Schraeder valve removal on 2002 XLT

[bnroconnell]

The ac on our 2002 Ford Explorer XLT 2wd has lost it's cool and was blowing hot air. I went to recharge it and get a reading of the pressure and when I removed the cap I saw the refrigerant and highlighter yellow dye bubbling around the valve so I concluded that this must be the source of the leak. Cool no problem I'll just take out the old schrader valve and put in a new one. Not so fast the guy at Pep Boys gave me a core removal tool that wouldn't reach so I went back and bought a longer one only to have the same thing happen. Anyone know where I can get an extra long and larger than normal core removal tool so I can remove the schraeder valve and also where I can get a replacement schraeder valve? I'm hoping once I put in a new valve and charge it back up again all will be well. I'm also hoping to not have to pay big $$$ to the dealer to do it it should be relatively easy it's been really frustrating though so far.

[shorod]

You realize that as soon as you start to remove the schraeder valve, the extremely cold refrigerant will start to leak out and frost burn any unprotected skin if you don't first evacuate the system, and it is illegal to release even R-134a into the atmosphere. Plus this will open the system to atmosphere which means you will need to have a vacuum pulled on the system to purge moisture, etc. So, in other words, you'd be better off having a shop perform the repair for you. It shouldn't be big bucks if you have it done at a shop with a recycling system since they will be able to recover the remaining refrigerant and should not charge you for what they evacuate for your system, not to mention it will work properly when you get it back.

-Rod

[bnroconnell]

I'm pretty sure all the refrigerant has already leaked out, thus the hot air coming out when it's on max cool. However I've been unable to find the core remover so I'm going to have to go to the dealership anyway. Thanks for the help though.