A/C help required

[Cailean]

Hi all. I'm a new member here. I've owned my 01 Explorer XLS for a year now and recently have been given a company vehicle to drive, so XLS doesn't get out much. During the recent heat wave, on a Saturday drive with my son, I turned on A/C only to have hot air blowing at me. high speed fan works. I never got a manual with the car. I plan to purchase a Haynes for it, but was wondering if anyone can tell me things I can do to start off the repair. Trouble is, I am not mechanically inclined towards motor vehicles, nor do I have a lot of time to spend on repairs. There were no signs, smoke, weird noises or anything to suggest it might be about to break down.
Any suggestions are appreciated!
Colin

 

[shamaal]

As you can imagine a number of things can be wrong, the most likely being a low charge. From there it escalates from simple leaks to actually broken components. Generally speaking what happens next is an attemt to fill with a cheapie kit from Autozone or purchasing an A/C manifold set from Harbor Freight ($49) and charging using R134a.

Another possibility is bringing it into a $29 service center, let them evacuate and charge and perform the diagnostics. You may then do the repairs and save the big bucks then return for the final charge up. It kind of depends on how much time and effort you want to put into it.

There is a sub forum called A/C & Heater that has a very good sticky on charging your A/C that will give you an idea of what's involved:
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=-1&f=123

Feel free to ask questions, this is a friendly forum.

 

[Cailean]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm on it!