regulator thing and bypases the black ball vac res then he conected the black line from the firewall to the heater thing , so now i get air from middle vents but only in ac max and have no heat ,i have searched hours on ranger forums and the internet and now know its a vacuum leak , i checked the ball vac res it looks fine no cracks or anything got new hoses and conectors between the red hose that comes from the engine to the vac res ball but nothing works air only comes out the defrost so i reconected the line from the engine to the gray heater actuator things hose so ill at least have max ac workinghas anyone had a similar experience? what could have the mechanic done that caused this situation and how can i fix it ,where do i look for the leak ? thanks in advance

 

Yes, Defrost vent only means no vacuum for vent selector, defrost is default position.


I think there is a Black vacuum line and a grey vacuum line that run thru the firewall into the cab.

Black line would be the main vacuum source for Vent selector, and also Heater hose bypass, the Grey vacuum line that comes out of firewall and goes to bypass valve.

Black line from firewall would connect to Vacuum reservoir
Red vacuum line that comes from intake manifold is the vacuum source it also connects to vacuum reservoir, it can change to a Black color line along the way.

So you have this

Engine/intake manifold vacuum========Vacuum reservoir=========(Vent select====vent select actuator) () = in cab

Actuator is behind glove box, video here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tSFPSY19MI


Simple tests
Find correct red vacuum line on intake manifold, there can be more than 1 red one, never assume :)
Pull it off, pull off the other end of this hose from reservoir
Suck on one end with finger over the other end, if it holds vacuum then it is good

Reconnect to reservoir
Unplug other line on reservoir should be the Black line going to firewall
Suck on the red line again, with finger over open port on reservoir, should hold vacuum, if not the reservoir is cracked, replace it.

Now with Black line disconnected from reservoir, suck on it, make sure Grey line is plugged back in to Heater by-pass.
It should hold a vacuum, if not get someone inside the cab and while you BLOW into the Black line have them listen for air leaks

 

great info THANKS i was able to track the leak and fix it it was the bleck hose going to the firewall that was disconected under the glovebox wouldnt have fount it without your advise, thank you very much for your help

 

Thanks for posting the fix, it will help others