trixrabite
New Member
- Joined
- April 2, 2022
- Messages
- 1
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- Maricopa, AZ
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2003, Ford Explorer XLT
A little background on my car...
So my wife and I have had this Ford Explorer since 2013. Car has been working great put about 40k miles on it got it around 113k miles on it at the time. We don't know too much about the history of the car my wife did get a carfax it looked good no accidents there was some paperwork from dealer for some work done on it at the time we were living in CA at the time and the AC had been working up until around 2017 or so and then something had happened with the AC the AC started blowing warm and the fan felt kind of weak at some point I put in a can of R134A and the AC compressor started kicking over then at some point it stopped. at the time I just put in a can just to see if it was low on R134 I didn't have any tools at the time since I was living in an apartment. some time in 2018 we moved out of CA and moved to AZ and brought the car with us, I've been putting off trying to get the car working. I fixed the fan issue where it was weak it had to do with the circulating air flap cover in the blower box and now around that time I fixed that I checked the high and low valves and no Freon came out of them I pulled vacuum and it held the vacuum so I recharged the system.
My question about the car at the moment with the AC is
it has one of those electric climate control in the center dash area in the front with the dual button rear control stuff and it has a console rear vent system in it with a couple levers that control the vents. but no vents coming out of the ceiling or rear controls on the ceiling either. Does the fact that it has the vents in the console going out towards the rear mean I have rear AC or is the rear AC only for cars equipped with the ceiling vents and rear ceiling control system? Wondering this because I only put the recommended R134A amount into the car since it was empty and recharged it and when I checked my gauges it was reading high on the low side and low on the high side for the number like 55 and 130 around there and the needle for the low side was flickering. so I was thinking maybe I didn't put enough since the car is blowing cold again at driving speeds but it would start to warm up at idle. I have an evacuation system now an Robinair RG3 I am planning to evacuate and check the orifice tube to see if that is all gunked up I am thinking its gunked up and not allowing the R134 to circulate the way it needs to. it also seems the compressor is on all the time too when I turn on the system I dont have a forscan tool since all these tools cost money and have been adding up still is cheaper to buy the tools and get educated on how to get the job done myself.
if someone can tell me if this car has rear AC or if its non equipped that would be great since it will save me the grief when I go and buy a kit for the AC system some kits have the valve for the rear ac and some don't and some have a TXV valve trying to make sure I am getting the right kit and not paying for parts I don't need in this car so I can finish up this AC business and start working on my other car. seems the AC system you need a lot of specialized tools that I've been buying here and there when I can afford it.
Oh, also I am not sure what model Ford Explorer I was guessing its an XLT it says on the back lift gate Explorer Limited and it has a V8 I am guessing XLT meants eXplorer LimiTed? and XLS is eXplorer Limited Sport? I am unsure I come from Volkswagens I've owned a series of Volkswagens seems like Ford is not a stranger to Volkswagen since my Volkswagen Passat V6 has a Ford part in the back braking system and seems like VW and Ford have some sort of partnership in the EV stuff that's going on now. I have been interested in Ford Maverick though for a truck since I have been interested in small to midsized pick ups.
Thank you in advance.
So my wife and I have had this Ford Explorer since 2013. Car has been working great put about 40k miles on it got it around 113k miles on it at the time. We don't know too much about the history of the car my wife did get a carfax it looked good no accidents there was some paperwork from dealer for some work done on it at the time we were living in CA at the time and the AC had been working up until around 2017 or so and then something had happened with the AC the AC started blowing warm and the fan felt kind of weak at some point I put in a can of R134A and the AC compressor started kicking over then at some point it stopped. at the time I just put in a can just to see if it was low on R134 I didn't have any tools at the time since I was living in an apartment. some time in 2018 we moved out of CA and moved to AZ and brought the car with us, I've been putting off trying to get the car working. I fixed the fan issue where it was weak it had to do with the circulating air flap cover in the blower box and now around that time I fixed that I checked the high and low valves and no Freon came out of them I pulled vacuum and it held the vacuum so I recharged the system.
My question about the car at the moment with the AC is
it has one of those electric climate control in the center dash area in the front with the dual button rear control stuff and it has a console rear vent system in it with a couple levers that control the vents. but no vents coming out of the ceiling or rear controls on the ceiling either. Does the fact that it has the vents in the console going out towards the rear mean I have rear AC or is the rear AC only for cars equipped with the ceiling vents and rear ceiling control system? Wondering this because I only put the recommended R134A amount into the car since it was empty and recharged it and when I checked my gauges it was reading high on the low side and low on the high side for the number like 55 and 130 around there and the needle for the low side was flickering. so I was thinking maybe I didn't put enough since the car is blowing cold again at driving speeds but it would start to warm up at idle. I have an evacuation system now an Robinair RG3 I am planning to evacuate and check the orifice tube to see if that is all gunked up I am thinking its gunked up and not allowing the R134 to circulate the way it needs to. it also seems the compressor is on all the time too when I turn on the system I dont have a forscan tool since all these tools cost money and have been adding up still is cheaper to buy the tools and get educated on how to get the job done myself.
if someone can tell me if this car has rear AC or if its non equipped that would be great since it will save me the grief when I go and buy a kit for the AC system some kits have the valve for the rear ac and some don't and some have a TXV valve trying to make sure I am getting the right kit and not paying for parts I don't need in this car so I can finish up this AC business and start working on my other car. seems the AC system you need a lot of specialized tools that I've been buying here and there when I can afford it.
Oh, also I am not sure what model Ford Explorer I was guessing its an XLT it says on the back lift gate Explorer Limited and it has a V8 I am guessing XLT meants eXplorer LimiTed? and XLS is eXplorer Limited Sport? I am unsure I come from Volkswagens I've owned a series of Volkswagens seems like Ford is not a stranger to Volkswagen since my Volkswagen Passat V6 has a Ford part in the back braking system and seems like VW and Ford have some sort of partnership in the EV stuff that's going on now. I have been interested in Ford Maverick though for a truck since I have been interested in small to midsized pick ups.
Thank you in advance.
