Ok so im wanting to delete the a/c on my truck. it is a 2002 2.3l with 5speed manual. I went this whole summer without using it because i cant stand how under powered it is with it on. this is my "beater" truck and not my work truck. i want to delete the a/c to make more room in the engine bay, and also reduce drag on the engine. i am going to replace the compressor with the a/c delete pulley so i wont have to worry about a new belt.

I have been thinking about the heater as well... I know there is not really any advantage to deleting it. but, i think the heater core or line on the back of the engine is leaking and causing my truck to lose coolant over time. Anyways, if i did remove it, i was wondering if i could run lines to another, smaller, radiator to keep the engine cool, or is the stock radiator enough. I am located in SC and it hasnt even got down to 32* here yet and looks like it will be 75* this christmas. I know the a/c delete and possibly heater delete will not be good as far as resale value goes, but i plan on running this ranger into the ground, but in the meantime i would like to have alittle more power and possibly more reliability and cooling.

Has anyone else thought about doing this, or have any tips when doing this?

Seriously? If you delete both, kiss having defrost good bye. If your windshield ever fogs up you are screwed.

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2013 Ford Focus SE hatch - My daily driver
2018 Chevy Equinox diesel- Wife's
2001 Ford Ranger XLT 4x4 4.0 Supercab Off-Road Stepside - Bunch of stuff.

You nailed it but I will expand a tiny bit.........It's a stupid idea.
Living in SC and removing the A/C is insane.

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Leave the heater. I live in southern SC and I use the heater frequently in the winter.

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You will not see any appreciable benefit to deleting the A/C in your truck. While you might pick up a probably unnoticeable amount of acceleration due to a slight drop in weight, thats about it. When the A/C is off, the A/C system isnt providing any drag since the A/C clutch isnt engaged (and thus, only the compressor bearing is drag which isnt much).

I have the extended cab version of your truck (literally- 2002 2.3l 5-speed manual, etc), so believe me I know how the A/C robs power when its on. However, you can take steps to reduce its impact on your driving- dont use it unless youre cruising or in bumper to bumper traffic. The drag mostly shows when accelerating from a light up to 55/65/whatever. When cruising aside from robbing a few mpgs, it has little effect.

I concur with the others about defrost. The A/C is a huge help defrosting the windows. Without A/C, you have no choice but to blow hot air at the windshield to try and make the fog go away. This REALLY sucks when its a hot humid muggy rainy day. The inside of the truck starts getting hot, and you start to sweat. This only makes the windows fog faster if you turn the heat off. With A/C, you can use heat to defrost the window (and defrost dehumidifies the air through the A/C), and then once the window is clear switch to vent a/c- the windows wont fog again because the A/C is removing all the humidity, and youre comfortable in the cab.

Just leave it off and lose almost nothing. If/when you really need it, its there. I dont think I need to even mention what removing the A/C would do to the value of the truck if you ever try to resell it...

**EDIT** If youre losing coolant due to the heater circuit, check the heater control valve. Nearly all of them leak after they get 80k on them. Mine was terrible until I replaced it. In terms of removing the heater, I really think thats a bad idea.

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2002 Ford Ranger XLT Supercab, 2.3L Duratec I4, 5-speed manual, 4.10 gears, ~100,000 miles
Power nothing with air conditioning; crank windows for life!
Throttle cable mod, retained accessory power mod, 2006 thermostat w/resistor mod
Headlight relay harness, Philips xtreme-vision bulbs
P235/75R15 Michelin LTX M/S2s

And a/c lol

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2011 Toyota Tundra 5.7 DC 4x4
Ranger free since 4/14/14
1972 bmw 2002tii
1974 Kawasaki mc1m 90

Well, if you want to talk about 4 bangers that are slow as shit. In fact, I use the AC while I drive around and it doesn't even feel that bad to me. Lol

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2007 Regular Cab - 2.3 DOHC - 5 Speed Auto - 4.10 Gears - Maxtrac 7" Lift - Fiberwerx 3" Fenders - Bilstein 5100 Series - 15x10 Ultra 164's - 35x12.50x15 Red Letters - Custom dents

I've only been in SC a couple months, and I can tell it gets hot in the summers, and it hit 40 last week, I'd suggest leaving them both in, as mentioned above, when the compressor is off, it literally has the same effect as the A/C delete pulley. As for deleting the heat, why go through all of the effort of bypassing the core when it could just be a simple fix?

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2001 f250 7.3 zf-6
1979 f150 400/c6
Ranger free since December 2015
quote of the day:
The round flowing fenders of this vehicle have been lovingly reconstructed by a Dutch craftsman out of, what could be considered the most precious material on earth, bondo

the cons seem to heavily out weigh the pros of this idea. i'd leave it as is.

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2002 XLT Extended Cab 4.0

The A/C doesn't put that much stress on the engine. If you feel it bogging down a bit, you can try opening up the intake and exhaust a bit to let it breathe more when it needs to. That'll give you all-around better benefits than simply deleting the A/C.

On that note, if it's crippling performance to the extreme you're implying, then the existence of the system is not the problem. Something ain't right. You might wanna check out the A/C pulley and clutch to see if they're all good. Maybe a bearing is busted, and engaging the compressor clutch puts enough stress on it to cause extra drag?

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2003 Ford Ranger XLT
2.3L I4 Duratec DOHC, 5R44E 5-speed auto, RWD, 7.5" Open w/ 4.10 Ratio, Gibson split-rear catback
Sonic Blue Pearl with dark gray trim