Accumulator replacement?

Took my jeep in for service by a mechanic that I've used several times and have been relatively happy with. Cost me $500 for the following:
- Oil change, lube, filter, tire rotation & balance - $39
- Coolant flush and radiator cap replaced - $100
- Accumulator & orifice replaced - $360


did I get ripped off?

While replacing the accumulator is easy to do if you have the right tools you still have to figure the cost of parts and of evacuating the A/C system and recharging it. That sounds pretty par for the course to me.

What does it cost to refill A/C up there? It's $100 here due to all the charges. The accumulator itself probably not much, maybe $70 at most. Orifice tube I dunno, but it can be hassle, so maybe a couple of hours labor. Seems high but justifiable if he says the right words.

2000 XJ 4.0 on rockauto.com:

Line with orifice tube--$31.79; orifice tube alone--$11.42
Accumulator--$26.79

I don't have a flat rate manual here for the late model, but 90 would be 2.4 hours to replace the accumulator.

What was the shop labor rate? Adds up pretty quick nowadays.

Turns out the shop labor rate is around $90. For some reason I thought it was cheaper than that. Charged me 1.5hrs for the received/dryer and $98 for the part. $78 for R134 Freon and $95 for the vacuum down and re-charge f the ac system. He applied a $50 coupon to the labor charges..

Emerscape said:

Turns out the shop labor rate is around $90. For some reason I thought it was cheaper than that. Charged me 1.5hrs for the received/dryer and $98 for the part. $78 for R134 Freon and $95 for the vacuum down and re-charge f the ac system. He applied a $50 coupon to the labor charges..

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Based on all that looks like he gave you a good deal. What he has to pay for local-sourced parts, plus his markup, it really isn't out of line and he shaved the flat rate labor charge or is strictly a time-and-charges shop.

You did Ok.

Thanks Joe... although I just got back from a long drive and I'm absolutely livid. I brought the jeep in to the shop telling them that I my AC system would blow cold air for about 30 minutes and then would start blowing warm air. I also told them that at this same time I didn't hear the compressor clutch engage. Based on my research I thought that the clutch gap was out of spec, so I provided the Sandene service manual and showed them what I was talking about. The next day I called back and the guy said that he thought he had fixed it by replacing the accumulator/dryer.

This morning I drove to the dog park (15mins each way in city traffic) blowing the AC there and back. On the trip back it was blowing semi-cold air but it was evident that it wasn't running at spec. I stopped at CVS, popped the hood and noticed the compressor clutch wasn't engaged. I also noticed the accumulator/dryer to be warm without any condensation. I turned off the car, walked into CVS and turned around and walked out. I wasn't in CVS more than 3 minutes. Started the jeep up, turned the AC back on and it was blowing ice cold air. This makes me think that the gap isn't out of spec since the jeep really couldn't have cooled much in 3 minutes


Any thoughts on this? My pregnant fiance (who is also an attorney) is about to go ape sh*t on the mechanic. I'd like to just get this issue resolved without any of us losing out heads!

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

You have 2 important clues here, the "cool" air and the system recovered after sitting.

You may just be low on R134, which will prevent the clutch from coming on. The switch is in the low pressure side before the compressor. When the level gets low, the compressor will run for a few minutes until the compressor develops enough vacuum on the LP side, and lets the switch drop out, inhibiting off the clutch. Just turn on the AC, pop the hood and watch the clutch. If this is the problem you will see the clutch stop, then after the engine continues to run (without the LP vacuum from the running compressor), you should see the clutch kick back on for several seconds to a few minutesm, depending on how low the charge is. The next question would be why is it low, when you just got it back from the shop. Was it not charged to the correct level, or is there a leak?

When the clutch cycles like this, the result in the cabin is cool air, not cold.

thanks for the response. The shop removed the freon and recharged it after they replaced the accumulator. Could it be the switch?

could be a variety of things, I'd tell the mechanic his fix didn't take and the wife is mad, see what he wants to do

ehall said:

could be a variety of things, I'd tell the mechanic his fix didn't take and the wife is mad, see what he wants to do

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Yes, you should return to the shop and give them a chance to "mitigate" the problem--your wife will understand that.

The tech/mechanic may have gotten tunnel vision--it can happen.

Take it back and discuss it with them--calmly.

Good luck.

Manual says, compressor cycles more than 5 times in a minute it's low on refrigerant.

Is there a switch that controls when the compressor engages that I've probably not tested/replaced already?

So the mechanic called me back but I've not talked to him yet. Before I do talk to him I'd like to know the proper procedure to test for this issue. I'm guessing you'd start by checking the freon level and both low/high side pressure during operation. Then test the high/low switch on top of the accumulator, then check the gap on the compressor and finally the orifice tube and accumulator. Thoughts? I'm going to give him a chance to remedy the situation but not on my dime. If it turns out to be the compressor clutch gap I'm willing to pay for the parts for the accumulator but not the labor. Is this reasonable?

Btw the compressor cycled 6 times in a minute. FSM says anything more than 10 cycles is a sign of issue

The clutch gap is not your problem. Although it could be a bad pressure swithc, that is highly unlikely. There is a 95% plus chance that you are just low on R134. You first move is to check the low side pressure with the AC on max cool. You can leave the HP side alone for now.

Agreed. Check the low pressure side with the compressor running and note your pressure. Sounds like you have a FSM...there is a chart in there that lists what your pressure should be (both high and low side) given ambient temperature.

Make sure you're checking it either in the shade or in a garage...direct sunlight beating down on the system while you're checking pressures will give you slightly different results.

talked to the owner. He said he'll make things right so I'm bringing it in Friday.

Emerscape said:

talked to the owner. He said he'll make things right so I'm bringing it in Friday.

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Exactly the right thing to do, for both you and the shop.

I guess I was more asking... do you think it is reasonable that I expect him to fix the issue without me paying anymore money? I could see that expectation not being reasonable if he had definitive proof that the accumulator needed to be replaced, but I don't think he tested the easier items (that wouldn't require vacuuming & recharging the system) like the clutch cycle switch, low pressure switch, clutch gap, etc. before going on to replace the accumulator.

Thoughts?