I have a 95 4.0, and although I couldn't find a label, thanks to everyone who helped convince me it has a 134a refrig. A/C system. I did a visual and couldn't see any cracks or obvious leaks, but after filling with about 40 OZ of refrigerant, (boy it was cold for a few hours) there must be a leak because 24 hours later it blows hot air. (Which is what my wife now thinks about me since she was driving it AFTER I told her how cold it was) The Haynes manual is of little use in finding any place where an O-ring or leaky fitting may be. It states I can't even get the hoses off the accumulator without special tools. Any place to start the search, (and finish) would be helpful. Since the system worked a couple of hours for me I'm assuming that none of the components died overnight. Thanks in advance...

 

Check the hoses first. One of the hoses has a small round filter with a lot of insulation on it. That insulation tends to trap moisture and results in rusts and leaks.

Trace the flow of refrigerant from the compressor out to the condenser, through the evaporator etc... You should see a lot of oil where there is a leak.

Make sure you take the front grill off and check the condenser for leaks too. The condenser on the Aerostar is very prone to cracks. I had one small leak like that and spent lots of time tracking it down to a cracked condenser. So don't overlook that.

Good luck, with the van (and the five kids)

 

But yeah, look for oil, or areas where there is a lot of dirt. That is where your leak is. If you have to open the system, replac ethe seals too. The seal kits are inexpensive. If you loose pressure for very long, or have had zero pressure for an exteneded time, reparis may be necessary. If the system still had some pressure, then you just need to top it off. Do not use the fix leak additives, they mess up evacuation equipmen, and count as a contaminant.

 

Most of the hoses are connected with these spring clip fittings (exception are the ones in the rear unit at the solenoid). O-rings are very inexpensive, I got a whole package with about 50 (all different sizes) from AZone for a little over 8 bucks. The tool(s) to disconnect the hoses is really four little round plastic thingies of different sizes and are also relatively cheap, less than 10 bucks if i remember correctly. Theare made of two plastic parts hinged with a spring, just open it up, place around the hose end fitting and pull it into the side where the spring is (very important, I've cussed a fitting on more than one occasion because I was trying to open the wrong side). Once you feel the tool slip under the spring just pull and wiggle the metal fitting and it should slide right out. Locations for the fittings are at the accumulator (the low pressure side return from the evaporator requires that you remove the accumulator), behind the radiator for the condenser and in the rear unit one on the low pressure side. In addition you will have two o rings on the compressor. If its an FS10 compressor the fitting will be behind the compressor (towards the rear of the car). It is held in with one 10mm bolt. Just loosen the bolt about 1/4 inch and the fitting will slip right out. The o rings go into grooves on the compressor.

Hope this helps,
Klaus Cook
Houston, Texas
'91 Areostar Ext with a '90 Eddie Bauer Upgrade......

 

No mention of using a can of refrigerant containing a dye for leak checking. Have you tried it?

 

Don't know how that stuff works, but ever since converting my 91 to R134, I used PAG46 oil with UV dye. Looks kindof light green when you put it in and any leaks show up as a yellow-green glow under an UV light.

 

Thanks to all. I found leaks at the fittings behind the compressor, and the spot where a gauge is hooked up on the high pressure side had a pool of refrigerant under it when I took off the gap. That's not normal, is it? I couldn't find the springs on the hoses mentioned by Cookkd, so I'm not sure how to remove/replace the hoses. Maybe I didn't look close enough.

 

take a look at www.sunbeltprinters.com, and look at the last pic. You will see a hose that ends in a bronze looking metal pipe (fitting?). At the end of the pipe there is a welt (raised area). In the case of this hose, it plugs into the accumulator. The back side of this welt is open and has a spring in it. That is what locks the pipe into the accumulator. Most of the spring fittings have a clip over it. Look at the black pipe right next to the bronze colored one. Pull that square looking thing off and you'll see the spring fitting. Take a close look at which side is open, and that is the side the tool slides in from.

 

Make sure the system has been completely discharged before you open anything. Safety first!