I recently purchased a 1995 Aerostar from the original owner. The van had been sitting a long time (about a year) so I had to replace a lot of things. The problems I am having is with the A/C. The owner told me that it had worked before and probably needed freon that leaked out. I tried to add the freon and the low pressure valve seemed too big for the coupling to seat properly. I then took it in to have the system diagnosed. I was told that I needed a new compressor, dryer acctuator, a hose (from the compressor) and an orafice tube. The compressor comes on when I turn the A/C on and blows hot air. I have front and rear A/C controls. Is the diagnosis correct or are they trying to "hose" me. I was quoted a $1200 cost to fix. Please help!!

 

Hi Quint

Welcome to our FTE forum

Download the manual from www.fordcds.com.

First of all, 1995 cars use R-134a, so the fitting will be too big for your R-12 charging hose. You need a charging hose for R-134a.

Second, if the compressor comes on, you are most likely OK. Touch the big return hose from the evaporator to see how cold it is. If it's cold, your A/C is working OK, and the heat you are getting is due to the mixing door being screwed up. Are you sure you have the temperature **** turned all the way to the Blue (cold) side?

Good luck.

 

Are you doing it or paying someone ? Its really easy to diagnose and repair a auto AC unit if you know whats going on. The 95 is a 134a system and works pretty good. I also have a 95 AWD with the dual AC and its gets the job done good even on these 99 - 105 degree day we just had here. It has 247,000 miles on it and still sit and idle with the best of them

 

You can certainly get parts from a junk yard B4 you go new if you need parts. If you want to save money you need to get a cheap set of gauges and see whats up. Then we can help you do whatever you need to do...



Dick

 

The hose I have is for R134a. It has a gauge attached to it. Do I need the gauges with the three hoses or will this single hose do? I paid for the diagnosis but really want to do it myself. Also, what if the big return hose is not getting cold. I have the control settings on the cold (blue) position with Max A/C and the blower on high.

 

You need the type with two or three hoses, a single hose monitors low side pressure only, and is only good at confirming that there is regrigerant, and that the low pressure does in fact drop when the compressor turns on. Your comment about the low pressure switch needs to be clarified. If the low pressure was too big, then you are trying to fit the wrong coupleing the the wrong fitting. The low side is used for chargeing, and is located on the accumulator. The high side is a different size and is located near the MAF sensor, somewhere below it. DO NOT attempt to charge from the high side, the pressure build up can rupture the can. If it is meant to fit and charge the low side, then you are trying to fit it on the wrong connector, or the coupleing is damaged. I would get the three hose setup. The blue is the low side, the red is hign, and the yellow hose is used for both chargeing and evacuateling the system. I would not rule out the possibility that the compressor is dying however, just beause it turns on and cycles doesn't mean that it compresses the refrigerant properly.

Take a big box fan, place it in from of the van, to keep air moveing through the condensor.

Measure the temperature 2 inches in front of the condensor (this is ambient temperature)

Run the system for about 5 minutes and let it stabilize.

Measure and note the low side low and peak pressures

Measure and not the high side low and peak pressures

Remeasure the temperature

Let us know the temperature out the center vent in the van.

Report your finding here, and we will try to interpret them.

Also, note any needle jiggling or bounceing, as they may be significant.

 

What I meant was that I found the low pressure fitting and the coupling on the hose that I used to recharge would not snap onto the fitting therefore giving it a secure connection. I purchased one of those recharging kits that comes with the single hose and a large can of the so-called NASA approved R134a refrigerant.

 

NASA approved? What a bunch of bull, NASA does not need to approve refrigerant, so such a label is a merketing scheme. Those kits are ok if you need to top of your refrigerant, but are totally useless to troubleshoot, and it is very easy to overfill your system.

 

I just got my set of gauges and a vacuum pump at "Harbor Freight". They have an on line store and some cities have retail outlets. Pump was 16 bucks and the gauges were 30 something.....well worth the investment if you want to do your own work....and, just my two cents worth, there are some people here on this forum that know their stuff when it comes to A/C. If you describe your problem correctly, along with pressure readings, etc. you will definitely get some help. It also helps a lot if you familiarize yourself with a/c basics, i.e. refrigerant flow, high pressure to low pressure transition in the system, etc.......

 

Set of gauges will help, and a vacuum pump. Try evacuating the system (using the tools mentioned), and let it set for maybe an hour. Disconnect vacuum pump, close gauges, and check in about an hour to see if the needle has moved. Don't use the gauge on the can of refrigerant to check vacuum. If leak is substantial, you will notice the needle rise or it won't pull vacuum below a certain point. If it's down to 29" Hg, I would say there is no leak, but make sure it sets before taking readings. Use refrigerant with leak detector. If the compressor is in running condition try evacuating and adding R-134a. If that fitting won't fit on the low side of the system, I would suspect the product, but it might be that fitting.

 

His objective at this point is not to evacuate his system, but rather to troubleshoot it, so he can decide what to do, and decide if his mechanic is trying to cheat him. Just get better guages and measure the systems performance. Let us know what you find, otherwise its anyones guess as to what is wrong with your AC system.

 

or take it to second a/c shop for diagnosis and quote

call your local cab companies, they will tell you who in area does quality a/c work

 

Well, call just about any company that owns large fleets of vehicles, but yeah, cabs would be best, since they are gonna want AC that works well.

 

Thanks, I will do that. (Get a set of quality guages and perform the tests myself) I have a manual vaccum pump, will that work?

 

If it is meant for AC. I use an electrical AC pump, you can also get ones that are air powered, but you need one monster compressor to keep up. It must be capable of pulling 30" of vacuum at sea level. Adjust accordingly to your altitude.