*UPDATE*

First off, thanks to those who offered advice on troubleshooting my a/c problem. To those who advised me to "take it to a professional" ... Well, you're going to be a bit disappointed. See, this backyard mechanic managed to diagnose and repair his a/c system without the help of a "professional" and most importantly, without the hefty pricetag. Isn't that why we're all here? To learn from each others' repair experiences and to help out others with their similar dilemmas when we can? Call me crazy, but I would rather dive off my porch head first into a thumbtack than take my 1999 Ranger with 175K miles to a "professional" a/c guy and pay half the value of the vehicle to have it repaired ... But maybe that's just me.

Anyway, here's what happened:

A good friend of mine on the mainland who is a certified mechanic advised me that since there was no pressure in the system, that the R134A must have leaked out while I was away for a month and a half. He advised that I inspect all of the hoses, connections, and fittings throughout the a/c system, and take note if there was any area with an oily "sludge". Well, I found an oily area on the condenser and narrowed it's source to the compression fitting where the high pressure line connects to the condenser. He then suggested that I jumper the compressor at the low pressure switch to get the system circulating, put some soapy water on the high pressure compression fitting, pump in a small amount of R134A and watch the fitting for bubbles, which would indicate a leak.

Well, needless to say I saw bubbles and immediately figured out where all of my refrigerant was leaking from. I replaced the entire high pressure hose assembly from the compressor to the condenser for about $125.00, and $15 for the R134A recharge canister.

Everything works perfectly again .... And for a fraction of the cost of taking it to a "professional". Hope this experience can serve to help others in the same predicament, and thanks again to everyone for their input. I look forward to continuing my interactions with everyone here in the forums. I am confident that there is very little that we cannot fix ourselves if we all share our experiences and knowledge where applicable.


Bob

 

 

Well done Bob!! Yes, the essence of FTE and other similar web sites is to leverage the collective knowledge and experience of the community. It is about saving money...and maybe more importantly, having fun while learning and doing. Nobody here will argue that the satisfaction of doing something you didn't think you could do beats paying the garage your hard earned bucks.

We are born a learning organism, and in my opinion, we should die as one. Never stop learning. I'm glad to hear that things worked out well for you. It's fun to read about victories like this one and will inspire some to push a little further before giving up and paying the pro. Still, the advice from Kahn and others has merit, especially if you don't have the knowledgable buddy to tap or the skills to tackle a certain job. I wouldn't rebuild an engine at my skill level, but I have worked with a buddy to rebuild the top end of one. Without his expertise, I wouldn't have attempted to do the job and wouldn't now even after doing the rebuild. Too many things to go wrong with setting the timing that I wouldn't trust myself...just yet.

Aloha

Kevin

 

Agree 100%, Kevin. I just went back to college to finish my degree a couple years' back, and graduated last spring at age 34. I am currently applying to law schools. I love learning ... Both in the classroom and in the field, both blue collar and white collar. Nothing beats the feeling of success when you complete something which was completely out of your comfort zone when you started.

 

I do hope that you evacuated the system before adding the recharge. Two reasons, first, the air in the system is a 'non-condensable', and takes up space which makes the system work less well and 2nd, if there is humidity in the system, I think it can turn to an acid and eat the parts from the inside out. In the accumulator, there is a bag of dessicant, which will try to absorb and H2O that may have been trapped, or gotten in, which holds on the order of 10 drops of water or so. It is that important.
So, if you live in a humid area, such as Hawaii, you might want to consider having the system evacuated and recharged, and possibly replacing the accumulator and the low side line that is connected. If the dessicant has been exposed to H2O, it will be 'just along for the ride'. If you don't want to buy all new parts, well, evap and condenser anyway, and possibly the aluminum parts of the high and low side, I'd suggest getting it done, and replacing the dessicant however it needs to be done.
tom

 

So if this was done properly and all is well, answer me the following questions.

Was the system contaminated with moisture?
Was the system evacuated prior to being recharged?
If the system was contaminated, was the accumulator containing the receiver dryer replaced?
How much oil was lost through the leak, and how much was replaced?
Was the replacement refrigerant a pure replacement? Or was it contaminated with a generic oil/additive with a "stop leak" product in it?

If the answer to any of the above is no or I don't know, than any success has more to do with luck than doing it right. And your claims of success might be premature.

The reason I recommend professional repair is because ac repair requires tools and knowledge that the typical diyer does not have. The diyer kits do work, but you have to make several assumptions. I hate assumptions. You know what assume means right? It means that you make an *** of you and me. The assumptions you have to make are that the proper amount of oil is in the system, the no moisture got in, and that nothing is wrong with any critical component.

To do it properly yourself you need:
An accurate thermometer
A manifold gauge set
A vacuum pump
A good book or reference manual
Oil injection tool

Without these tools, any work is guesswork, you cannot verify your repairs.

Good tools cost money. To do one or two repairs costs a lot more that a professional repair, only if you have several vehicles can you start to repay your investment.

