Self inflicted AC problem

[Idlethunder]

After more troubleshooting on Sunday I may have found the problem. There must be a coolant leak somewhere because, as far as I can tell, I have no refrigerant. I know that’s the first thing I should have checked but I was so sure it was an electrical problem I had caused moving wires around that I missed the obvious.

I know nothing about the refrigerant system in these things and I do not have gauges. The way I checked was using an ink pen I lightly pressed the valve on both the high and low ports and nothing came out. This was with the outside temp around 75 degrees. After the light press didn’t release anything I went down hard and still got nothing from either port. Is my assumption about being out of freon correct or do the valves require pressure to open?

Reading through old posts there doesn't seem to be an obvious place to look for a leak. I will say that the day before I noticed the AC was out, we drove my Jeep to visit her mother. About 150 miles round trip with around 60 on the interstate. By the time we got home it had gotten into the high 70s low 80s and my wife got warm and turned the AC down 2 or 3 times as we got close to home. I wrote that off as her spending too much time inside but now I’m thinking it was probably leaking by then and I didn’t notice it until trying to use the AC the next day. To me that sounds like something may have gotten thrown up into one of the lines but I am just guessing. I have scheduled a visit to my dealer next Wednesday, but I’d like to know more about it before taking it in. Is there anything specific to look for if I hunt around underneath trying to find where it leaked?

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[Hootbro]

If you have a UV light, could check for leaks if the r1234YF had dye in it but I hear that is 50/50 if they came with dye from the factory fill. The refill containers come with dye.

Personally, I would just let the dealer deal with it. They will (should) have the tools and detectors to check for any leak points.

If you are under the 3/36K bumper to bumper warranty, should be covered. If they find anything near or related to your winch install, they may point at that. I would suggest not volunteering any info of your recent work in the grille or engine bay.

I would also suggest pushing them to change the A/C Receiver Dryer Desiccant Element in addition to any item they may replace or reseal if you have been sucking in ambient air.

 

[Idlethunder]

If you have a UV light, could check for leaks if the r1234YF had dye in it but I hear that is 50/50 if they came with dye from the factory fill. The refill containers come with dye.

Personally, I would just let the dealer deal with it. They will (should) have the tools and detectors to check for any leak points.

If you are under the 3/36K bumper to bumper warranty, should be covered. If they find anything near or related to your winch install, they may point at that. I would suggest not volunteering any info of your recent work in the grille or engine bay.

I would also suggest pushing them to change the A/C Receiver Dryer Desiccant Element in addition to any item they may replace or reseal if you have been sucking in ambient air.

Thank you for the reply and suggestions. My dealer is one of the good ones so I’m going to let them deal with it. I’ve had the same SA for two years now and he’s been greats as far as ignoring mods. I called today to let him know it is out of refrigerant. He thanked me and said they will likely refill it with the dye added and ask me to come back in a few days to look for leaks. I’m somewhere around 25k so as long as they don’t pin it on the winch or road debris I should be ok. I’m ask them about the dryer element too. I’ve turned the AC on so many times in the last week that I’ve lost count.

This would have probably been a much easier fix if it was something I’d done

 

[Idlethunder]

If you have a UV light, could check for leaks if the r1234YF had dye in it but I hear that is 50/50 if they came with dye from the factory fill. The refill containers come with dye.

Personally, I would just let the dealer deal with it. They will (should) have the tools and detectors to check for any leak points.

If you are under the 3/36K bumper to bumper warranty, should be covered. If they find anything near or related to your winch install, they may point at that. I would suggest not volunteering any info of your recent work in the grille or engine bay.

I would also suggest pushing them to change the A/C Receiver Dryer Desiccant Element in addition to any item they may replace or reseal if you have been sucking in ambient air.

Yesterday they recharged the AC and the leak was easy to find. There’s small indentation where it looks like a rock was thrown into the condenser. They didn’t have a new condenser in stock but should have it today or tomorrow and I’m scheduled to have it replaced next Friday.

Swapping condensers doesn’t look complicated but recharging the system is something else. Just buying the new condenser, vacuum pump, gauges, and refrigerant looks like it would easily cost over $500. My dealer quoted $940 and some change to replace the condenser and the A/C dryer element and recharge the system. Is there any reason not to let them do it?

 

[Marmaduke]

Yesterday they recharged the AC and the leak was easy to find. There’s small indentation where it looks like a rock was thrown into the condenser. They didn’t have a new condenser in stock but should have it today or tomorrow and I’m scheduled to have it replaced next Friday.

Swapping condensers doesn’t look complicated but recharging the system is something else. Just buying the new condenser, vacuum pump, gauges, and refrigerant looks like it would easily cost over $500. My dealer quoted $940 and some change to replace the condenser and the A/C dryer element and recharge the system. Is there any reason not to let them do it?

