2007 F-150, 4.2 V6, 149K Miles

I'm having to replace the a/c clutch and pulley on my compressor. Does anyone know what the air gap is between the clutch and pulley face?

 

I do it one business card thickness.

 

That's about .020". When I used to adjust the points on my distributors and I didn't have a feeler gauge I would use a match book cover or business card. They're both .020".
Thanks MF150.

 

MF150, being a buisness card is about .020" it will work just fine for the air gap.
I decided to do a bit more research and found the Ford Specs are;
.014-.026" Air Gap
Clutch bolt torque-10 ft. lbs.
In the link below are all the specs on almost every a/c compressor made. This is very good information to save to your favorites.
BTW, my compressor is an FS20 (Probably all 2004-2008 F150's are). This chart would make for a good sticky, IMO.

https://www.rockauto.com/genImages/5..._English-1.pdf

 

Most people think the A/C compressor isn't serviceable and they wind up evacing (or not) the system and swapping compressors. Most shops do this because it's easy -- even though it's not when it's done correctly. Most shops I find (even ones that specialize in auto HVAC) don't charge it back to exact factory specs and double or triple check it. They also have a habit of not evacing the system prior to charging it.

Most of the time when a compressor actually goes, it's because there was a pinhole leak (due to hitting something and busting the lines or the condenser coil) and the refrigerant and oil leaks out, thus starving the compressor.

Usually the case is the compressor clutch will wear out. But a lot of people don't have the tools to change them out or they don't want to bother with it. Or they just want to make some $$ off customer...

When I do compressors, I triple vac it and use nitrogen to make sure there is no possibility of water in the system or leaks. Luckily for me, where I work, I can borrow this stuff (manifold gauges, refrigerant, oil, nitrogen, vacuum pump, fittings, etc), and I got trained on how to use it effectively.

Only problem with this is it's very time consuming... it's basically an all day project that needs to be tended to. 1 hour for evac, 1 hour for nitrogen for leaks, then 1 hour for evac... you get my point.

I can guarantee you ask a shop to triple vac your pickup truck's A/C system, and they'll say sure.. for a lot of money... or laugh at you, one or the other.