So what happens if do it wrong?

If you do not have enough oil, the compressor can fail. If you have too much oil, the compressor can fail. If you have too little refrigerant, the efficiency may be too low, and the compressor with have to cycle too frequently and can fail. If it gets overcharged, the compressor can fail, hoses and seals can fail, and other parts could be damaged. If the system has moisture in it, the efficiency can be reduced, and over time the system can corrode from the inside out, and major parts can fail.

By doing yourself, you can turn a simple $80 evacuate and recharge into a $1500 total system failure. Seen it happen many times. Had it happen to me. That's why I took the pains to educate myself about ac service.

Whether there be any other problems, and whether you do it yourself or pay someone else to do it, if you follow proper procedures, you can make sure you prevent later problems, and can detect problems before they cause other problems. In other words, you can measure the health of your ac system.

Don't get me wrong, I sincerely hope everything works out for you. I have no problems with others trying things, and I have no problems with people doing their own repairs. What I don't like is for people to have to learn everything from the school of hard knocks.

A good procedure if you wish to do your own ac repairs, is to take it to a shop for diagnostics, then replace the faulty parts yourself (not compressor failures, leave that to the pros, other things need to be done when a compressor fails that are again going to require more tools and knowledge that a diyer will have), then once repairs are completed, bring it back to the shop for the evacuation and recharge. You won't get a warranty this way, but you can save a lot if money on labor.

 

I think Mike got it right: good to bookmark this thread.

This thread has shown good arguments for and against doing an AC job yourself. Readers will undoubtedly benefit from these discussions.

Risk vs. Reward

We make these decisions everyday but not always with the best information. Kahn raises valid concerns regarding hidden bias and incomplete/wrong assumptions. Data is what should be used when making decisions of importance, but inevitably, we will make decisions in the absence of it. Sometimes we guess right; sometimes not. For example, after reading about doing upper and lower ball joints, I was reasonably sure that I could do the upper ball joints one of two ways: buy the control arms new with new ball joints from Ford or buy aftermarket items an bring them and the old control arms in for a press fitting. I saw examples of installing the ball joints with the arms still in place, but it seemed to me that the approach risked a poor installation and risk of damage during installation. But worst case was buy new and replace. The lower ball joints were a different story and concern for personal safety won over the interest I had in the challenge to do it…and save some money. My skill level wasn’t there. So I paid the pro and didn’t regret it. Making an informed decision after investigating the options and weighing the rewards against the risks.

So, it’s a personal decision on how one proceeds. It’s good to have the pros and the cons as presented by the various contributors. Hopefully, it leads to better decisions and less second guessing.

Kevin

 

Guys ...

The truck is worth $2k at best in her condition and mileage.... I repaired my AC for under $150, and it's so cool in my cab right now I could blow snow in there

Just FYI, about 7 years ago, I changed the low pressure a/c hose in my wife's Pathfinder the same way I just did mine .... And it's still fine.

Not saying it was done the "right way" ... But it works. And another FYI ... Starting price for AC work here is a flat rate of $1500.00. I think I made the right call considering the situation. Had this problem occurred in a 2011 model, I may have gone about it differently, but it didn't. It happened in my '99 beater...

Not going to give this topic any more energy ... Consider this horse dead and beaten.

 

I just did both upper and lower ball joints a couple years back... Was definitely nerve racking at first, but watched a lot of videos on youtube and pulled it off ... Had NAPA press the upper joints into the arms (brought them into the shop... I think it was like $20) and borrowed a press for the lowers from a friend. Also did some brake work while everything was disassembled...

Very rewarding once I was done

 

No worries here. I think you made the right choice given your details. Glad the ball joint job worked out too.

I'm not sure how much my Ranger is worth these days, but replacing it in whole would be more expensive than I would entertain. But I'm willing to risk some additional expense more than I would risk my safety. The truck is my third vehicle of four I own (I have back-ups) so I have the option to take on DIY jobs more so than some other folks. That said, I hate guessing wrong and adding cost, but a safer bet I'll take. And to the point you've made, the value of what you are fixing has to weigh in on the way you chose to fix it.

Everyone has a formula they follow. Gaining further insight from threads like this allows folks to refine the formula to optimize expense and effort...perhaps.

Kevin

 

Just out of curiosity, Kevin, what was it about the ball joint job where you felt your safety would possibly be jeopardized?

 

Bob,

I had removed the shocks at that time when I did the inspection of the BJs. With the shock back in, the tech told me that it shouldn't allow the spring to get sprung, but that was enough for me not to try to do the replacement. I also didn't have access to a press to put the bj's back in and I wanted to be certain that I didn't damage the parts on installation. If damaged, installed incorrectly, I'd worry about parts failing catastrophically when driving.

Kevin

 

Good call on that ...

 

Yeah, I may worry too much I suppose, but so far, I still have all my digits and teeth!!