AC equip+know how around Fayetteville, NC? - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

SGT John · #1 08-29-2007, 12:54 AM

Looking for someone who can help me out with my AC and teach me a bit. I have my 5 cans of R12, and an AC that I just maxed out a whole credit card to get working, only to have the sensor on the dryer rupture 3 days later and fill my engine compartment with oil and dye.

I *had* r134 in the car, I am looking to go back to R12. I need to flush, replace the dryer, sensor and X-valve, and probably leak test in some shape or form....

I need local advice and equipment. Can pay you in bananas and PB&J.. maybe even mow your lawn or something

I could make a drive to Charlotte, Raleigh, Durham, hell, I'd probably drive all the way up to VA or down to SC if it meant I could FINALLY have some AC in my car.

vstech · #2 08-29-2007, 08:50 AM

ok, what do you have? how was it working (cooling well?) with the 134?
what all did you buy with the maxed out card?
why did the dryer fail? too much pressure? bad aux fan? dirty coil?
how old is the compressor? converting back to 12 usually means a new one...

SGT John · #3 08-29-2007, 02:34 PM

Ok... long story coming. I am going to go get my receipts to make sure I am accurate.

So long long a go in a firestone far far away, I paid for a diagnostic. It was about 40 bucks. They couldn't figure out the problem so they have me a 20 dollar discount and recommended that I take it to the dealership or an import shop. I guess the only reason I even got the 20 dollar discount was because I told the service manager that he should be paying me for 1) wasting my time and 2) using my car as a training aid for his know-nothing mechanics (I said something similar to that anyway, because when I got back there were like 4 mechanics standing around the hood of my car BSing.

Anyway, fast forward to my emergency trip to my grandmother's shack in the mountains, which turned into me having to follow her and my mom down to Tampa. The heat was unbearable. I didn't intend to drive into a furnace so I left my R12, Xvalve and dryer at home in NC.

Now the big money.

$180 diagnostics at the dealership, and then I applied that 180 dollars toward having the mechanic put the system in a vac state when he told me my AC compressor was bad, a new one was 616 dollars and they would have to order it.

$150 Reman compressor at Advance Auto.

$280 On my way back to the dealership I saw a huge sign for a place called ICE COLD AIR, They were having a grand opening, and their labor was only 45 bucks. I ordered an X valve and dryer, and told them to put in my compressor. I waited there ALL DAY pretty much. The dryer that came was the wrong one. I told them to go ahead and install everything else and when I got back to Ft Bragg I would get the dryer switched. The owner said that was fine but they couldn't give a warranty. The AC worked GREAT... this was the best the AC ever worked.... but by 2pm the next day, it was not working at all. I took it back to them and the owner started telling me how much all these different things were going to cost, then when I told her that the leak test was their responsibility and they should fix it for free, she changed her tune to "I won't even be able to get you in today, we're swamped" (she KNEW I wanted to leave for fort bragg that night.

$0 I went back to the dealership and chatted with them, finally worked out that I would throw some dye in my system and bring my car in before the dealership opened, and they would leak test it for free... I also talked to a guy on the way home about tinting my windows. I was chatting with him about how bad ICE COLD AIR had screwed me and he said he also did AC work.

$75 On the way home I threw the AC belt. it rolled the other three belts. I bought 4 new belts, something like 15 bucks each, and a can of dye + R134. When my neighbor and I were replacing all the belts and adding the dye we found that the schrader valve was leaking. We hoped that was the only leak... but alas...

$50 I got caught in I-275 traffic and didn't even make it to the dealership until an hour after they opened. they billed me 150, the mechanic found a leaky hose, once again there was nothing he could do, so I slipped him and the service adviser 25 bucks each and they didn't bill me for the repairs.

$287 (167 actually) Went straight to Automotive Edge (best place ever) Got my windows tinted (120) and he had his mechanic LOOK at the AC free of charge. Replaced the schrader valve, ordered and installed a new dryer, and recharged... AC worked for about 2 hours then had leaked down by the time I left. So I came back and they got out the UV light and found a lot of pinhole leaks at the metal pieces of my hoses. the guy only charged me 40 dollars of labor for the whole day's work!

$45 He recommended that I take all my hoses down to get them rebuilt, and when he saw my distaste when I asked about the price, he offered up some 45 dollar leak-stop stuff and said there was no guarantee but it might work. If it didn't, "come back the next morning." I went ahead and planned on coming back.. delayed my trip just to MAKE SURE all was well.

