2000 Town and Country?

Hi,

I own a 2000 Town and country. It has 84,000 and just had the transmission rebuilt. Now the air went and I need a whole mess of things to fix it. The estimate is 1300-1700. I need air because I'm driving with my family to the beach and it will be too hot for us. Anyway, should we put more money into the van? It's been a good van, just routine maintenance (tires, brakes, oil) How long should I expect to keep it? What else can go wrong?

My brother is a mechanic, but this is too big of a job for him.

Thanks,
Lisa

I would think about a couple of things.
Is the motor a good one, little or no leaks and little oil usage?
Body in good shape, no long list of stuff you have been putting off repairing.
Is the transmission good now, no leaks either?
When you say the "air went" what do you mean? Did the compressor shell out?
Getting the A/C repaired only amounts to about 4 or so car payments on a new car. You should get way more than 84K miles on a properly maintained van.
Also, most people would in fact survive a ride to the beach without A/C, if you had to wait a bit to get it repaired.
If it is in good shape except for the A/C, I think I would get it fixed. Price seems a little high though, only place you trust that is available?
Regards

Hi,

I own a 2000 Town and country. It has 84,000 and just had the transmission rebuilt. Now the air went and I need a whole mess of things to fix it. The estimate is 1300-1700. I need air because I'm driving with my family to the beach and it will be too hot for us. Anyway, should we put more money into the van? It's been a good van, just routine maintenance (tires, brakes, oil) How long should I expect to keep it? What else can go wrong?

My brother is a mechanic, but this is too big of a job for him.

Thanks,
Lisa

Give us specifics of what is wrong with the A/C. Maybe someone can help.
What does it do not do. What were the parts that the estimate was given. Does it have front and rear A/C?

It needs a condenser, compressor, dryer, vacuumed and charged. He wasn't sure if it needed a spring valve.

Another mechanic said it needed: comprssor, dryer, high pressure hose, orphus (?), evap (?), freon, and a/c vaccummed.

As far as I know the motor is good. The transmission seems good. It's under a warranty from the rebuilt. There is some leaking, but it might be from the dye test. It just passed inspection so it's good for another year.

We need air. My kids roast in the back seat with just those tiny windows cracked. Plus, if we're stuck in 90 degree weather in a traffic jam with 3 kids? Ouch!!!

Thanks for all you input.
Lisa

These vans will last if you take care of them and they were built in the middle of the week. As an example my 96 GC has 196K miles still has the original tranny and still gets the mpg it got the first year. I can't say I follow the recommended maintenance intervals but, what I am doing works. I read of people putting 300K plus miles on these vans and continue to buy them. Some have several in the family.

Your A/C is either on life support as the mechanics tell you or the mechanics have found someone who's not familiar with cars and are taking advantage. Has your brother looked it over? We need more info to be of help.

Are the mechanics saying they have to change the condensor and evaporator because of leaks? If so, you don't have much choice. Specifically why are they saying you need a new compressor? As a rule, the dryer is changed with any component change.

Some basics:
> Looking at the clutch on the belt end of the compreesor, if it starts rotating when you push the A/C switch, the refrigerant charge is good and of course the clutch is working (generally). If it's not rotating, you either have low refrigerant or the clutch is bad or it's not getting power from the relay. The clutch can be replaced without having to replace the compressor.
> If you hear hissing under the dash or feel not quite cold air it usually means a low refrigerant charge.
> The air coming out of the vents should be 30 deg or more below the outside ambient air temp.

The one mechanic did a dye test and said it was leaking. The compressor is bad--he said there wasn't any oil in it?