Below are air conditioning accumulators removed from a 1998 crown victoria and a 2000 crown victoria that have been cut open with an angle grinder.



In the crownvic, the accumulator is located in between the top evaporator tube and the suction side of the a/c compressor. This device seperates liquid refrigerant from vapor refrigerant because the a/c compressor can be damaged from attempting to compress a liquid. The accumulator also plays a role in oil distribution throughout the refrigerant system.



The factory service manuals for these cars do not provide illustrations of what's inside an accumulator, but some illustrations are avaliable in the a/c accumulator patents that ford motor company has filed over the years.

Diagram Color	Comments
Blue	Connection to upper evaporator tube
Green	Connection to a/c compressor suction hose
Yellow	Liquid-vapor seperation dome
Red	Refrigerant oil metering components
Violet	External case of accumulator

Patent 5184479



Patent 5660058



Here's the accumulator from a 2000 crown victoria. This unit is rusty all over. But the most significant functionality issue with the unit is that the suction service port that refrigerant would be added through has lost so much metal that a service hose no longer seals properly when connected.



Here's the accumulator from a 1998 crown victoria. This accumulator was replaced mainly because the a/c system was left exposed to moisture-laden ambient for an extended period.





The aluminum foil is present on the dessicant bag inside the accumulator is to help distribute the heat from the welding process during assembly







Here's a closeup of the refrigerant oil pickup





Here's the bottom of the 1998 accumulator



Note the domed dimple on the bottom of the accumulator housing. This was added to help prevent compressor oil starvation if the a/c system has an inadequate refrigerant charge.







Here's the bottom of the 2000 accumulator











The 2000 accumulator dessicant doesn't have the aluminum heat shield on it. However, the dessicant assembly is located further away from the welded seem where the bottom half of the accumulator meets the top half.













The dessicant is green because of the leak tracer dye wafer that is added to the accumulator during manufacture







Here are the two dessicant bags removed from the accumulators











The factory installed tracer dye can easily be mistaken for antifreeze at a quick glance

























The top cover of accumulator has been cut off in the pictures below.

The 2000 crownvic accumulator



The 1998 accumulator













Here's a closeup of the top lid from the 1998 accumulator. The paint boiled in places from the heat of being cut off with an angle grinder



On the right, the weld is bronze colored because of the brass present in the welding material.



The top cap on the left was circular prior to removal.









A few excerpts from the crown victoria factory service manuals about the suction accumulators:

1996 The suction accumulator/drier is mounted on the front of the A/C evaporator core housing and attaches directly to the A/C evaporator core outlet tube. A low pressure service access gauge port valve is mounted on the side of the suction accumulator/drier. Its purpose is to provide service access to the suction side of the refrigerant system for pressure readings and system diagnosis. It also may be used for liquid charging the system when required. After entering the inlet of the suction accumulator/drier, heavier oil laden refrigerant contacts an internally mounted dome (which serves as an umbrella), and drips down onto the bottom of the canister. A small diameter oil bleed hole in the bottom of the vapor return tube allows the accumulated heavier liquid refrigerant and oil mixture to re-enter the compressor suction line at a controlled rate. As the heavier mixture passes through the small diameter liquid bleed hole, it has a second opportunity to vaporize and recirculate through the A/C compressor without causing compressor damage due to slugging. A fine mesh screened filter fits tightly around the bottom of the vapor return tube to filter out refrigerant system contaminant particles. A desiccant bag is mounted inside the canister to absorb any moisture which may be in the refrigerant system.

2002 The suction accumulator is mounted to the right of the vehicle centerline. The inlet tube of the suction accumulator attaches directly to the A/C evaporator core outlet tube and the outlet tube of the suction accumulator attaches to the evaporator to compressor suction line. After entering the inlet of the suction accumulator, heavier oil-laden refrigerant contacts an internally mounted dome (which serves as an umbrella) and drips down onto the bottom of the canister. A small diameter oil bleed hole, in the bottom of the vapor return tube, allows the accumulated heavier liquid refrigerant and oil mixture to re-enter the compressor suction line at a controlled rate. As the heavier mixture passes through the small diameter liquid bleed hole, it has a second chance to vaporize and recirculate through the A/C compressor without causing compressor damage due to slugging. A fine mesh screened filter fits tightly around the bottom of the vapor return tube to filter out refrigerant system contaminant particles. A desiccant bag is mounted inside the canister to absorb any moisture which may be in the refrigerant system. A fitting located on the side of the suction accumulator is used to mount a serviceable low-pressure A/C charge port valve.

2009 The suction accumulator is mounted to the RH frame rail, below the coolant degas bottle. After entering the inlet of the suction accumulator, heavier oil-laden refrigerant contacts an internally mounted dome (which serves as an umbrella) and drips down onto the bottom of the canister. A small diameter oil bleed hole, in the bottom of the vapor return tube, allows the accumulated heavier liquid refrigerant and oil mixture to re-enter the compressor suction line at a controlled rate. As the heavier mixture passes through the small diameter liquid bleed hole, it has a second chance to vaporize and recirculate through the A/C compressor without causing compressor damage due to slugging. A fine mesh screened filter fits tightly around the bottom of the vapor return tube to filter out refrigerant system contaminant particles. A desiccant bag is mounted inside the canister to absorb any moisture which may be in the refrigerant system.