The air conditioning on my 96 dodge ram blows hot air and drags down the motor when running. Any suggestions on what I can trouble shoot. I unplugged a switch that goes to the air compressor pump for now. The system now has excessive high side pressure.

 

Sounds like your idle might be too low. Spec is 850 in gear, a/c on.

 

If your idle is ok, pop the belt off and try to spin the compressor. You have a spot where the belt rides and then the actual clutch portion on the end of the compressor. Spin that part, it should have some drag, but not a lot. I worked on a chevy van here at the house a week ago, kept blowing the heater/ac fuse. Compressor would kick on for about 5 seconds and then shut off, when it shut off the blower motor would quit and the fuse would blow.

I tried to turn the compressor and it was VERY stiff. She did not fix it, trading van, but the clutch was most likely burnt on it. What are your low side pressures like? Are they very low? If so you may have a restriction, like an orifice tube stopped up with metal debris from a failed compressor. If you have a way to evacuate the freon you could check your orifice tube, If it's full of metal and such that would be your problem. You could also feel your lines, out of the condensor should be hot, after the orifice cold. Anything before the orifice should be warm or hot, anything after the orifice should be cold. If something happened to the condensor causing a restriction it would act as an orifice and it could come out of the condensor cold....which is wrong. If you got gauges you can see it, high side will climb fast and high, low side drops like a hammer. I'm thinking your pressures should be around 225-250 high side and 35-45 low side depending on the heat down there. If it's dropping to 20's or lower on the low side and high side is upwards of 300 and climbing, I'd check the orifice.....but that's just me