2010 Ram Quad Cab
2wd, 3.7l V6
170k miles
Base package, nothing fancy

AC quit blowing cold a week ago, noticed an odd smell when I turn the AC on, no smell with the heat. Had a can of refrigerant laying around and put some in, held pressure for maybe a few hours and blew cold as ever , then no cooling again. Mechanic friend smelled the AC and said it was the Freon oil.

I'm guessing I'm looking at $1,000 to $1,500 or so to have it fixed, truck is worth maybe $6,000. Maybe worth a DIY, but not sure it's worth sinking that much money into.

3rd opinion, just man up and have no AC.

If it caught fire, (it is a dodge after all) would insurance pay?

Do you like the truck? I just sank $800 in to a 15 year old car valued around $2500. But I enjoy it and don't want to buy a new car until my house is paid off in 5 years.

Of you're thinking about DIY watch a few you tube videos. I would imagine the evaporator is under the dash inside the HVAC box. If you're not rushing it is probably a 4-5 hour job. The hardest part is removing the dash & the box from the firewall.

KorbinDallas said:

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2010 Ram Quad Cab
2wd, 3.7l V6
170k miles
Base package, nothing fancy

AC quit blowing cold a week ago, noticed an odd smell when I turn the AC on, no smell with the heat. Had a can of refrigerant laying around and put some in, held pressure for maybe a few hours and blew cold as ever , then no cooling again. Mechanic friend smelled the AC and said it was the Freon oil.

I'm guessing I'm looking at $1,000 to $1,500 or so to have it fixed, truck is worth maybe $6,000. Maybe worth a DIY, but not sure it's worth sinking that much money into.

3rd opinion, just man up and have no AC.

If it caught fire, (it is a dodge after all) would insurance pay?

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With the average new car payment of $550/month, you come out even in about 3 months. In these situation it rarely, if ever, makes sense to buy a new car.

New isn't even a thought. If I replace it, I'll spend 10-15k on a few year old model, most likely will not be a truck.

A $12k loan runs about $300/month. I don't know your financial situation but running the math again you're even in 5 months instead of 3. And that doesn't take into account the risk of buying a used car with potential problems.

I appreciate the perspective. I could afford a payment, but there is no need at this time. I'm learning towards giving it a a try DIY, and after some googling having it done looked like an $800-$1000 job rather than $1500

will.mcg said:

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Of you're thinking about DIY watch a few you tube videos. I would imagine the evaporator is under the dash inside the HVAC box. If you're not rushing it is probably a 4-5 hour job. The hardest part is removing the dash & the box from the firewall.

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I have watched a couple of these, I'm leaning towards attempting a DIY repair. Anyone know of a way to verify the leak location? UV dye wouldn't be visible, but I guess I I could eliminate all the other potential leak locations I could just go ahead with the evaporator.

KorbinDallas said:

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will.mcg said:

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Of you're thinking about DIY watch a few you tube videos. I would imagine the evaporator is under the dash inside the HVAC box. If you're not rushing it is probably a 4-5 hour job. The hardest part is removing the dash & the box from the firewall.

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I have watched a couple of these, I'm leaning towards attempting a DIY repair. Anyone know of a way to verify the leak location? UV dye wouldn't be visible, but I guess I I could eliminate all the other potential leak locations I could just go ahead with the evaporator.

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UV dye is designed to be visible. Thus UV.

Introduce the dye... run the ac... find the leak... repair it.

Good luck!

Will it make it from the evaporator, under the dash out through a vent so it can be seen? I'm not aware of a way to see the evaporator while the AC is running.

No uv is not the answer. Electronic sniffer is what you use. I remember my first one was like $1000 in 1971 but 70 now for one at harbor freight. Likely can rent one at parts store.
I assume that someone diagnosed it using one. Lots of potential leak locations last one i fixed was when the service tech at dealership drove my sons car through crater in their driveway and smashed the lower section of condenser.
Typically on evaporator you run system on low fan for a period and zero sniffer in outside air, turn off car/ac/fan and insert in vent for a short period. Can give a small burst of fam operation if not having any detect.

No formal diagnosis.

I only know I have low refrigerant pressure in the system and after I charged it, it blew cool for a few hours. The evaporator is a guess based on an odd smell coming from the vents, a friend who is a mechanic smelled it and suggested it was compressor oil, and is leading me to believe the leak is in the evaporator. It's possible there are other Leaks, seems like I lost refrigerant overnight, not gradually.

Since it's leaking so fast, I would go ahead and add another can of freon and some UV dye. You'll need a black light to see the dye. With the dye, you can confirm your leak isn't something easier to get to and you'll be able to confirm if it is the evaporator.

$800-$1000 seems high to DIY an evaporator. Watch a couple of youtube videos and decide if the job is within your mechanical abilities.

Unless you have a vac pump and set of guages, I would just take it to an AC shop for the recharge.

A new evaporator is about $75 online. I don't think the DIY would be very expensive. Could probably borrow or rent gauges and a vacuum pump. Removing the dash scares me a bit.

You can rent gauges & vacuum pump from O'Reilly Auto Parts.

Again, I am not a proponent for UV especially for suspect evaporator. Also in my experience smells in the air vents many times are the heater core, but if smell coincides with ac failure it might be but Freon does not really smell unless heated. I used to have a propane torch with a catalyst target that would change color in the presence of freon but halogen electronic detectors kill that scheme. I would for sure isolate the leak not start with assumption of evaporator. Heck buy Harbor freight detector and return (or keep you are saving $'s diy) They have on amazon for $20 but I would trust them about as much as a typical politician.
Large volume leaks are not typically fill valve or even shaft seals. Visual inspection would likely show if its the condenser, oil stain or just bashed.
Also if you are going to disaster the dash proactive replacement of heater core might be worth considering. Not sure about the dodge but have changed more than my share of F150 cores and taking it apart twice would not be my idea of fun.
If it is evap also check or add oil since you likely will have lost a few oz.

Thanks for the note on the heater core. Looks like that is $50 probably worth a proactive replacement. Anything else to change while on there?

Use snot on all the orings. If was working i would suspect can skip the expansion valve.
We used to always replace the receiver dryer but most are now integrated in the condenser. Likely not an issue with r134 and if system has not been empty for an extended period

I can only that you should get a quality set of plastic pry bars. The whole dash has to come out!

I was going to be the 'crackpot' in the group and suggest you do a Hail Mary and use one of the snake oil stop leak products, but your leak sounds too big.

Most of those products state that if you're leaking out in less than 14 days, they can't help you.

I don't envy you. I absolutely despise having to remove the dash in anything modern. But, make sure it's the evaporator before you go to the trouble. The electronic leak detector would be my tool to know where it is for sure.

Thanks for the advice so far. Right now my plan is to get a one of the leak detectors and try to verify the evaporator is the culprit.

If I verify it's the same evaporator, I'll pull the dash and ac box and replace both the Evaporator and heater core. At that point I'll decide if I want to tackle the charging of the system or take it to a professional

So I guess I need to accept that I'll never get around to doing an DIY job. Want recommendations of a place for AC work in BCS?

Im pretty sure txsqbody volunteered., Or at least his shop would take it on

I must have missed that. Now I can't seem to find it.