Rear AC not working

[NickH2009]

Hi, new guy here and I have a 09 expo Eddie Bauer with some rear AC issues. We came to Virginia on Sunday and half way here the rear AC quit. It's blowing warm air. After searching around the web and coming upon some posts from this forum and still not fixing it, I thought I would register and try to explain the problem.
It seems the common one is the blend door. My actuator is working fine. Turn from cold to hot and it gets hotter. Turn back to cold and it seems like ambient air temp. I even tried pinching one of the heater hoses going to the rear heater core. Still warm air. The rear AC condenser is very cold to the touch. You can even hear the change in sound when switching from hot to cold and vise versa. We are leaving to Virginia beach tomorrow and I don't want to roast the kids out anymore than I have to. Thanks

 

[NickH2009]

Update, drove the whole way to Va. beach with the heater hose pinched off to the rear unit and still blowing warm air. Heater core is cool to the touch. Called my local Ford dealer and they have no ideas. Like I said, the blend door actuator is working and it seems like the blend door itself is working. When you first start the car up, it is blowing warm air also. If it was a blend door issue, with cold coolant, it would have cold air from the AC unit until the antifreeze got warm. The only thing the dealer said was that maybe if the system is a little low, it wouldn't be working in the rear. Make sense to anyone? If it is all one system with only one compressor, how do you figure that? This thing is driving me crazy so far. Thanks, Nick

 

[Flag Gibby]

See here: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=362953&highlight=rear+AC

It could be that your rear expansion valve is bad since you say that the front AC works just fine.

 

[FordService]

Update, drove the whole way to Va. beach with the heater hose pinched off to the rear unit and still blowing warm air. Heater core is cool to the touch. Called my local Ford dealer and they have no ideas. Like I said, the blend door actuator is working and it seems like the blend door itself is working. When you first start the car up, it is blowing warm air also. If it was a blend door issue, with cold coolant, it would have cold air from the AC unit until the antifreeze got warm. The only thing the dealer said was that maybe if the system is a little low, it wouldn't be working in the rear. Make sense to anyone? If it is all one system with only one compressor, how do you figure that? This thing is driving me crazy so far. Thanks, Nick

Hi Nick,

Have you had your dealer inspect or have you only spoken to them on the phone? How many miles are on it currently?

Crystal

 

[Flag Gibby]

... misread, I would love to be able to completely delete posts that I randomly submit out of ignorance.

 

[NickH2009]

See here: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=362953&highlight=rear+AC

It could be that your rear expansion valve is bad since you say that the front AC works just fine.

Thank you very much, I will check into that this weekend. I haven't noticed the sound, but will check.

 

[NickH2009]

Hi Nick,

Have you had your dealer inspect or have you only spoken to them on the phone? How many miles are on it currently?

Crystal

Only on the phone with the dealer. Always have had great help from these guys. They know I work on all my own stuff and company trucks and are always willing to help. 65,000 miles.

 

[Flag Gibby]

Thank you very much, I will check into that this weekend. I haven't noticed the sound, but will check.

If it is the expansion valve you won't necessarily hear a sound if it has completely stopped working. In cases of it being intermittent I can see it making a sound like described in the link I provided in my earlier post.

 

[NickH2009]

If it was the expansion valve, would the evaporator still be cold to the touch?

 

[Flag Gibby]

Yes, see here: http://www.auto-repair-help.com/automotive_maintenance/ac_expansion_valve.php
which helps back up why I say yes.
Sorry for the delayed response... on vacation right now.

 

[NickH2009]

Thanks. Didn't check yet, just finished up night shift. Will be looking tomorrow.

 

[NickH2009]

Update, I thought I posted my results......sorry, it was the rear expansion valve. Changed it out ans it works fine. Local parts store had it for $20. Thanks for the help everyone. Much appreciated.

 

[Tony_g]

Hey guys i saw this post trying to figure out why my rear ac was having the same issue. Just need to know, do i have to vaccum the ac in order to change the valve??

 

[Flag Gibby]

Yes, you need to evacuate the system before you replace the expansion valve. Once done you need to put the system under vacuum and hold it to make sure that it is sealed again before you fill it back. Ideally you would have a clean tank under vacuum to capture it in and just put what you capture back into the system when you are done.