My wife has a 1999 Ford Expedition. The A/C worked fine the first summer we had it. Then winter. Then summer comes again and it wasn’t cool. So we had the system recharged. Then winter. Then this summer again. It isn’t cool at all. My brother thinks there’s a seal (o-ring) that might be shrinking in cold weather and letting freon out. I don’t want to spend $150-200 every summer. It does have 3rd row A/C. NOW my question is, is there a notorious place on these trucks where the freon likes to get out? Could rear system be suspect? Or is rear separate? I want something to go off of so when I go to mechanic he’ll have someplace to start from in his search.
I was just wondering if there’s some pieces I can go ahead and replace before taking it to him. Should I ask for a dye test?
My 1996 Taurus’ AC still works like a champ and my wifes’ should too.
Let me know of your experiences, ideas, or whatever.
Thank you all.
JP#3
There could be a leak anywhere in the AC system that loses refrigerant during the winter. But if there’s a loss of refrigerant during the winter, there’s also a loss of refrigerant during the summer. Only not as fast.
At this point what you might do is, take it to a shop who can use a refrigerant sniffer to locate any leaks. These can locate a leak as low as a half an ounce a year of refrigerant. And then decide if it’s worth the money to fix it. Afterall, the leak could be at the compressor shaft seal. And that would mean a new compressor.
Tester
The A/C worked fine the first summer we had it. Then winter. Then summer comes again and it wasn’t cool. So we had the system recharged. Then winter. Then this summer again. It isn’t cool at all.
Well you have a leak. From the information provided there is no way of telling what exactly is leaking. For that they usually add a marker to the fluid and use a special light to find where the leak is or they may be able to find it using a sniffer.
Not much to be gained by guessing and if you start replacing parts thinking that might be it, you could end up spending a lot and not fix the problem.
Other than agreeing with the advice you’ve been given, I would only add that many leaks are related to the compressor shaft seal.
Take a flashlight and closely examine the bottom of the compressor, hose fittings, the condenser, etc. for oily blotches or even drips.
The reason why is that with refrigerant loss, refrigerant oil is also lost. This shows up as oily blotches at the leaking areas; especially on lower mounted compressors, fittings, etc. where the oil has a tendency to pool when the system is off.
If these people have been recharging the system without adding refrig. oil then your compressor is an accident waiting to happen as many compressor failures are caused by this simple leaking system/recharging/adding no oil scenario.
Hope that helps.
If these people have been recharging the system without adding refrig. oil then your compressor is an accident waiting to happen
I would also add that if these people have recharged your system without saying you have a leak and either finding it or adding dye to help find it, then don’t use them again. Refrigerant loss only comes from leaks, and I suspect you have been to businesses that must count on making money off of yearly recharges rather than correct diagnosis and repair of AC problems.
That said, dye may have been added - look for oily goo as ok suggested, but also look for (usually) a bright sort of fluorescent green goo around AC components.
Do you use A/C regularily in the winter? The compressor should be cycled ‘on’ at least once a month to keep the compressor shaft seal lubed. The primary gas seal for the compressor is the oil film between the carbon seal and the seal plate. That film has to be maintained by operating the compressor regularily.
Hope that helps.