How To Replace The Air Conditioning Condenser On A Truck
Posted on: 11 January 2016
Winter conditions can bring a lot hazards when driving over the highways. One of the worst hazards is objects like frozen ice getting kicked up by vehicles in front of you. The frozen ice can hit your grill and air conditioning condenser on the front of your truck. Ice hitting your air conditioning condenser can bend and damage the fins on the slots in the unit. Bent fins will close the space between the cooling slots on the condenser, and bent fins won't allow the air to flow through the condenser to cool down heated coolant fluid. This can cause your air conditioning system to fail. You'll need to replace the condenser to get the air conditioner to work well again. Here is how to replace the air conditioning condenser on your truck.
Step One: Drain Coolant
Make sure the coolant in the vehicle is cooled down. Set a five gallon pail under the drain valve on the condenser to catch the coolant fluid as it drains from the valve. Open the drain valve on the bottom of the condenser to remove the air conditioning coolant.
Step Two: Disconnect the Battery
Remove the positive and negative cables from the battery. This will prevent you from getting accidentally shocked when working on your truck.
Step Three: Remove Fan Protector
The fan protector typically covers the radiator and condenser as well as the fan. You'll need to remove the cover to give you room to slide the condenser up and out of the truck. Unscrew the mounting bolts on the ends of the cover and remove it.
Step Three: Remove Broken Condenser
The air conditioning condenser is located behind the front grille. You need to remove the grille so you can access the mounting bolts for the condenser. The condenser looks a lot like your radiator, but is mounted on brackets directly in front and on the side of the radiator.
Disconnect the coolant lines running to and from the condenser.
Remove the mounting bolts holding the condenser to the frame around the radiator. Carefully lift the condenser up along the radiator (you don't want to bend the fins on the slots in the radiator) and out of the truck.
Step Four: Install New Condenser
Carefully slide the new condenser onto the front of the radiator. Bolt the new condenser to the frame, and reconnect the coolant lines.
Put the radiator fan cover back onto the truck, and then place the grille back onto the front of the truck.
Put the positive and negative cables back on the battery.
Step Five: Test Condenser
Take the truck out for a drive and turn on the air conditioner. Check to make sure cold air comes out of the air vents when you turn on the air conditioner.
To learn more, contact a company like Color Country Diesel Inc.
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