[beretta96]

The van has never been wrecked and has front and back controls.

The AC worked perfectly last fall when we stopped using the AC and started using the heater.

This past April, the system was blowing 84*F from the center console vents with no pressure able to be recognized when I ‘blipped’ the schrader valve near the firewall. No pressures were recognized in the system when I hooked up my AC gauges after trying to blip the schraeder valve.

I had a professional put refrigerant (with dye) in it in April/early May. The system was blowing 50*F after recharging the system.

We took a 11 hour trip (one way) last weekend. The AC worked perfectly. I measured the AC temperature upon arriving home and shutting off the engine, it measured 51*F from the center console vents. That was on Sunday.

Yesterday (Wednesday) my wife said the AC was blowing only hot air. The temps now read +90*F out of the center console vents.

I used my UV light to look underneath the van for evidence of dye. The compressor and surrounding area is covered in dye. I found no other evidence of dye anywhere else.

The compressor looks like it has a gasket toward the front and back (or left and right since it sits horizontally). Although the entire compressor area is caked with dye, the dye seems most heavily concentrated along the seam of the gasket closest to the driver’s side.

I can pay to have the professional who charged my system fix the leak but generally speaking, I prefer to use these situations to learn and do my own work.

I’d like to have a schematic of the system, replete with components and where each component is located. I’m willing to purchase the schematics - I’m not trying to freeload.

I rebuilt the AC system on my ‘07 Ford Focus last spring. The shop service manual was invaluable to my being able to do that.

I’m hoping I can gain access to the shop service manual for my ‘14 T&C so I can get a holistic understanding of the system but I can’t find hard copies being sold anywhere. I think I remember reading on here that the shop service manual is only online and requires either a monthly or annual subscription?? Is that true? What is the URL for the subscription service?

One of the main questions I have is, when a compressor goes “bad”, how do you tell in what way it went bad? How do you know if it merely is leaking, making it unnecessary to flush the system or if the compressor exploded - sending compressor schrapnel throughout the system and requiring a full system flush?

 

[beretta96]

Here's the Parts and Labor page. If you have a blown compressor, you will see bits in the lines and ports on the compressor. Wipe them with a clean white paper towel to see if there's anything small you can't see. If you see stuff, you need to replace all expansion valves, orifice tubes, and driers; and flush the condenser, evaporators, and lines with all the previously listed parts disconnected. Replace service valves when you recharge the system.

You're the best man!! Thanks for the guidance!

 

[beretta96]

I had the AC leak professionally diagnosed. The rear evaporator is leaking.

I told the mechanic I saw dye all over the compressor and surrounding area. He rechecked it and said he didn’t see any dye other than at the rear evaporator.

He told me where on the car he saw the leak - behind the passenger rear wheel.

My wife brought the van home. Now that I know where more componentry was, I also looked at the rear evaporator. The dye is brighter - it’s definitely leaking at the rea evaporator.

I crawled under the engine bay to recheck the compressor. It too, still, has dye all over the compressor and surrounding area. I have no idea why he couldn’t see it.

I bought a new rear evaporator and expansion valve. They’re scheduled to arrive on Thursday.

I’ve got an appointment to have the system evac’d by a different mechanic - also on Thursday. I’m going to have that mechanic troubleshoot the system while he has it.

If he says nothing about the compressor, I’m going to ask him why nobody seems to be able to see what I’m seeing!! 😂

I won’t be able to start working on it until Monday evening - June 20. If it’s like most car repairs, it will take me longer than most. Maybe we’ll get working AC before summer concludes!! 😂

 

[beretta96]

UPDATE: I was able to start working on replacing the rear evaporator & expansion valve. After blowing it out with compressed air like crazy, I was able to remove the 13mm bolt. However, I can't get the AC lines to disconnect from the expansion valve. It seems like it may be suffering from that galvanic corrosion issue caused by the metal stud being in contact with the aluminum expansion valve or somewhere else where there are dissimilar metals coming in contact.

I'm going to study some threads and Youtube videos to try and figure out how everything fits together to see where there could be some corrosion taking place. I'm hopeful to find a way to "uncorrode" it. I'm hoping there is way similar to how you can use baking soda & water to dissolve corrosion on battery terminals.

My wife seems OK with not having AC. I told her to let me know if she wants me to tap out so she can take it to a professional to get fixed. The thing is, I'd pay the mechanic extra to see what they need to do to disconnect the hoses from the expansion valve. I may just pay them to do that, hopefully they'd let me watch, then I can take it home to finish it off??

Any thoughts??

 

[beretta96]

UPDATE: I was able to get the rear AC lines disconnected from the expansion valve. I used MAP gas to heat the bolt from the expansion valve up to ~400*F. I then sprayed it for ~10 seconds with CRC Freeze Off.

I stripped the head end of the e7 reverse torx bolt during previous attempts to get the bolt out. After heating and then spraying with Freeze Off, I used one of these Rocket Socket bolt extractors to bite into the stripped head of the corroded reverse torx e7 bolt. It turned right out using a 1/4" ratchet.

That's all great but now the bolt won't come out of the bracket that holds the AC lines -- see below picture.

The bolt spins freely in the bracket hole as though the hole isn't threaded. Any thoughts on how I can get the bolt out of the bracket?

I'd like to use the OE AC lines. If they have a leak or can't be salvaged, I've got these flexible lines from Auto Cooling Solutions at the ready.

It was exciting to defeat my galvanic corrosion nemesis only to quickly realize I now have a similar challenging task in getting the bolt out of the bracket!! 😂

 

[beretta96]

Last night I was able to remove the expansion valve bolt that stayed connected to the rear AC line bracket. Below is a picture of that nemesis bolt...

I was able to use an etorx bit (size e10 maybe) to screw it up through the top of the AC line bracket rather than turn it to come out through the bracket's bottom.

Tonight I'll begin pulling interior body panels and remove the HVAC housing that holds the rear heater core, evaporator, blend doors etc....

Appreciate all the help....you guys have been great!!

 

[beretta96]

I finished up this job a couple days ago. Everything is running like it should with cold air. I replaced the rear evaporator, expansion valve, along with the receiver/dryer by the air filter box. I also replace the seals on the rear ac lines that connect to the expansion valve along with the seals between the receiver/dryer and the lines that connect to it. I did not lubricate any of the new seals. However I did lubricate the sensor seal with Nylog Blue prior to reassembly after replacing the receiver/dryer.

I pulled a vacuum on the system to ~30 inHg for 75 minutes after replacing all of the parts and resealing the system. I let that vacuum sit over night. It sat for at least 10 hours. The guages were reading the same in the morning as I left them the night before.

The seals were crazy expensive at the dealership....about $50 a pair. Definitely plan ahead and get them from an online source rather than your local dealership. Mopar part numbers of the replaced parts are:

• Rear Evaporator: 68427763AA
• Rear Expansion Valve: 68164490AB
• Receiver/Dryer: 68142910AA
• Rear Seal - High Side AC line to expansion valve: 68157532AA (Thinnest line)
• Rear Seal - Low Side AC line to expansion valve: 68125530AA (Thickest line)
• Receiver Dryer line seals (2): 68031968AA

I hope this thread can be of help to someone whose rear evaporator sprung a leak!! This Youtube video from South Main Auto was very helpful.

Edit: A mistook the size of high & low lines. I fixed my mistake.