Anyone repair their car AC themselves?

[rideit]

Any tips on diagnosis, repair, etc?
(Ford 150 04'-08')
I will go to the Ford forums, just asking here first.

[Yukonrider]

I've never done it myself, but from what I hear (from Yota Forums) Its a pain. First you need to track down the problem, which you can do yourself, using the dye and light (easier that way in the end) then once you figure out the problem, fix it, then test with dye again, you need to take it to an A/C shop, where they draw a vacuum in your A/C system, then load it with the refrigerant.
The Refrigerant part is technically the only part you can't do yourself

A quick search found this kit, not too bad at 50 bucks.

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Spectronics-TP8621-LeakFinder-Conditioner-Detection/dp/B0021UXUSQ"]Amazon.com: Spectronics Corp/Tracer TP8621 LeakFinder Air Conditioner and Fluid Leak Detection…[/ame]

[rideit]

Ahhhh, fuck it.
Nevermind.

[Ripzalot]

leaks suck. i've got a fritzy bmw with an a/c the goes on and off intermittently. all due to a 49cent capacitor that's a bitch to get to.

oddly, it usually comes on after 5-10 minutes of driving alone but add a passenger and it won't come on at all. in fact, earlier in the season, it got stuck on floor heat (on a hot day) as we were coming back from biking. i was wearing flip flops and had to stop for fear of getting 1st degree burns on my foot.

hasn't happened again. bimmers are weird sometimes.

[strawjack]

i'm not sure...but u could cut the roof off with this then just drive fast

[mud]

[Poop~Ghost]

It's not hard, unless it's a leak, then finding a leak can be no fun.

I'd start with checking your fuses.

Next up, buy a can of Freon ($20) and see if that gets your AC running. You just plug it onto the appropriate AC line connector. If it does run, you can try to find leak.

Then you've got a controller relay and a heater resistor that can go bad, and finally the actual blower motor.

If you're wrench turning inclined it's not too bad - but might be worth the $50-100 in diagnostics you'll pay a mech to figure it all out much faster than you likely will.

[Garrett]

Next up, buy a can of Freon ($20) and see if that gets your AC running. You just plug it onto the appropriate AC line connector. If it does run, you can try to find leak.

Horrible advice. Do not touch the service ports unless you know exactly what you are doing. It isn't rocket surgery, but it is easy to fuck up expensive components quickly with a can of gas/leak fix and not a clue what is going on.

If you live in a hot climate, go find a well regarded specialist A/C shop and get it at least diagnosed there. This is specialist work to do right the first time.

If you live somewhere where A/C is merely nice to have, you'll probably find that no one in town has a clue how to really diagnose and solve A/C problems, they just throw expensive parts at it and hope it works.

I bought my own vac/charge/specialty A/C tools and got my refrigerant cert years ago, but I wouldn't really recommend it as a method of saving time or money.

[Poop~Ghost]

Interesting. I didn't think the can's could do any damage - so long as you take a pressure reading when the AC is blowing max, getting an idea for where you're at when you start.

[Garrett]

The leak-stop shit can definitely cause all sorts of trouble.

Adding even plain refrigerant without knowing high and low side pressures (and state of leaks, etc.) isn't too wise. I'd do it as a last resort on a beater, not on something I wanted to work for months or years.

[gatorboy]

Is it a supercrew? I'll give you $7.5K for it if it has under 140K miles.