Question The clutch on my compressor will not stay engaged it just grabs then lets go. the freon charge checks good. I hear that there is a shim in there you can remove to make it work, have you ever heard of this.
AnswerJoshua,
Absolutely there are shims inside the compressor clutch, these are there to set the air gap. Can you remove one? Yes... but it is such an undertaking I would not attempt it. If your compressor has been working fine up to this point, that tells me your air gap is fine. don't mess with it because it is very finicky.
What your compressor is doing is what we call cycling. In 99% of vehicle with cycling compressors, the cause reverts back to a low refrigerant charge. I will tell you how to either confirm or disspell this possibility from yours.
Inside your system on the low side line at some point, or mounted on your accumulator, you should come across your low pressure switch. I believe on yours it is on the accumulator (canister on passenger side of the engine compartment mounted on the firewall). On the Ford F250 if my memory serves it is a 2 wire setup. One is purple and the other is red with a yellow stripe. With the key in the run position (engine on or off) and the A/C control switch on...
Disconnect the plug from your low pressure switch. With a small insulated wire. jump the terminals in the wiring plug together. You should hear your compressor clutch snap. If you do... start your engine... does it remain engaged? (Don't leave it like this for more than about a minute at most.) If it is staying engaged, that tells me that your refrigerant charge is low and it needs to either have the leak found and repaired, then charged up or just charge it up yourself, but know that this may happen again becasue you definately have a leak. If it is doing the same thing as before... do a follow up with me, but I think this will correct it.
Now why did I go into all of that when you told me that your refrigerant charge checked good? There's a reason, it's not just that I am not paying any attention. If you checked your pressures with the compressor off, which I believe you did because it is cycling, it will read in the green zone on those simple auto parts store gauges. The reason for this is because the pressure inside your lines are equalized when the compressor is off. So the low side will be higher than it should be with the compressor running.
Do this quick check across your low pressure switch and I am fairly certain you will find a low charge to be the culprit. In most vehicles with a cycling compressor, this is where the troubleshooting will lead.
I hope that I was able to assis you a bit. If you have any more questions, or I can be a bit clearer in my instructions, do not hesitate to ask, I will be happy to help.
Thank you for the question if I was of any help, please remember to rate this answer. (I need the bragging rights)
