My 2004 F150 SCab Lariat may have a little AC problem. I thought I would try the recharge kit I have read about before taking it into a mech, but the girl at Auto Zone said the kits can't be sold in Wisconsin. I am heading down to Florida this Friday so that is not a problem if I can pick it up in another state.

Anyone have thoughts on a 2004 with 90,000 miles... would I be out of refrigerant or do you think an O-ring seal broke or perhaps worse.

My wifes 2005 Freestar with 53,000 miles is in the shop right now with tranny problems, so if bad things do happen 3 at a time I can't wait for what's next!

 

I just had the a/c repaired on my '04 SCrew. The high pressure line between the compressor and condensor was leaking at the dryer. The line cost just $20.

 

A recharge would probably be a waste of your time and money. You need to find the leak first. Any shop could add die into your a/c system and then locate the leak using a blacklight type tool. As new as your car is it shouldn't need a recharge just yet.

 

You shouldn't be out of refrigerant. Have you noticed any clearish green residual/crusty matter around any of the fittings? How does the compressor react when a/c or max a/c is on?

 

Dealer took two hours today to find out it was the PCM (the main computer board that controls most/all electrical functions of the truck). I was told that this is very rare and worst yet it has an 8 year/80,000 mile warranty. So, since I am at 90,000 I will have to pay for the $769.00 replacement and labor. This normally would suck, but since I am paying $2,600 for a new tranny in my wifes 2005 Freestar with only 53,000 miles I am currently at a loss for words.

 

I know this thread is a couple weeks old, but hopefully you haven't actually paid for these repairs yet. It sounds like both of these shops (unless they're the same one!) are taking you for a ride. You can be 99.9% certain that you will NOT need a new transmission or full rebuild on a van that's only 2-3 years old. Those tranny shops LOVE to be lazy and just tell you it needs "replaced" and the rebuilt POS they put on there will every 5,000 miles, too (keep that receipt and warranty). A shop my dad went to said the same thing. I made him get a second opinion, and it ended up being a $100 clutch fan. Check the TSBs for that van/transmission, or find someone that can. The "bad board" is all too common of a diagnosis, too. Those things really don't go bad as much as the dealers would like you to believe. Your AC problem could be as simple as a bad high/low pressure line, vacuum leak (air blending doors in dash not operating properly), slipping/loose compressor belt, or many other things. The system could have shut off after it threw an error code, too (replacing the board would effectively erase the code). Get a second opinion from someone you trust and NEVER trust the dealer's mechanics!