Joy of A/C Replacement

Still Crusin

Registered User
Been having problems with the a/c a few yrs now and only got by last summer by adding refergirant a few times. Finally got some extra $ to spend so decided to have it fixed. Took it to same shop that last yr fixed a/c on my 95 S-10 and 98 Explorer. Got a call from the shop saying the drier, I believe, is obsololete from Ford and the newer driers only have a partial hose, so I'm looking at even more expense so the newer style drier will work on my 11 yr old a/c.
Classic case of the SC costing more than my other vehicles to repair.
Last year same shop repaired a/c's on both my other vehicles.
95 Chevy S-10(including replacing compressor) $800
98 Explorer $1000
94 T-bird SC, originally quoted $1200(believe about half of that is labor for dash removal), now up to $1500

Cost of having reliable a/c in a TX SC: PRICELESS:rolleyes:

Just wondering if anyone else ran into this.
 
I need to fix the a/c on my 95 too....I re-filled the system and found the leak--it is right near the firewall on the passenger side. I am still trying to find out exactly what is back there, but due to recent knee surgery I have not had the chance to actually get to looking at it. Does anyone have any thoughts? It's probably one of the o-rings, but I just need to find out where it is.

I thought about going the route you're taking, but a shop would charge me an arm, two legs, and maybe an eyeball or two as well, and I just dont want to spend that kind of money on a leak.
 
When I rebuilt my AC an my '90, I didn't have any hose attached to the dryer from the autoparts store. You my be refering to the filter/orfice. If so you can get a kit that alows you to cut the old orfice out and put this in the steel part of the line. It works on compression fittings. Cost about $25.
 
Seems to me, doing a/c work can get a bit complicated. I really do prefer to do all my own work as much as possible because I really hate to pay a shop for something I know I could(in theory at least) probably do myself.
Unfortunately, unless you know someone that has the right equipment or you rent/buy it yourself, it can still be expensive. My biggest challenge is properly diagnosing the problem. Initially, on my S-10, I was going to do it myself. Tried reading up a lot on auto a/c repair. While I did learn a lot, I still had difficulty and EXPERIENCE is a key factor. I eventually caved into having a shop do it since I didn't want to risk buying expensive parts and then ruin them by my lack of experience in dealing with a/c systems.
Plus, I figure the a/c system should only be a repair you might have to do once or maybe twice in the life of a vehicle.
If I had started during the winter months when I didn't really need the a/c, I might've had better luck and time on my side, but come March in south TX, you're starting to get back into some really warm weather and it was getting too hot for me to drive around w/out it.
At least for my SC, I don't drive it all the time now, so hopefully the repairs I have done now will last even longer.
 
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