The last few months in Mexico, my 2002 Sienna with over 200,000 miles on it, once in a great while would stop cooling, and the button on the dash for a/c would start blinking instead of a steady green light. I assumed the gas was getting low as it did at around 100,000 miles. If I turned it off for 5 minutes, it would start working.
When I came back to McAllen, my SIL told me of a place that worked on a/c much cheaper in some cases. To find it, one goes to Pecan in McA. which is also highway 495, then drives west to the end of highway 495, and turn right for about one block.
It is a compressor shop and there are numbers of large semi truck tractors parked in front for compressor repairs.
Manuel, who speaks virtually no English, looked at it with an ultraviolet flashlight and announced the compressor seals were leaking. He said it would take around three hours to remove the compressor, replace the seals which he had in stock, reinstall it, pump it down and fill it with gas.
It actually took three hours, but I had a book to read, so no sweat.
Total cost $185. With a full one year guarantee on their work. He said the cost of seals was trivial; the job was mostly labor.
I am nearly 1400 miles north of McAllen visiting for the last time family and friends. A/c works perfectly.
I am curious. Would most shops install another compressor instead of replacing the seals? Closer to $1000 I suppose. I had this thought right away, and knew exactly where to ask, heh, heh.
I assume the trucks have compressors not only for the a/c, but also for the brakes. So, there must be compressor shops all over the country.
I don’t know if they do other work on a/c or just compressors. But that savings was significant. I bring it to your attention as an alternative to investigate. I’d like to know more. My SIL when he told me about it also mentioned that a friend also paid like $200 instead of the $800 estimate at a regular shop. So, that also sounded as if it were also to replace seals instead of replace the compressor.
