A/C leak.

[speleopower]

My van is a 1997 Aerostar 3.0L cargo van with only the front A/C system. Sometime yesterday all of the 134a leaked out of my A/C system. A few weeks ago I added part of a can of 134 to the ac system. Low side pressure was up to about 50psi and the high side pressure was in the proper range.

The a/c system was working properly yesterday morning on my way to work. In the evening the compressor did not click on while driving home. Only hot air was blowing. I checked the pressure at the low side fitting and there was zero psi. In desperation I tried adding a can of 134. The compressor started kicking on and off plus a little bit of somewhat cool air was blowing through the vents. This told me at least everything is working but there is a leak somewhere.

I'm hoping the accumulator is bad. I saw the sticky thread on accumulator replacement.

Is there any common points of failure I should look for before taking to a a/c shop for a leak check.

Thanks for any help! It seems this is the summer of failures on my van!!!!
-Scott

 

[BrooklynBay]

Did you add freon with the A/C & engine running? The pressure is twice as much as my 1995 system with the A/C running. Look under the insulation on the accumulator. You might want to add a UV dye. Do you have caps on the service ports? How is the O ring on the pressure switch?

 

[speleopower]

The accumulator looks ok under the insulation that I peeled off. I have a feeling it has been replaced prior to me buying the van a few years ago.
I'm going to get some green dye and see if I can see a major leak somewhere before I take it to a shop. However I do have a feeling it's the condensor or more to the point the seals on the lines going into the condensor.
The lines going into the condenser look "crusty". There maybe a leaky o-ring on them.

I'm going to pick up a gasket set today and change the gaskets first before replacing components.

I had my power steering go out a couple years ago. I thought there was a major blowout of the lines. It turned out it was only 1 small plastic type material seal on a power steering line that let go. I spent a couple hundred on new steering parts when it was just a 10 cent plastic seal.

I'll post pictures later this weekend.
-Scott

 

[speleopower]

I dye checked my A/C system and only found dye from a blown o-ring on the upper condenser hose (replaced) and saw some dye on the bottom bracket of the compressor and inside the insulation around the lower condenser to compressor line.

After I replaced the o-ring I put my vacuum pump on the low pressure filler at the accumulator and was only able to get to -13psi. At this point I pulled the van into the garage and closed the door and turned off the lights. I used my UV flashlight to look for more faint dye traces. I found a haze of dye inside the insulation on the lower condenser hose that heads toward the compressor.

The little bit of dye I saw on the compressor bracket appears to have dripped from the condenser hose-I hope. The hose from the condenser to compressor is metal and has a canister at the bottom of it. Problem is Autozone doesn't carry this part.

Does anyone have any idea where I can get A/C hoses for my 1997 Aerostar with front AC only?

Thanks-Scott

 

[BrooklynBay]

Check WWW.RockAuto.Com. There's a discount code in the vendors section of this site.

 

[speleopower]

Thanks a bunch for that website! The hose is quite expensive. I did find a local A/C shop that will rebuild the hose for $45 at www.acparthouse.com

-Scott

 

[speleopower]

Need to replace my evaporator

I need to replace the evaporator, and the condenser. While I"m at it I"m going to get the hoses rebuilt and the also replace the accumulator.

Does anyone have a link to step by step instructions on how to get the evaporator out.

Scott

 

[BrooklynBay]

We don't have a thread for this yet. Maybe you could make one for us? Do you have a Chilton or Haynes manual?

 

[speleopower]

Aerostar 3.0L A/C system disassemble steps

Yes I have the Hayes manual.

Over the last few days I've become an ac expert. Honestly the hardest part of working on the Aerostar A/C system is getting the accumulator off of the bracket.

It was so hot in the garage all week that I did not take pictures of the procedure to get the A/C system apart.

Here is a outline of how to take the entire A/C system out.

1)drain the coolant.
2)take the air intake off along with the air filter box
3)take the upper and lower radiator hoses off of the radiator-don't for get to pull the radiator overflow tube off as well
4)unhook the fan shroud from the radiator
5)take the 2 screws off that hold the radiator on. Pull the radiator out
6)undo the 2 condenser hose nuts and remove the hoses from the condenser
7)take the 2 screws that hold the condenser on out and pull the condenser out of the van.
8)See removal of the accumulator thread and remove the accumulator
9)disconnect the blower fan electrical connector then remove the blower fan
10)take the vacuum "hotdog" looking thing off the front of the evaporator cover.
11)remove 2 screws that hold a sensor assembly off the front of the evaporator cover. There is a resistor and some exposed wires on this piece.
12)remove all the screws that hold the evaporator cover on. The evaporator will now pull out easily.
13)undo the 4 bolts that hold the compressor on and pull the compressor out

Thats about it. Doing this job was much easier than I expected.

I'm at a Wifi hotspot right now waiting for Firestone to evacuate and recharge the A/C system. I don't have internet at my house anylonger.

I hope this helps someone in the future.
-Soctt