2000 XJ AC Woes

[guzzirider]

My 2000 XJ with 113K miles has no AC. Prior to selling it to me a year ago my sister spent $400 to have the AC clutch replaced and the unit recharged.

The dealer says my condensor is shot requiring digging into the dash to the tune of $1400 . OUCH! he says he can't recharge it because it has already been marked with a dye sticker?? What are my options?

1) can I recharge it myself witha kit from the parts place, if so any advice?

2) is it really $1400 for a condensor replacement?? or are they BSing me

OH he also says the rear main is leaking, but I think it is the vavle cover which is on my to-do listt.

 

[BIGSLVRXJ]

My 2000 XJ with 113K miles has no AC. Prior to selling it to me a year ago my sister spent $400 to have the AC clutch replaced and the unit recharged.

The dealer says my condensor is shot requiring digging into the dash to the tune of $1400 . OUCH! he says he can't recharge it because it has already been marked with a dye sticker?? What are my options?

1) can I recharge it myself witha kit from the parts place, if so any advice?

2) is it really $1400 for a condensor replacement?? or are they BSing me

OH he also says the rear main is leaking, but I think it is the vavle cover which is on my to-do listt.

Okay, the dealer has definitely told you something wrong here. The condenser is the radiator looking thing in front of your radiator. It is not in the dash. The evaporator core is in the dash. If it truly is your condenser all you have to do is buy a $13 disconnect tool, remove the header panel, maybe the radiator, and replace the condenser, it's not a hard job. If it is in fact the evaporator, it requires removing the dash panel to get to. IMO it's still not a horrible job, it isn't fun, but by far not the worst thing I've ever done. I would say go get a can of R-134a from the parts store and dump it in, dye shouldn't make any difference, obviously the leak has already been found. At this point unless your system is too full already (which it sounds like it's empty) you have nothing to loose. See how long it lasts, if you need to replace a part, do...if not...don't.

 

[crawldaddy]

I agree, your dealer is firetrucking you...watch out for the big hose.

(firetruck is a word that starts with F and ends with UCK).

Drop by the local parts store and get yourself a pair of those cheap yellow sunglasses that they sell in a kit with a so-called LED based UV light source. That's what you need to see the dye. Do what RenixPower says, buy a $10 can of R134....

were the 2000s already R134a? If not, get the change-over kit from Interchem, then get the right-angle suction side (low pressure side) adapter from a real parts store - about $10. check the compressor. if it has tiny little screw-on nubs for charging, then it's R12 and needs to be changed to R134a. R134a has big quick connect fittings.

....then charge it at night and listen/look for the leak...if there is one.

there's an option when you buy the R134a - get it with the leak fixing stuff. it's pretty neat. the idea is that the stuff remains a liquid until it leaks out of the system. at that point, it cools the hole where the leak is, and that causes condensation. the water from the condensation makes the leak-fix-stuff kick-off and harden. i use it, and i can't tell you that it works, but my AC is still hummin'.

also, check carefully around the radiator on the passenger side. this is where the AC lines are routed. on one of my cars, a former owner installed the radiator incorrectly, and it laid along one of the aluminum tubes to the condenser. after a while, it rubbed through,. we charged it with the dye, and could hear it rushing, but had a hard time finding it. when we did, it was a $2 part from the junk yard.

oh, and another thing...you don't have to evacuate the system, and you don't have to replace the dryer if you open-up the system. that's only something you would do if you were a mechanic who had to offer an implied guarantee on the work, and so you couldn't afford to do half a job. in your case, you CAN afford to do half a job. the dryer in the car mentioned above is still fine after 20 months, and the system was "open" for over a year.

bill

 

[casm]

were the 2000s already R134a? If not, get the change-over kit from Interchem, then get the right-angle suction side (low pressure side) adapter from a real parts store - about $10. check the compressor. if it has tiny little screw-on nubs for charging, then it's R12 and needs to be changed to R134a. R134a has big quick connect fittings.

He'll be fine - 2000s were definitely R134a; I believe the changeover year was in the 1992-4 timeframe. I've done the charge-in-a-can before, and it worked great until the compressor finally decided to crap out. I put that more down to the previous owners' lack of maintenance than anything else, though.

 

[guzzirider]

Thanks that is kinda what I figured even if I havr to do it twice this summer it is better than $1400 to the dealer