Mechanic says i need a new condensor

My A/C stopped blowing cold 1 month after it was supposidly checked for leaks and refilled. They had the truck for 2 days and they think the condensor is cracked and it is leaking out of that.

Suggestions on a condensor?
Any tricks to replacement?
How tough will this be?

Looking for a cheap one, and am willing to mail order as it is not my daily driver.

'95 sport

Sounds fishy. Put a can of leak detector in and find out where the leak is yourself.

old_man said:

Sounds fishy. Put a can of leak detector in and find out where the leak is yourself.

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he said they just see the A/C oil on the corner of the condensor, and that there is a hairline crack on it. When i asked him if they saw die, he said they just saw the oil.

All the more reason to look for the dye. Normally a leak isn't a crack, but rather a bad Oring.

Can you do the work your self? If not have them fix it and if its not the condenser well you will have a new one and they will still have to find out whats wrong and fix it minus the cost of the work they sold you!

I wouldnt think it would be to expensive considering how easy the condenser is to get to.

Also is this the same shop that looked at it before? Im sure you could work somthing out considering they have all ready done work on it.

If you are going to buy a condenser, check out RockAuto and the discount codes on here. It should run around $80 shipped.

The problem is that you can't really do it yourself unless you have the tools.

For $80 plus labor plus Freon, I would spend $10 and put a can of dye in the system and make sure first.

whitexj98 said:

Can you do the work your self?
Also is this the same shop that looked at it before? Im sure you could work somthing out considering they have all ready done work on it.

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i can do the work myself and i plan to do it myself (besides refill). This is the same shop that looked at it and said there was no leak before they refilled it, and a month later it is now leaking. They quoted $350 for the new condesor installed.

old_man said:

The problem is that you can't really do it yourself unless you have the tools.

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The only part i know i can't do is vacuum and refill it, which they said they will do for me i just need to front the cost of the freon ($60), since i already paid for that once. From what i read the condensor basically unbolts.

If there was no leak then why did it need to be refilled?

Condenser replacement is pretty easy on XJ's. You can do the vacuum and refill yourself with about a $150 investment at harbor freight in a vacuum pump and gauge set.

UNCC_99XJ said:

If there was no leak then why did it need to be refilled?

Condenser replacement is pretty easy on XJ's. You can do the vacuum and refill yourself with about a $150 investment at harbor freight in a vacuum pump and gauge set.

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I'm not saying their wasn't a leak, but rather, make sure where the leak is before you start throwing parts and labor at it.

Be ready to buy some hoses that thread on to the condenser. I'll bet the threads are seized. I know this because both my Jeeps had this issue. One was when the hose to the condenser failed and the other when the condenser got a pinhole from the tranny cooler touching it.

After 35 years of doing my own AC work, I now start with an electronic leak detector and just enough fill to get the compressor to switch on, let it get up to pressure, then turn the jeep off, and sniff everything from one end to the other, Evaporator, hose connections, (all connections), and the front of the compressor (front shaft seal), condensor, expansion valve, and so on, all for even the tiniest leaks.

I hate doing things twice, and I hate doing things 3 or 4 times even more!:banghead:Like pulling the vacuum again, adding $40 of refrigerant again, and so on.

For some reason my last 2 Jeep Renix AC overhauls, were the biggest nightmares of my life. Both took 4 tries before it ran trouble free for an entire summer. Only thing on them that is not new now is the OEM Evaporators!

Be sure to replace the filter / dryer!!!

If I were you I would get some refrigerant/dye and get it up and running some place that has gauges and an electronic sniffer. Pay them to make sure the pressures are not out of whack (look for a clog that pushed high side pressures high enough to crack the condenser perhaps?). And verify obvious dye leak locations and possible compressor shaft leaks on the front seal, that do not show up slow leaks from dye!!!!! My front shaft compressor seal leaks on 2 jeeps never showed up with dye, only with a sniffer. And one expansion valve leak was only detected and verified with the sniffer (dye test passed). Any hoses with signs of age in the cover or at the crimp connectors should be tossed.

The newer jeep evaporators are noted for problems too IIRC.

UNCC_99XJ said:

If there was no leak then why did it need to be refilled?

Condenser replacement is pretty easy on XJ's. You can do the vacuum and refill yourself with about a $150 investment at harbor freight in a vacuum pump and gauge set.

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PO said the dryer was rusted and it had a leak in it. i replaced the dryer and had them vacuum and refill it.

what pump from harbor freight do you use?

thanks for the info guys

i am going to throw in some leak detector dye tonight. how would i find out if it is leaking on the evaporator in the dash?

old_man said:

I'm not saying their wasn't a leak, but rather, make sure where the leak is before you start throwing parts and labor at it.

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I agree completely. My comment was more towards the OP from how I understood his post. It sounded like he said there was no leak, but it needed to be recharged...which wouldn't make any sense. Then again I could have been asleep at the keyboard when I was reading it...always a possibility

robhurlburt said:

PO said the dryer was rusted and it had a leak in it. i replaced the dryer and had them vacuum and refill it.

what pump from harbor freight do you use?

thanks for the info guys

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I use the 2.5 CFM pump, here: http://www.harborfreight.com/25-cfm-vacuum-pump-98076.html

Depending on the size of the vehicle that i'm working on, i'll let it pull vacuum for 15-25 minutes to drain the system, then another 15-25 minutes after i've made the repairs in an effort to get any moisture out that may have entered while working on it.

robhurlburt said:

i am going to throw in some leak detector dye tonight. how would i find out if it is leaking on the evaporator in the dash?

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Once you have the dye in, your pressures are up to spec, and you've run the system for a few minutes to circulate the dye, shut everything off and start looking over everything for signs of dye. Check the hoses where they connect to the condensor, as well as where they connect to the top of the compressor. Also check around the low pressure switch on the receiver/drier as well as the line connections on the receiver/drier itself. If you don't see any signs of leaks (wouldn't hurt to keep checking for a few days with normal use), it's pretty safe to say it's the evaporator that's at fault. Extremely common problem on the late models.

UNCC_99XJ said:

I agree completely. My comment was more towards the OP from how I understood his post. It sounded like he said there was no leak, but it needed to be recharged...which wouldn't make any sense. Then again I could have been asleep at the keyboard when I was reading it...always a possibility

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heres how it went down:
- bought the truck from PO in december and was told there was a hole in the dryer, and that he had opened the A/C system.
- 1 month ago replaced dryer and took XJ to mechanic
- mechanic pulled vacuum, said there were no leaks and that i was good to go
- A/C no longer works
-take truck back to mechanic, and he says it is low on pressure/freon and that there is a leak
- keeps truck for 2 days and says there "might" be a leak from the condensor (How thr f8ck do they NOT know)

robhurlburt said:

heres how it went down:
- bought the truck from PO in december and was told there was a hole in the dryer, and that he had opened the A/C system.
- 1 month ago replaced dryer and took XJ to mechanic
- mechanic pulled vacuum, said there were no leaks and that i was good to go
- A/C no longer works
-take truck back to mechanic, and he says it is low on pressure/freon and that there is a leak
- keeps truck for 2 days and says there "might" be a leak from the condensor (How thr f8ck do they NOT know)

Click to expand...

If it's from the condensor, that's usually pretty easy to spot without any dye. Look for wet spots indicating the oil leaking out.

UNCC_99XJ said:

If it's from the condensor, that's usually pretty easy to spot without any dye. Look for wet spots indicating the oil leaking out.

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thats the thing, they said there is some oil that they "believe" is from the condensor, but the dye test showed nothing.