'97 ac ?

[vbrad511]

I started my truck this morning to let it warm up (as I do on the cold days), and when I got back in I smelled a faint odor, almost electrical. The truck's wiring hasn't been tampered with, except for an aftermarket stereo, that's working fine. I did notice my ac compressor not kicking in when I hit the defrost or the ac settings on the controls. It's supposed to warm up a bit Wednesday, so I'll dig into it a bit, but wanted to get some opinions where to start looking.
Thanks

 

[adsm08]

Smells are mostly impossible to do over the interwebs. It could be the evap core is leaking. I have heard that smell described as electrical by some people, but I never thought they were right. Look at the drain for dye is the first thing to do.

 

[vbrad511]

Smells are mostly impossible to do over the interwebs. It could be the evap core is leaking. I have heard that smell described as electrical by some people, but I never thought they were right. Look at the drain for dye is the first thing to do.

Thanks. I was hoping there were a couple "common" failure points to start with. Sorry for the newb question, but where would I find the drain for the evap core? Did they put dye in the system from the factory?

 

[Craig0320]

The drain is in the bottom of the evaporator box by your blower motor. My core stater leaking on the very bottom seam in my 98 and was hard to find because no oil was coming out of the drain. I had to sniff it with a freon detector to find the leak. When I pulled the evaporator core out it was covered with oil and dirt on the bottom.

 

[adsm08]

They did put dye in at the factory, and pretty much any time the system is recharged it will get dye put in, the problem is that most dyes break down in the system and become invisible in 3 to 6 months.