I think we need to know cost to recharge the system assuming you did your own work and got the parts yourself (rock auto for the win). Whatever that delta is should be low enough that it just makes sense to have them do it. For me, anything less than $200 would be. No brainer. $200-$300 would be thinking about it. $400+ and I’m doing everything I can myself.

Your calculation may differ.

 

[Commodus]

Yesterday they recharged the AC and the leak was easy to find. There’s small indentation where it looks like a rock was thrown into the condenser. They didn’t have a new condenser in stock but should have it today or tomorrow and I’m scheduled to have it replaced next Friday.

Swapping condensers doesn’t look complicated but recharging the system is something else. Just buying the new condenser, vacuum pump, gauges, and refrigerant looks like it would easily cost over $500. My dealer quoted $940 and some change to replace the condenser and the A/C dryer element and recharge the system. Is there any reason not to let them do it?

If you are not skilled in AC repair and recharge I would recommend your dealer or a qualified shop. You are dealing with some very high pressures in an AC system and very easy to cause yourself more expense or injury by not knowing exactly how much freon to add, what pressures you should be seeing on both high or low side of the system and testing for a complete evacuation and vacuum hold.

 

[Minty JL]

Also as a PSA Gents, be aware that r1234YF is extremely flammable.......so proceed with caution.

 

[Idlethunder]

I think we need to know cost to recharge the system assuming you did your own work and got the parts yourself (rock auto for the win). Whatever that delta is should be low enough that it just makes sense to have them do it. For me, anything less than $200 would be. No brainer. $200-$300 would be thinking about it. $400+ and I’m doing everything I can myself.

Your calculation may differ.

Your thinking is very similar to mine and that’s what has me asking the question. Going with OEM parts that I can get quickly, plus a pump, gauges and refrigerant would put me up close to $600. With a difference of less than $400 I can’t come up with a legitimate reason not to let them do it. What bothers me is needing a non warranty repair I can’t do myself.

 

[Marmaduke]

Your thinking is very similar to mine and that’s what has me asking the question. Going with OEM parts that I can get quickly, plus a pump, gauges and refrigerant would put me up close to $600. With a difference of less than $400 I can’t come up with a legitimate reason not to let them do it. What bothers me is needing a non warranty repair I can’t do myself.

Yeah for $300 to have it done (and the repair warrantied)… Probably makes sense to have the dealer do it. I’m like you and prefer to do my own work whenever possible, but pride aside…. You’re dealing with HVAC which can be tricky (I personally won’t touch it). For $300 delta I’d let them do it. ?

 

[ShadowsPapa]

be aware that r1234YF is extremely flammable

Mildly
Addressed this already a year or so back, it's mildly flammable at best, actually not as bad as the classification it's stuck in, and low enough that a spark is very unlikely to ignite it

Lab testing showed it hard to ignite - "difficulty of igniting......"

...........further tech talk, then a summary -

So no, it's not highly flammable, explosive and so on, and under various testing by the EU, Aussies and SAE - required a hot flame to ignite it. A spark would not.

 

[Hootbro]

My dealer quoted $940 and some change to replace the condenser and the A/C dryer element and recharge the system. Is there any reason not to let them do it?

I would let them deal with it. You may have a $300 delta of savings doing it yourself, but one thing you have to remember is that even though this is a out of your pocket repair costs, all MOPAR parts installed and serviced by your dealership carry a two year unlimited mileage warranty.

 

[Idlethunder]

I would let them deal with it. You may have a $300 delta of savings doing it yourself, but one thing you have to remember is that even though this is a out of your pocket repair costs, all MOPAR parts installed and serviced by your dealership carry a two year unlimited mileage warranty.

That's what I'll do. Even as cheap as I am, it's easy to justify spending a little more on this. The extra two years will even carry it out past the factory warranty.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

That's what I'll do. Even as cheap as I am, it's easy to justify spending a little more on this. The extra two years will even carry it out past the factory warranty.

Nice thing about MOPAR parts that don't have the performance part number prefix - they either have their own 2 year warranty, or, they will inherit the remainder of the warranty of the vehicle in which they are installed.
If you smash an AC condenser and it's your fault and you pay to have it replaced, and your truck is only 6 months old, and they do the repair - the new parts are either 2 years or the remainder of the truck warranty (say, 2 1/2 years) - which ever is longest.

 

[Hootbro]

That's what I'll do. Even as cheap as I am, it's easy to justify spending a little more on this. The extra two years will even carry it out past the factory warranty.

I bought a set of r1234yf gauges to do a top off on another vehicle I had. While the basics are the same as r134a, the temp charts are bit more fiddly to deal with and the acceptable outlet cooling temps also run higher. Me personally, I would not want to deal with a whole vacuum down and refill of r1234yf refrigerant. Never mind ignoring the EPA rules for recovery and also the refrigerant is uber expensive as I think Honeywell still has it under patent control as they supply it either direct or under license for every other brand regardless of labeling.

Edit: Looks like the patent expires in 2024. Would expect the cost of r1234yf to drop considerably in the next couple of years.

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