Ford Workshop Service and Repair Manuals

The A/C compressor (2) is driven by the engine. The A/C compressor primes the gaseous refrigerant out of the suction accumulator (3) and compresses it. The refrigerant heats up and is passed to the condenser core (1) under high-pressure.

At this point heat is drawn from the refrigerant by the air being forced past the cooling fins. Because of this heat loss, the refrigerant liquifies and leaves the condenser core.

A evaporator core orifice (6), which separates the refrigerant at high-pressure from that at low-pressure, is located between the condenser core and the evaporator core (5). This evaporator core orifice slows down the flow of the refrigerant from the A/C compressor, so that pressure builds up in the condenser core.

After passing through the evaporator core orifice the liquid refrigerant expands in the circuit to the evaporator core. In the evaporator core the liquid refrigerant converts back into the gaseous state and this causes heat to be extracted from the air coming into the vehicle. The air therefore cools down and the moisture it contained is given up at the evaporator core. The refrigerant stream coming from the evaporator core enters the suction accumulator and is primed up again by the A/C compressor.

The system is protected by the high-pressure cutoff switch, in order to prevent damage by excessive pressure (example, because of overfilling). If the pressure exceeds the maximum allowed, the high-pressure cutoff switch turns off the A/C compressor.

The working cycles of the A/C compressor are controlled by the low-pressure cutoff switch depending on the low-pressure in the suction accumulator. The low-pressure cutoff switch turns the A/C compressor off permanently if the pressure falls below the approved value (example, if there is a leak).

Variable-displacement Ford FVS 090 A/C Compressor

On vehicles built from 10/2002 with 1.6L Zetec-SE engine and manual transaxle a combined cooler/condenser is fitted.