Spitting Snake diagnosed (follow up on A/C problem)

Y2K5SRT

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For those of you that may recall (and those that generously offered great advice), I finally got my car into a Viper tech today. I was a tad bit nervous, as there are no "great" techs in Kansas City, at least by reputation. I decided to try somebody closer to my house. Their sister dealership (same owners) are infamous for joyriding Vipers every time they come in for anything - and they are a 5-Star dealership. This is also the same dealership that wanted to clean me out if I bought my car from them (Woodhouse to the rescue!) Anyway, I digress...

A couple weeks ago I noticed that my A/C would start out cool (not cold) and get progressively warmer as I drove. On one occasion, I finally turned it off and stopped for a drink. When I started the car back up and turned up the fan, it actually spit ice chips out of the vents! I got some great advice here and brought that to the Viper tech today.

I was a little put off at first, as I had scheduled an appointment for a specific time and told them I would wait for the car to see what the diagnosis was. They had me waiting for an hour and half before the Viper tech could look at my car - they had him busy working on a demo Durango that just sat out in the lot anyway. Turns out he was a GREAT guy and pretty dang sharp to boot. Been working on Vipers since Day 1 and knew his way around it pretty well. Invited me to watch as he tested several things. First thing he finds is that there is indeed air in the system. I told him I had looked through the "window" and didn't see any bubbles. He explained I needed to look with the car running (duh). Sure enough, there they were. He then pulled the refrigerant and found it only had 1 pound of the 1.8 pounds it should have fully charged. The next thing was pretty cool: He put on these interesting yellow glasses, pulled out some sort of a black light/flash light and looked for the leak. He found it: Seems the evaporator has problems and he ordered a new one. He charged the system so that I would have relatively cold air for the week or so it takes for the part to arrive. He was quick and very efficient. He laughed at my bad jokes and for that I kept him supplied with cold drinks (hot in that garage). I also gave him a tip of course. He really did take good care of my car and was patient with my many questions (I like to know how things work).

I will publish the final results when the car is officially fixed sometime next week. Cold A/C - I am excited!

Chris
 

JonB

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My GTS has the same exact problem. .6 lbs remained of 1.8.

Parts ordered under warranty, so I do NOT get the sale!!!
 

2BADD 4U

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Hi Chris

I am glad that you had a good experience with your Viper tech. Sounds like he has a good feel for what he is doing. The yellow sunglasses and black light is a new way to locate leaks. It is produced by a co. called Spectroline. Ultra-violet light, seen thru the glasses will reflect the oil in the freon like the rising sun, a super bright chartruese/orange color and makes leaks simple to locate. I am glad to see that car dealers are using this great new device. Makes for a nice efficient job. We use it on commercial, and industrial applications too. Glad you made out ok. Keep me posted on the evaporator replacement. I am curious if it is aluminum solder joints or quick connect fittings to replace it.

Thanks, Dave
 
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