Opinions on A/C Issue I am having (1 Viewer)

[badsamaritan]

AC is working but not blowing as cold as it should be. I took it too a shop a year ago, who added dye, and refrigerant then did a pressure test. Everything looked good. Today I took my rig to a shop for the same issue. They sent back a quote for $2500 for repairs. They state

1. Condenser failing (this is true, the fins are falling out on the ground I showed it to them)
2. High Side valve leaking
3. Interior evaporator is leaking (tech said it's "glowing" from the dye...not sure how they could have checked this. I've never smelled anything odd in the cab.
4. They have no clue if the rear evaporator is leaking or not.

I'm tempted to just have them (or some other shop) fix the condenser and the leaking valve and see what happens after that. I get the gut feeling the in cab evaporator is an upsell due to the labor. Thoughts? Tech today said it was blowing kinda cold while he was testing it, then he put ~2lbs of refrigerant in and it was blowing 41* at the vents.

 

[JunkCrzr89]

I get the gut feeling the in cab evaporator is an upsell due to the labor.

I get the gut feeling the evaporator is bad and should be replaced along with the condenser. But @flintknapper is the resident A/C guru.

 

[badsamaritan]

I guess I shouldn't be surprised, it is a 22yr old rig. but I really want to make sure I am not getting taken for a ride

 

[flintknapper]

Excellent chance the evaporator is bad. They often times form a leak at the bottom corner from sitting in a mixture of water and debris that finds its way into the housing. Does your vehicle have Cabin Air Filters? If not...then surely there is slurry of water, dust, debris in the bottom of the case. This is what corrodes the EVAP over time. Dye will show up dripping from the vent hose on the EVAP housing.

It is common for folks to overlook this area when searching for leaks. IMO the shop that did the inspection is steering you right.

IF its a small leak....the DIYer might choose to ignore it and 'top off' once a season. But any reputable shop will insist on replacing it, they don't want 'come backs' on their work.

 

[badsamaritan]

I bit the bullet and had the evaporator, condenser, and the high side valve replaced. So far so good.