1999 Taurus - A/C Problem

[Vilita]

I have the 1999 Ford Taurus SE 4 DR Sedan. When I turn on the A/C it almost feels like the motor wants to shut off so I quickly turn the A/C off because i don't want to do any damage. It started at the beginning of this summer doing this. The vent and whatnot works fine, just the A/C and defrost I guess does this.

Anyone know what could be the problem, or how I would CHECK myself that that is indeed the problem without having to pay a mechanic at Ford $150 just to tell me what the problem is?

Thanks!

[Vilita]

Alright I had firestone look at it. They are doing A/C Performance checks for $39.99

This is what they've recommended:

                                        Parts    Labor    Total
AIR CONDITIONING                                        653.98                        
- 06-24 NEW DRIER/ACCUM                1     71.79      0.00
- REMOVE & REPLACE A/C COMPRESSOR    1      0.00    178.00
- REMOVE & REPLACE A/C ACCUM/REC_DR    1      0.00     71.20
- 38639 FIXED ORIFICE TUBE            1      2.94      0.00
- 57146 REMAN CMPR & CLUTCH            1    276.65      0.00
- REMOVE & REPLACE EVAP ORIF VALVE    1      0.00     53.40

A/C EVACUATE AND RECHARGE 134A                        126.98                        
- Symptom:-                            1      0.00      0.00
- AIR CONDITIONING 134A SERVICE        1      0.00    179.99
- R134A PER POUND                    2     16.00      0.00
- R134A PER OUNCE                    2      1.00      0.00
- 7096547 A/C SYSTEM DYE            1     12.99      0.00

AIR CONDITIONING SERVICES                            109.99                        
- DURA 141 FLUSH                    1     29.99      0.00
- AC SYSTEM FLUSH LABOR                1      0.00     80.00

The fact that the whole the magically comes out to .98 / .99 makes me wonder if this is an actual diagnosis of what really needs to be done to get the A/C functional again or if it is there way of making back the savings on the A/C check.

I know its not going to be cheap to get the A/C working again but I don't want to blindly give these guys $987 dollars when I'm probably better off just donating the car and buying a new one (Opinions on that as well?)

I did recently replace the VSS myself and it seems to have worked so far, thanks for the help with that. Is there anything here that you think I can do by myself and save on the over $500 in labor costs? Heck even the price for the compressor seems high, Autozone has one listed at $203.

Thanks for any opinions.

[brcidd]

Sure the compressor price seems high- they mark up the parts they sell at least 15-20% where have you been?? this is standard shop procedure-

I feel for you-this is why I do all my own auto repairs- and buy the tools I need to do them if I need to..

It all depends on how bad you want a/c and what it is worth to you- only you can decide-

depending on the failure mode- flushing may or may not be necessary- but since they quoted it- you can be darned sure they will do it- and you will pay for it.

You may not even need a new pump- the load on the engine may be from high head pressure or something else- their diagnosis may not be accurate- but they will never admit to it once you give them the go ahead- they want to do all they can now so you won't need to come back and the car will cool good- they won't do any shorcuts- will go the extra mile- mount extra parts just to be sure the system wil work-- but you will also pay for the extra work..They want it to work and so do you-- so is it worth that much? only you can decide..

[Vilita]

Is there any of it that I can do myself? I am more than capable at doing standard auto repair if I know where the things i need to replace are located and what special procedures I need to take

For example, Can I do the compressor, drier, orifice tube myself and have them do the recharging and flush? Would that be feasible?

They said that they thought there wasn't enough freon in the system so it was working very hard to compress a very small amount of stuff when operational and thats what caused the problems

[jmas]

It appears as if the Compressor is ready to freeze up. Since it has not yet gone into the "Black Death State" you may be able to get away with putting in a used unit and not having to flush the system or even change the dryer (actually poor advice on the dryer but you are talking about an older car here where you may just want to make it work!) I did one like this a few years ago for a $50 compressor off eBay and a couple cans of gas. It worked for the next several years until I got rid of the car. Good Luck.

[shorod]

Before replacing any A/C parts, make sure the Idle Air Control (IAC) valve is fine.

Does the belt squeal when you turn on the A/C or defrost, or does it just bog the engine? Even a properly working A/C system places a load on the engine, which is one of the functions of the IAC. It allows more air to bypass the closed throttle plate to speed the engine up and account for loads like the A/C compressor. If it is not functioning properly, it could cause the engine to stall or nearly stall when the A/C is turned on.

With the car idling in park, try turning the steering wheel all the way to one of the locks. If the car stumbles and acts like it's going to die when the wheel is at lock, then I'd start by replacing the IAC rather than investing a bunch of money in a rebuilt A/C system. Also, don't hold the steering at either of the locks for more than a couple of seconds. Holding it at lock is hard on the pump.

-Rod

[CrapaTaurusWrecks]

I had an A/C compressor sieze up on my 2001 a while back and I didn't want to put too much money into fixing it. My manual says whenever a compressor is replaced the accumulator-drier and evaporator orifice tube should be replaced. That's fine if you have the cash to do so. After considering cost against risk I took the old compressor off and replaced it with a compressor from a parts car and it worked great. It's been a while and it's still working fine. The compressor is held on by only four bolts and is pretty easy to change if you go that route.
I'd definately check out Rod's idea above first.

[tripletdaddy]

"Firestone" sounds synonymous to getting burned and stoned with their overkill approach to repairs and morbidly exorbitant bills. $1000!!! Ouch!!!

"They said that they thought there wasn't enough freon in the system so it was working very hard to compress a very small amount of stuff when operational and thats what caused the problems."

WOW! That's got to be the most unbelievable, bs statement I've ever heard!?! That guy is a crook or really dumb, either way, I'd stay away. That would be a first for it to be more work to compress a small amount of refrigerant than to compress more. If it had lost a LOT of compressor oil, which would imply that a LOT of refrigerant was lost, which if enough was lost would activate a pressure switch that would prevent the compressor coming on, the compressor would start to grind itself up, dump a bunch of metal shavings into the ac system and seize. This is the primary reason to replace the evaporator orifice when replacing the compressor. The purest would also say to replace the drier/accumulator. To do it right, the system needs to be pumped out and hold a vacuum, removing air and moisture. I and others have also gotten away with skipping that too. I recently came across a product at Autozone that claims can be used in leiu of the evacuation to remove the moisture and air and may also flush the system out of debris. I can't remember as I read several new products then. I think it was made by Quest.

Hopefully, you have on the engine emissions, spec decal underhood, the required amount of refrigerant and oil. That info may be available elsewhere online if not there. That would be the best way to charge it. If you just do the compressor, see how much oil you can pour out of it. The accumulator will have some oil in it, unless you change it too, so add back into the system the average of the spec amount and what you pour out of the compressor. Off hand, I'd guess the accumulator will have 3 oz of oil in it, so you will need to make up the rest.

I'm glad Rod jumped in here immediately on the IAC being a possibility. A much easier and possibly cheaper fix. I'd much rather need that than the ac fixed.

Some additional symptoms of a compressor having a tough time turning are smoking serpentine belt, squealing belt, slipping ac clutch when engaging, won't be able to fully engage. You certainly can stick your own gauge on it to evaluate the low side pressure while it's operating. From here, I'd recommend you go to the first sticky on ac in this forum that apparently I had something to do with.