AC blows hot

No compressor start is a sign of no freon in the system. The low pressure switch opens to cut power to the compressor clutch when there is little or no freon.

Possible causes:

leaking evaporator leaking condensor leaking or bad compressor loose connectors or bad seals

A good A/C shop can give you a better idea as to what is wrong with your system. The test they conduct involves a recharge of the system along with an ultraviolet dye which will pinpoint any leaks when exposed to an ultraviolet light source.

If your Explorer is in good condition as my 92 XLT is, it is worth the fix. If it is trashed out, however, the fix can approach the wholesale value of the truck.

Thanks Richard. The truck has only 60,000 original miles and is otherwise in great condition, guess I'll bite the bullet and bring it to an AC shop. Maybe they can just recharge it if the leak is slow? How much do you think a recharge would cost? I understand that since the new federal law where only licensed technicians can buy R134 now the shops have a monopoly and raised prices considerably.

Really? New Federal law? I guess Wal-Mart is a pretty big criminal then.....and just about every other store. You can buy a 12oz. can of R134A for about $3-$5 depending on where you go. To take your vehicle in to be charged they will evac the system, check for leaks, recharge the system for about $15 a pound for R134A, much more for R12, the now banned stuff. It is probably the R12 that you are thinking about. Now, you can convert your system over to R134A, but you are NOT going to want to mix the two different types of freon ( very bad, don't do it ). All it takes to convert is the adapters, which you can buy at the auto parts store for about $10, then run down to your local Jiffy lube and have them evac the system and refill it with R134A. The whole thing should run you under $100.....unless there is something I missed that Jim Warman hasn't told me.

"Bob" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com...

Thanks for your reply John. The guy who told me that you have to be certified to buy R134A is a bar stool sittin' sea lawyer who knows everything. I should know better than to rely on his information. Maybe he meant R12.

Anyway, my system is R134A. I'll go down to my local Kragen and buy a few cans and see what happens. (I know Jim W, I should go to a good technician and get it done right -and I would but the Explorer is one of my 3 cars and I mostly only use it to tow my boat so I can't afford to spend a lot of money on a non safety related item.)

His 1994 already uses R134A.

No conversion needed. The 1993 model year Explorer was the last for R12.

Since you brought safety up, recharging refrigerant isn't really a novice DIY job. Please be careful with the refrigerant. It can cause burns, loss of eyesight, etc. Wear gloves, long sleeves, and safety glasses. If you're using old hoses and one ruptures, it can get nasty. Stay safe.

You're right, of course, but since I just got through doing all this fun stuff myself last week, it was still fresh.

I highly suggest a complete o-ring replacement (you want green ones, you don't want black ones) and a proper R134A-rated orface tube installed (you need to replace the o-ring there, too). R134A calls for its own lubricant type since the freon doesn't carry the lubricant like R12 does, and the R12 lubricant tends to screw up in R134A systems even if the R134A lubricant is added, so I suggest a full cleaning of the system.

While you're doing this check your hoses. My upper manifold hoses were R134a rated barrier hoses (92 XLT) but the small hose between the orface tube housing and the condensor was cheap brittle hose, and was actually where my leak was.. That piece is about $15-20.

Vacuuming is nice, charge it up to (iirc) 70% of the R12 rated capacity with R134A, and take it from there. It seems a whole hell of a lot easier to overcharge an R134A system than R12...

JS

Or you could be stupid and not realize they were already discussing an R134A vehicle... haha, duh. :|

Losing its charge over a couple of weeks while you were away... I'd still look for a leak.

JS

My! Aren't we just a ray of sunshine.

People should really try to be more polite in their postings ....or more succinctly, WWJWD ( What Would Jim Warman Do? ) I don't think I've ever seen Jim post a single sour note.

Ah, that was my sour note to myself. :|

Anyone else who made that mistake shouldn't take that personally :)

JS

John Riggs wrote:

Okay...note made, "Jacob tends to insult himself in Usenet."

Don't do that. There are much easier and less harsh ways to acknowledge your mistakes. Lord knows I make enough of them.