1997 E350 HD Club Wagon ext body 2wd V-10

Ok I am very upset, and am fully regretting not taking this thing to a shop but I'm in it too deep into my pocket now to turn around.

Issues...
Couple weeks ago I was running down the interstate bout 75 minding my own business in my nice cool van enjoying not having to sweat in the 98 degree sun. Then BAM hot air, no rhyme or reason just quit.
It's my tow vehicle so I let it sit for a week until I had time to mess with it. Full charge on system but nothing else. Decided to head to the yard and find a compressor, found one pulled mine off and sure enough the main shaft busted in the thing and spun freely.
Cool, swap it out full her up.
Cooled good, for ten min. Compressor case was leaking where it bolts together. Sucks but 30 day refund or exchange took it back the next day. Out another 40 bucks for freon oh well. Found a better one with awesome compression that I felt much better about.
Swappy swappy fill her up SUCCESS ice cold air, for about ten min...

Now I'm getting more pissed
Taking charge not cooling and not leaking.
What the heck, I was going to replace the orifice before the second compressor but thought nah it cooled great I dont need it. Well break it back down sure enough that damn orifice was gunked up with metal shavings and oil evidently from the old compressor and when I put a good one on it pushed it all up through the lines into the tube and clogged her up. Well took it out blew out the condenser and dryer new orings and orifice dumped some oil in the evaporator sealed it back up and hoped for the best. Filled her back up and awesomeness 56 degree air at idle and 43 at speed. No leaks blew great score

1 day, running down the interstate and once again immediate hot air. Very angry Mr. Froehlich right now
Popped the hood lines are hotter than hot I'm assuming remnants of crap that I didn't get has clogged stuff back up but I want to be sure.
My system was not over charged I am not foreign to a/c world but this van has frustrated me beyond belief and has been by far the most aggravating vehicle I've ever done a/c work on.

What do you guys think could have happened??

 

I have over $120 right now in freon have no broken the system back down since she went out again.

 

You've wasted enough time and money on these half-way repairs---with a smarter approach to your A/C woes you could have had a fully functional system after one attempt rather than your two, three or possibly more to come.

Seems you have the knowledge of what to do so why go about it half-way? Yeah it might be a bit more costly doing it with known good parts and recognized practices but time savings alone would have driven me that direction.

There's no reason to be mad at anyone or anything else here----it's all on your mechanic of choice.

 

Seriously? So I ask advice and get patronized for not willingly wanting to spend money not needed and not available?
Yes I have spent quite a bit of money on this already BUT I am positive after its fixed I will still be out cheaper than if I took it to a shop. So my apologies for not having the available 400-800 bucks laying around to drop on an entirely new a/c system which is what a shop would write for. They replace everything so thy don't have to go back and redo things hentz why it's so expensive to have anything air conditioning done at a shop.
I own a non-profit horse rescue so my funds are limited not everyone has that kinda cash laying around.
I do blame myself for not getting new lines but what can I do about it now? Evidently all I can do now is bite the bullet again with freon cost and take snide remarks from someone who probably had there vehicle serviced at the dealership
All I asked was for opinions
I DID NOT ask for a good talking down to
Please do not reply to my topic again as your reply was un-helpful and rude.

 

Oh well----sorry 'bout your bad luck all the way around. You asked for an opinion and got one---just not one you wanted to hear.

So you ask what to do now and my answer is the same----spend your money AND time in the right direction, its far less expensive in the longer run.

I guess you can keep spending money that's in short supply because it seems cheaper doing so little by little? I do most of my own repairs but in most instances I opt for new parts because they're easy to find, come with a warranty and save me a ton of time by not re-doing a job numerous times.

If you're down to changing the last few parts and are already dug into this so deep you've painted yourself into a corner. The only choice is continuing with your process and restore your A/C or abandon it due financial pressures.

 

Good luck; I think your best route is to pony up some big money and take it to a shop where someone else will be financially responsible for the "do-overs" if the repair does not work. If your system is full of metal shavings, my sense is that pretty much everything needs to be replaced. You are in a hole and you should stop digging. It is not the fault of anyone on this forum.

Peace out,
George

 

Are you pulling a vacuum when you refill?

 

Even if he were ^^^ by using scrap yard parts, not replacing critical parts like the orifice tube and on and on and on and on the end result is him being angry, lower on money and not one inch closer to having this repair done correctly.

While I admire a can-do attitude and someone not scared to dig into a repair I'm just as "mad" at those who jump without looking, "thinking" they have it all worked out only to come here ranting at the mess they've created, asking what's to be done after the fact.

Well I say "look before leaping........." which would have included asking before tearing into this. I'll bet we could have collectively saved a bunch of money and not nearly as much wasted time.

But then again I'm rude and talking down so maybe not worthy?

 

I would suggest that if you get a junkyard compressor, get it rebuilt.

 

Some parts should be bought new.
An AC compressor is one of them.

 

^^^^What he said^^^

 

Here is a clue for further investigation before installing a replacement part:If the shaft in the pump broke, why? Where did the bits go? My guess would be the oil was low or a restriction prevented enough oil to reach the pump. The best part about working on one's own vehicle is knowing exactly what caused the problem and how to avoid the recurrence. Lots of folks can learn to turn wrenches, it is the study of what caused the problem that makes extra wrench turning unnecessary.

 

Oldsman told us his problem in great detail and ask for advice…

And JWA offered no help but instead chastised him.

Inappropriate. There should be an "un-reps" button.

I'm glad to see other people are offering some actual advice.

With that said, I've heard that the filter/dryer should be replaced when you have a mechanical failure like that.

Also some sort of flush for the condenser and or evaporator, and for all the lines. . I read about people stuffing paper towel in it and shooting it through with compressed air to clean it out.

Lastly, I agree with everyone else here about buying parts from the scrap yard. Like loaning money to that family member we all have… you should avoid participating, but if you choose to participate, you should fully expect failure.

 

Look I use used parts because I've had good luck in my 15 years mechanical experience. When it comes to a part that is broken in and working a junkyard is wonderful. If the vehicle is wrecked guess what that means it was running prior to be junked. The compressor I got is awesome. Did I make mistakes in going upon this repair? Yes I did, but I have had no prior "frustrations" with air conditioning like this to steer me in a direction of spending ALL extra money at a shop. I do not appreciate you guys criticizing me in my choice of repairs nor the attitudes and down talking to me about. All I asked for was advice and to be honest nobody has given it really anything to me. I sat for 3 weeks with a topic in the a/c section when my air went out and not one single response.
I hate to be the dick to say this but I do not get these snide remarks or comments on my GM page for all my other vehicle. Makes me realize why oh why I am a GM guy they are just more friendly....
I will not be using this forum any longer as I have had no apparent reason to listen to any of you guys when all you do is tell me how I did this wrong, I am cheap and comments like "what did you expect?" Not comments like we'll pull it apart and replace what hasn't been replaced and go from there. Instead of helping me fix my problem yall are criticizing how I made the problem.
Sorry guys but I am less than impressed with this forum

 

Buh Bye.