Tom_G
New Member
- Joined
- Sep 13, 2018
- Messages
- 11
- Reaction score
- 4
- Points
- 3
- Location
- Honolulu, HI
- Vehicle Year
- 99
- Make / Model
- Ford Ranger XLT
- Transmission
- Automatic
- 2WD / 4WD
- 4WD
Aloha all!
My 99 Ranger has developed a bit of a refrigerant leak. Normally, I put a can in somewhere around August or September, and the A/C blows cold for a year. This year, I put it in a bit earlier than usual. The A/C blew nice and cool for about a month. So, I put in another can. Again, I got about a month from it.
It is a 99, so I'm not surprised. However, I did do something different this time around; I turned the can upside-down. Historically, I leave the can rightside-up, and wait the freaking hour it takes to drain. After watching a few YouTube videos, I noticed that everyone turned the can upside-down. Come to think of it, the guys at service stations use those devices that puncture both sides of the can, so they're clearly not worried about orientation. It definitely accelerated the filling!
I'm in a quandary about how to move forward. If I take it for service, the best case scenario is going to be a few hundred bucks, right? Labor to locate the leak, parts to fix it, then purging and recharging the system. But it is a 99, so worst case could easily be that the repairs exceed the value of the truck.
Question 1: did my change in method cause the leak, or was that coincidence?
Question 2: is running a can of refrigerant plus leak stopper worth trying?
Mahalo!
Tom G
My 99 Ranger has developed a bit of a refrigerant leak. Normally, I put a can in somewhere around August or September, and the A/C blows cold for a year. This year, I put it in a bit earlier than usual. The A/C blew nice and cool for about a month. So, I put in another can. Again, I got about a month from it.
It is a 99, so I'm not surprised. However, I did do something different this time around; I turned the can upside-down. Historically, I leave the can rightside-up, and wait the freaking hour it takes to drain. After watching a few YouTube videos, I noticed that everyone turned the can upside-down. Come to think of it, the guys at service stations use those devices that puncture both sides of the can, so they're clearly not worried about orientation. It definitely accelerated the filling!
I'm in a quandary about how to move forward. If I take it for service, the best case scenario is going to be a few hundred bucks, right? Labor to locate the leak, parts to fix it, then purging and recharging the system. But it is a 99, so worst case could easily be that the repairs exceed the value of the truck.
Question 1: did my change in method cause the leak, or was that coincidence?
Question 2: is running a can of refrigerant plus leak stopper worth trying?
Mahalo!
Tom G