ETA: on the way home my battery failed.... but it was under warranty and cost me nothing HOORAAAAY ADVANCE AUTO. At least one thing went well on this trip.

$22 We were right, it leaked down. dye check, all the hoses but one seemed to be not leaking. Pulled that hose only, since it was Saturday and the guys that rebuilt the hoses wouldn't be able to get anything done that day that required welding... the fixed the single hose in about 10 minutes and sent me on my merry way. Automotive Edge has not charged me another cent of labor. They removed and replaced the hose for free, and they have charged my system about 3 times now I think.

$39 Got on my way and unfortunately the system SEEMED to still be leaking down. I bought a big can of freon with the gauge, and topped off about every 6 hours, and that kept my AC running.

heart ache After I got back to Ft Bragg, it seemed that although the AC was nowhere near as cold as it was on that first day, it was continuing to work. Then about 3 days after I got back, the car overheated while I was idling... like, steam coming out of the cap-overheated. It had been doing that since the first day I went to automotive edge. I got back up to speed in order to cool the engine down, and my AC stopped working. When I got home to refill the radiator, there was green dye EVERYWHERE under the left side of my hood. I was lucky that I had turned my AC off this time when the system stopped working... sometimes I don't. I jumpered the compressor on, and saw bubbles coming out of the sensor that turns the aux fan on, right between where the blades meet the plastic. I took it to the car wash and used some degreaser, and used the high pressure water to spray out the condenser and the radiator REALLY REALLY WELL. This fixed my overheating problem... unless the overheating problem was actually the condenser, which doesn't really get hot anymore.

After this fiasco I realized that there is a possibility that my compressor pressure sensor( the thing on the dryer) was malfunctioning, and seeing as I only had the low pressure gauge on top of my freon can, which probably wasn't accurate anyway... I might have been overcharging the system. That could definitely cause an explosion. I don't think that's likely because the pressure reading on top of the can was good.. but it is possible.

so your questions, vstech

ok, what do you have? 85 MD 300D

how was it working (cooling well?) with the 134? worked best the first day at Ice Cold Air, never got that cool again. As long as I was rolling down the interstate at like 3000 rpm I could expect the vent in the high 50's with ambient in the 90-100 range
what all did you buy with the maxed out card? read up

why did the dryer fail? too much pressure? bad aux fan? dirty coil? the dryer isn't leaking, it's the sensor, although I will be replacing it anyway because I have another. I don't know why it failed. could have been over pressure but I don't think so. my aux fan works fine, I don't even know what you mean by dirty coil... on the compressor clutch?

how old is the compressor? converting back to 12 usually means a new one... unfortunately I just bought this compressor.

SGT John · #4 08-29-2007, 02:38 PM

awfully sorry my post was so long. Hope a few people can read it and give me some good feedback.

vstech · #5 08-29-2007, 03:07 PM

the coil I meant was your condenser. you explained that you cleaned it... good. if it is dirty the high pressures can skyrocket above the failure point of plastic parts like the pressure/temp sensor. it's entirely possible that you overcharged it, it's also possible the fan clutch is weak letting your a/c overheat. also, if you have metal fatigue in the lines, you will have moisture in the system furthering the degradation of your cooling. the leak stop will mess up your system. first thing I would do is get new hoses/lines and expansion valve, the correct drier and VERIFY the aux fan is working correctly. then I would remove all the bad lines and FLUSH verry verry well the rest of the system to be sure all the stop leak and 134 oil is out of the system. next is up to you... a reman R4 compressor will fail within the year. change it now or when it fails you will have to flush and replace all the above parts again. I know you just purchased it, but you COULD take it back to autozone and get a warranty replacement one for free, or you could just bite the bullet and get a new one from hazon.... I would choose the new one. anyway, then put the correct 12 compatible compressor oil in and reassemble all the new parts. flush out with SMALL amount of 12 and reclaim it to remove moisture and NC/s out of the system. next pressurize the system with some cheap 134 gas and wait a day to be SURE it's not leaking pressure, if it is find the leak first. next vacuum the system for a few hours and charge it with the correct amount of 12 and go to town with a nice known leak free system and drive in cool air for the next 25 years.