yact: air conditioning died, new compressor, is this going to cost me $$$?

[isaacmacdonald]

car: 98 stratus.

last owner put in a new compressor in april. I drove the car straight to boston (~ 6hrs) with the a/c on full blast. On the way back, the a/c wouldn't work. I'm going to be taking this to a mechanic at the end of the week, but I'm looking for a little car-talk-esque advice. A friend of mine said that older cars use freon which sometimes needs to be refilled (?). Should I be thinking happy thoughts or what?

 

[pyonir]

Would it blow out warm air at least?

 

[Ionizer86]

Compressors are quite costly, but hopefully it won't need to be replaced.

 

[isaacmacdonald]

yes, the blower is working and will blow whatever the temp outside is (thankfully not much above 73 degrees on the trip back).

 

[notfred]

If you're leaking freon, then there's a problem. In a properly working car, it should never need to be refilled.

 

[pyonir]

Sounds like a system leak / no freon. that isn't the same as a new compressor.

 

[isaacmacdonald]

Originally posted by: pyonir
Sounds like a system leak / no freon. that isn't the same as a new compressor.

is that the symptom of a freon leak rather than a compressor failure? IE: trip 1 works 100%, trip 2 works 0%, no graduate loss of cooling power-

 

[pyonir]

how much time between trips?

 

[Wingznut]

Originally posted by: pyonir
Sounds like a system leak / no freon. that isn't the same as a new compressor.

He's saying that it HAS a new compressor.

There are quite a few things that could be wrong... Anything from a bad pressure switch to low on freon. If it is low (which is the most likely cause), then you have a leak somewhere. If this is indeed the case, may want to see if the leak should've been caught during the initial repair, and see if there's a warranty issue.

If you do need to pay for the repair (say... evac/recharge, 2lbs freon, and repair the leak), the chances of you getting out out of the shop for less than $200-$250 are slim.

 

[Wingznut]

Originally posted by: isaacmacdonald

Originally posted by: pyonir
Sounds like a system leak / no freon. that isn't the same as a new compressor.

is that the symptom of a freon leak rather than a compressor failure? IE: trip 1 works 100%, trip 2 works 0%, no graduate loss of cooling power-

Yes, because there is a low pressure switch in the system. If the system pressure gets too low, it will turn off the compressor.

 

[pyonir]

Here is some info on A/C

 

[pyonir]

Originally posted by: Wingznut

Originally posted by: pyonir
Sounds like a system leak / no freon. that isn't the same as a new compressor.

He's saying that it HAS a new compressor.

OH i see. It HAS a new compressor, not that he thinks he is going to NEED a new compressor even though it was just replaced. Interpreted his topic wrong.

 

[isaacmacdonald]

Originally posted by: pyonir
Here is some info on A/C

awesome. thanks for the link.

last question. when the compressor gets replaced, does the freon have to be recharged?

 

[lowtech1]

It all depend on what your car had for AC...the old freeon or the newer "environment friendly" stuffs.

I had the same problem with my AC becauce I haven't turn it on for serveral years (the seals cracked), and now the mechanic shop want to replace all seals & compressor and convert over to the newer AC for $1200.

If you have newer AC & only need seals replacement and a recharge, then it shouldn't cost you much more than a few hundred bux to do so.

And then there is also the illegal propane method.

 

[pyonir]

I thought any car after ~95 was no longer Freon based AC?

 

[CPA]

A bad air compressor led me to trade in my last vehicle for a newer one. It was going to run me $1500, after I had already put in 2500 into the vehicle. Sometimes it's just best to cut your losses.

 

[SarcasticDwarf]

If the new compressor IS bad, it may be under warrenty

 

[mee987]

Originally posted by: pyonir
I thought any car after ~95 was no longer Freon based AC?

i think most people use "freon" when they mean to use a more general term like "coolant"

 

[Wingznut]

Originally posted by: isaacmacdonald
last question. when the compressor gets replaced, does the freon have to be recharged?

Absolutely, since the system is under pressure, you have to evacuate it first.

Originally posted by: mee987

Originally posted by: pyonir
I thought any car after ~95 was no longer Freon based AC?

i think most people use "freon" when they mean to use a more general term like "coolant"

You mean "refrigerant".

But yeah, technically it isn't "Freon" (r12). Since the early 90's, it's been replaced with r134a. The Stratus (since it debuted in 1995) has always used r134a.

 

[pyonir]

Originally posted by: Wingznut
But yeah, technically it isn't "Freon" (r12). Since the early 90's, it's been replaced with r134a. The Stratus has always used r134a.

What do they call r134a? Is that Puron?

 

[Wingznut]

Originally posted by: pyonir
What do they call r134a? Is that Puron?

No... Puron is a residential refrigerant and is an "environmentally friendly" replacement for r-22.

I'm not sure that r-134a has a brand name.

 

[pyonir]

Cool. Thanks for the info.

 

[ElFenix]

probably have a leak.

you can tell if your compressor is gone because it turning on the belt makes a whine

 

[desertdweller]

Originally posted by: isaacmacdonald
car: 98 stratus.

last owner put in a new compressor in april. I drove the car straight to boston (~ 6hrs) with the a/c on full blast. On the way back, the a/c wouldn't work. I'm going to be taking this to a mechanic at the end of the week, but I'm looking for a little car-talk-esque advice. A friend of mine said that older cars use freon which sometimes needs to be refilled (?). Should I be thinking happy thoughts or what?

My wife has the same car. The compressor in it locked up and I replaced it a
couple of weeks ago. It was about $250 from autozone. Dealer price was
just over $500. Napa was just over what the dealer wanted. Checker was
almost $300.

I put in the compressor from Autozone, and once again, am kicking myself
for using Autozone crap. It started making noise two days after installation.

DD

 

[Quixfire]

Originally posted by: pyonir

Originally posted by: Wingznut
But yeah, technically it isn't "Freon" (r12). Since the early 90's, it's been replaced with r134a. The Stratus has always used r134a.

What do they call r134a? Is that Puron?

R12 = Freon
R134a = Refrigerant