I've got some Air Conditioning Problems!! | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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I've got some Air Conditioning Problems!!

imq707s

Well-Known Member
Joined
July 5, 2000
Messages
214
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City, State
Springfield, Missouri
Year, Model & Trim Level
1997 Mercury Mountaineer
The AC on my 1997 Explorer stoped working yesterday. I thought that it might be low on freon, and I bought one of those small cans and charged it my self. After I was done I shut the motor off and I could hear a leak coming from that small canister where you put the freon in at. After I looked closer I noticed that there is a foam rubber pad that is wrapped around the canister, and underneath the pad was ton of rust. The leak was coming from one of the rust patches. I guess it has rusted all the way through to the inside. Is this common? What is that canister called and how much will it cost me to replace it? Thanks
 



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Yes I have definitely heard of this before and it is common on explorers that are in a northern climates. Try a junkyard and see what you can find.
 






I believe that is your condensor. Do not get one from a junk yard. It will be cheaper now, but more expensive later. Buy one new for $90 (I think). It is not hard to install, however you need a special o-ring tool for taking the tubing apart, a good autoparts store will have these.

My reason for the junkyard, is that if you get any dust or dirt in there it will ruin the components again.
 






nope..I think its you accumulator- that's the canister thing that has a foam insulation around it there's been a discussion about this one

If you take it to a shop they can probly recover all your refrigerent to while they put in a new accumulator (so you wouldn;t have to pay oodles to get new refrig.) :)
Later,
Garrett
 






Originally posted by GenerationX
nope..I think its you accumulator- that's the canister thing that has a foam insulation around it there's been a discussion about this

one

Yeah that is what I meant but I always get the two names mixed up!:D
 






I believe everyone is correct in their determination of an ACCUMULATOR leak. This is the canister that comes directly from the evaporator (the part near your firewall or thru your dash that "gets cold") The accumulator should have a pressure switch attached to the top. This is the compressor/clutch pressure switch which turns the compressor off when the evaporator gets to cold (to the point of freezing up) and back on tho chill your air again. On the Ford, the switch actually acts on pressure differences, not temperature.
The accumulator is usually the first component to go bad in an A/C system. As the name implies, it accumulates low pressure/low pressure gas (R-134), storing excess refrigerant and filtering out moisture. This moisture and other contaminants is what causes it to rust and requires frequent replacement. THAT MEANS NEW.
You can do it yourself, but a shop can save the refrigerant already in the system. But then again they will charge $25-45 per hour labor.
Also be sure to change out your ORIFICE TUBE if you have the system open. If a shop does it, ask for the old one to be be sure they actually did the work.
 






Originally posted by Jason_25
Yes I have definitely heard of this before and it is common on explorers that are in a northern climates. Try a junkyard and see what you can find.

Its common all over. I had the problem myself and the X has never been out of texas for more than a week at a time. It rusts because all the moisture just gets trapped under that foam and cant evaporate or drip off easily.
 






Well I bought the parts last night and had a buddy help me install the new cansiter and recharge the system with Freon. The canister was $40. Whe whole thing only took about 30 minutes. I noticed that the new canister did not have the foam wrap around it.
 






Great. I always hated that foam. Retains moisture, causes rust.
 






Even Ford realized the problem. My Co-worker's '98 Explorer's accumulator didn't come with the foam wrap. I removed all of the foam from my '97 when someone posed an article that originated with an automotive shop in Mexico pointing out the problem that the foam causes. Basically the accumulator will "sweat" just like a cold can of your favorite beverage sitting out in the hot sun (at least until the can warms up). It's called condensation. Now wrap that can with a sponge to hold in the water and what did Ford think would happen? Rust. Fortunately mine only had some surface rust on it that hadn't eaten through the metal yet. Had I let it go a couple more years and I would probably have had to replace it by now as well.
 






Originally posted by imq707s
Well I bought the parts last night and had a buddy help me install the new cansiter and recharge the system with Freon. The canister was $40. Whe whole thing only took about 30 minutes. I noticed that the new canister did not have the foam wrap around it.

I just found out mine is rusted too and want to replace the canister myself. It says to discharge the system. Is that necessary? Also, can u give me directions and hints on what to do when i'm replacing it? I would appreciate it greatly.
 






Check out the thread on "converting an R-12 System to R-134", you may find portions useful. And yes it IS necessary to discharge the system - and into the air is illegal.

Happy exploring


Chris

ps. in the For what it is worth category. The EPA has for years been trying to take 134 off the shelves for the average guy. Why? Because it's easy availability means people willl vent their systems to discharge them rather than recover them properly since they can easily replace the refrigerant cheaply. If you have a full system with a component needing to be changed, please get it properly recovered by a shop with the recovery equipment.
 






I think i'm retarted cus i can't find this thread on the conversion. Where is it?
 






Try the "Useful Threads" forum. I think it has a link to it there
 






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