2005 V8 4.6 air condtioning recharge

[martin_95037]

Hello

I bought my explore in June of 2015 with 169,x.. on the clock, it was really hot that day and the air conditioner blew very cold that day. Fast forward almost 5 years later and the clock now says 226500. My air conditioner does not blow as cold any more, but blows cool. I don't suspect that there is a leak as the way I understand it these things very slowing leak the refrigerant over time. I take it up and down some bumpy mountain roads once about every other week to do some work.

My new mechanic quoted me 200 to recharge the system and that includes looking for leaks. I have never done a job like this before. Do I need any special tools to look for leaks or can I rent/buy a tool to do the job? what refrigerant do I buy from NAPA?

 

[Josef161]

Just get something like S"R-134a stop leak" from walmart (it is about $35), but it can be any r-134a. Then watch a youtube video on "how to" (your port should be in the front on the leftern side of the engine). The filling process will take you +/-15 minutes, so please don't pay your mechanic 200$ for 15 minutes of work (and maybe look for another mechanic that doesn't try to rip you off).
I had a small leak on my explorer too with a slow leak and that stp gas stopped the leak (i filled my a/c 12 months ago). When filling keep in consideration that the a/c must be on high and in cold and that you don't overfill the a/c bc that brings down the efficiency and can burn out your a/c compressor). It's really an easy job but if you don't want to do it, i saw employees at an autoparts store refill the a/c for customers for customers, that is for sure a way cheaper option then your mechanic too). Have fun and maybe look for a mechanic that doesn't tries to rip you off.

 

[MrPulldown]

Finding the leak isn't the hard part. Draining the system recovering the old R134a (don't that that stuff go into the air), fixing the leaking part, drawing a vacuum in the system, then filling it with new R plus lube oil, is the hard part.