Ford 8700 AC idler pulley revisited

So the previous owner said it liked to throw the AC belt. See post below

Liked the idea by matt from Oz about welding a plate to the front of the mounting plate (had the advantage of being cheap), to tension the pulley.

The compressor was all the way out at the end of the adjustment slots, went to loosen the bolts, started losing refrigerant and oil. Great.

So the I went with the story by juniur...held the new correct size belt on the pulley with a wood hammer handle while daughter bumped the engine, and rolled it on.

Boy is it tight

Probably too tight, but at this point the compressor needs rebuilt (or at least a new bottom gasket), so I'd have to take it off and recharge anyway, so why not?

Anyway, baled about 6 hours with it, belt hasn't come off yet. It's stretched a little, but still plenty tight.

And I'm baling hay in cool dust free air. I could get used to this.

Pic of my new to me 40 year old tractor with the baler. When I first got the baler 20 years ago, I was pulling it with a 5000 (it was all that tractor wanted), and then a Massey 398, the baler looked so big behind those tractors. Not so much behind this one.

thanks for the help

Fred

Original post

As I said in my original reply to you, the belt was likely not tight enough. You've proved that by rolling on a belt that was too short, and now it's guitar-string tight. Why didn't you simply get the correct length belt, and tension it properly like the owner's manual shows?

BTW, refrigerant leakage from the bottom of those compressors when you loosen the mounting bolts is very much normal. Poor design, but that's the way it is.

Applying thread sealer to the bottom bolts helps with refrigerant leakage. Cutting the a/c off before throttling the tractor up helps to keep the belt on. It's a poor design always has been.

Bern

And you were correct, the belt was not tight enough. I have a shop manual for the thing, saw the correct procedure, but when it started blowing out refrigerant/oil when I loosened the mounting bolts, I just tightened the bolts back up. I was unaware losing refrigerant was "normal". Refrigerant I can add easily enough, adding oil is a bit more involved.

What's the right oil for that compressor anyway? I was told it was converted to 134, got 134 fittings on it.

And as I said, I did put on the correct size belt...A53, 55" OD x 1/2 wide...I didn't go with a smaller size. Instead of putting it on correctly, I rolled it on.

But since you had the picture posted and I was curious, I checked the amount of deflection in the belt, it turns out it's right there at 3/8 to 1/2 inch, so it worked out (probably the belt stretched after 6 hours)

Thanks

Fred

Yeah, I'll fix it 'right' when I have time, right now got hay to bale.

Thanks

Fred

If you take the compressor off for any reason, install a stud in that open hole with your favorite sealant. That's not Ford's idea, by the way. Changed that compressor 3 times in the last 40 years, sourced from 3 different auto parts stores, all have that open hole.

I'd have thought for sure it was a blind hole, and the bottom gasket had given way.

Thanks for the info.

Fred

Pretty sure it was originally a blind hole. but the bolt is too long and now its no longer a blind hole. Had same exact problem on some, not on others. so in my opinion, it was a blind hole till some one put a longer bolt in, and/or removed a washer..

I had to adjust them "really quick" due to freon and oil coming out the bottom... and the add back freon as it has oil in it.

You can also buy a can of "oil only" freon that will put back excess oil in the system. And this will equalize between the compressor and the filter/dehydrator..

Again,, dont turn on the compressor till rpms are at 1900,, and turn off before reving down.... and paint ac belt a bright color for finding in field or in the middle of hay bales.

That makes sense that it was originally a blind hole from new. That said, I wonder if it was Ford who put the long bolts in them from the
factory, because every one I've ever adjusted leaked.

When the TW series came out with the cast iron compressors, that problem went away. Either Ford changed the bolt length, or else the cast
iron case didn't cave in quite so easily.

Here is a picture of an add on pulley with ford parts.. I got this tractor in last week and have not had time to work on it. Its the offset type of pulley that I described in another post.

<image src="http://forums.yesterdaystractors.com/photos/mvphoto748.jpg"/>

try again.