Jeep Garage  - Jeep Forum banner

AC isuue

3K views 6 replies 3 participants last post by  Jon Krol 
#1 ·
My 05 Ltd AC is not blowing cold air. Just started a day ago. How can I check the freon level? Isn't there a window in the plumbing to allow checking of it? Was blowing too cold a few days ago now just air temp.
 
#2 ·
Re: AC issue

Took my 05 WK Ltd to a friend that does AC repair on homes, etc.. His gear connected right up to the WK's AC piping. The system was empty of freon suggesting a leak. He used a freon snooper and found that under the dash on the passenger side detected the leak to be there. So what am I looking at to repair the AC in my Jeep. I know they need to remove the entire dash to get to the condenser. What am I looking at cost wise? I know it won't be cheap. Can it be done by myself with a good factory shop manual? I have tools and am moderately mechanical. I just don't have any special tools that might be needed. Thanks
 
#3 ·
It's the AC Evaporator dude and yes it is behind the dash, very labor intensive. It just cost me $850 to repalce my heater core because it was leaking coolant all over the passenger floorboards. Only reason I didnt do it myself was because of my schedule and time constraints. They originally tried to get me on replacing the evaporator ($359, would've been $1450!) but it was fine! Anyway the evaporator receives the freon from the compressor and has a fan in front or behind it that blows the cold air that "evaporates" from the evaporator into your Jeep's cabin, thus cold air when the AC is turned on. The condenser is actually in the engine bay up in front of the radiator since it does essentially the same thing, dissapates heat. But yes to answer your question (hopefully) if you are mechanically inclined and you follow the service manual exactly, you should be able to do it. Otherwise you're looking at anywhere between $800-$1200 including parts/labor. The part alone is $359. Hope this helps and saves you some money ;)
 
#4 ·
Just a guess... Probably more than the heater core price given above, I would guess it will be 1k +... My guess would be the evaperator will be a bit or even considerably more expensive than a heater core, furthermore to replace the heater core you dont need to remove or dissassemble the HVAC housing, but for the evaperator you do so expect to pay more for parts and labor than the previously given estimate.
 
#6 ·
That's why I quoted $800-$1200 for a range because in the end it all depends on the dealer. The dealer I went to originally quoted me $1450 to replace both the heater core and the AC evaporator even though only the heater core was bad. I also did my own research (thanks Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBQAOqRoRUU) and found out that yes the HVAC housing does not need to come off. He (the mechanic) tried to convince me that he had to do just that thus describing previous model year Grand Cherokee heater core replacements. So I showed him, the service manager and the freaking owner of the Jeep dealer the youtube video and they immediately came down in price to $850 for just the heater core ($82) as opposed to the AC evaporator ($359) which does require the HVAC housing to also be dismantled and reassembled thus higher labor costs.
 
#7 ·
My quotes have run from $650.00 to $1700.00 and everything in between. Funny thing, one Jeep dealer quoted the $650.00 and the other one quoted to me both $1155.87 and then another service tech from the same dealer quoted me $1531.30. RPM a franchise type auto service business quoted me $1700.00.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top