[VTengineer]

Thanks for the advice, I was actually going on RockAuto right now to buy a drier after thinking about how long my system has been open hehehe. I have a friend with the vacuum system so I don't have any problems with getting a vacuum pulled on it. Is there any easy way to check the compressor oil level without tearing it down?

Wayra2,
The A/C heater housing has 4 bolts attaching it to the firewall. One is near the expansion valve on the passenger side. Another is near the heater hoses going to the heater core. There's one hiding behind a stud clip for the upper heater hose going to the heater core. That clip is located near the transmission dipstick. The 4th bolt is straight down from the previous one, behind the transmission dipstick. You can't see it, but you can feel it and get an open-ended wrench on it to remove it. Any other questions feel free to ask

 

[Volphin]

flushola

You can flush the system by adding compressor oil and gently blowing air through it with and air nozzle hooked to an air compressor. Just make sure the drier is off and the e-valves are off.

Bill

 

[wayra2]

Ok. I have the A/C unit reinstalled. However, now the vacuum activated motors/controls don't work. Is there a trick to reconnecting the vacuum hoses to the motors so that they function?
Thanks!

 

[VTengineer]

No idea about the actuators wayra2, you're farther than me on reassembly I'm waiting for the last parts to come in today to start putting it all back together. You or someone else on here may be able to answer a question for me though.

On the A/C Heater Housing, there's a sealant between the housing and the housing cover. When I pulled off the cover, this sealant ripped in a bunch of places and I figure I need to replace it with some sort of an RTV or something. It was black and was still soft and kind of rubbery when I took it apart, so I need something that doesn't cure hard but can expand and shrink with the temp. differences that'll occur in the housing. Does anyone know exactly what I need to take care of this? I'm including a picture of what the sealant looks like on the housing cover. The sealant is the globby stuff on the right side of the picture right beside the screw hole. Thanks!

 

[wayra2]

Sealant

I just used black RTV sealant. It appears to work fine.

 

[Volphin]

Try butyl tape there

Could use butyl tape in that application?

HTH

Bill

 

[QuickSilver]

Looks like the stuff they use on the vapor liner inside the door panels? kind of like sticky black snot, to be disgustingly descriptive.

 

[VTengineer]

Well, I'm now in the land of reassembly, so it won't be THAT much longer I think before the D is on the road again finally. Had to hose all the stop leak gunk out of the bottom of the housing, that stuff was nasty. I got the heater core and evaporator coil installed last night, along with resealing the housing cover and getting all those screws back in. As far as sealant, I used the Permatex Ultra Black RTV sealant that's OEM specified, and it worked great. I checked on the texture this morning and its just like the stuff that was on it before. I'd recommend getting the bigger caulk can size of the sealant if you have to reseal your box. Much easier than trying to work with a squeeze tube of RTV, the caulk gun just made it a breeze to work with

 

[VTengineer]

FINISHED!

Well guys, its no longer a work in progress. The D is back on the road!! I can't believe everything works after this long, agonizing process :bugeyed: I have a total time of about 21 hours into the project at this point. After sitting a total of a month, the D idled a little rough the first few minutes, and had quite a bit of nasty smelling steam under the hood from the coolant I had spilled from taking off the heater hoses.

When I get time, I plan on writing up a how-to guide to the best of my abilities for anybody else that has to tackle this beast of a problem. I'm just so happy that it's all back together now, and not even a SINGLE screw, nut, or bolt leftover on the installation :cheesy:

All that's left now's to replace the lost refridgerant oil with some PAG 100 oil, evacuate the A/C system, and have it recharged for HOPEFULLY some nice, cool air again

wayra2, did you ever get you heater controls etc to work? If not, I still have the diagrams I drew up that specified which colored hoses connected where on the actuators if you need them

 

[Casey]

Oops!! missed page two? :doh:

 

[Adde]

I'm going to do this in the coming weekend, my heatercore and evaporator are broken I'm pretty sure, steam all over windows that doesn't go away and the heat doesn't work. and smell of rotten fish (nasty crotch) which equall antifreez burning. so yes time to replace parts for $172 that people want over a grand to install.

any tips for me :?)

 

[FSTDANGO3]

Patience

All I can say is good luck and Patience Grasshopper!
You're about to embark on a very difficult quest
Steve
DOC Pres

 

[Briko11]

I'd say one of the major reasons it works is because of your great education at VT?ahah Just thought I'd congratulate you on a job well done?and Go HOKIES

 

[greg]

I don't think flushing after the new evap is in is wise. After all you'll just be forcing crap into the new unit IMHO. However once you've used stop leak you need to flush the system out and you need a pro system (you can rent them I believe but don't tell them you have stop leak in as it'll gum the system up.)

Most dyes are usually purple.

FWIW I'll be doing what you went through on the 11th on the wife's 300M - ain't looking forward to it. 35k miles and the A/C (including compressor) blown?

greg

 

[VTengineer]

Adde,
Good luck bud, if you need any info on it, let me know. I'll say that doing it all in one weekend will be extreme. It took me a month from start to finish at my own pace. But with confidence and a lot of will it can be done

Briko,
Yea, I think the education did help some actually. I don't know why, but I think it was the engineering way of thought that helped me through it. I swear, I think somehow they brainwashed me into thinking like they do amongst the 4 years I spent there hehehe.

Greg,
FWIW, I didn't flush my system, just pulled vacuum on it once I got it all back together. And honestly, when I looked at the A/C lines, they were dry except for thin layers of the green refridgerant oil. I'm wondering if when I had that leak, the hole was so big that every bit of that stop leak went out the hole or was still in the dead evaporator core. But still haven't had any problems, and have used the A/C off and on ever since I fixed it. Good luck on the 300M. Don't know if its as bad as a Durango on dash removal etc, but knowing Dodge, it probably is hehehe.

 

[greg]

My mistake, I must have read it wrong. Sure once you put it back together you need to draw a vacuum in the system before pressurizing it. This ensures you have a good seal all around and allows for the input of the refrigerant. I assume you checked both pressure and quantity of refrigerant with the 3 nozzle set-up and not the cheap A/C gauge they sell you.

As for the 300M, I'm planning 8 hours and the car ain't even 5 years old :wall:

greg

 

[VTengineer]

Oh yeah, I had the super expensive $100+ triple hose setup, which was very nice. I pulled vacuum on it and let the system set for an hour, just to make sure that nothing leaked down at all.

I can't believe the A/C on the 300M went out that fast, that's insane! If you can get it finished in 8 hours, you deserve a pat on the back. I'll say that the first 16 hours was tearing mine apart, and only 5 hours to put it all back together. I guess once you know how it comes apart, its easy to figure out how it goes back on.

 

[MWeed]

Heater core

Let's hope the 300m isn't like the Dodge Stealth. I couldn't keep a system in that beast for more than a year. I owned one for 7 years, as I loved the way it drove and handled. But I had to rebuild the entire A/C system every year. Everything failed in the A/C system. Too expensive to keep.

 

[greg]

Which is why you should have bought the Mitsubishi 3000GT AWD version :wall:

The 8 hours is counting on a friend of mine who has an A/C shop

But yes, it's got 35k miles and as soon as this is finished I'm gonna look for something else for the wife. Now if I can convince her that she'd look good in the Ford GT40?

greg

 

[2001R/T Durango]

I believe my evaporator is leaking too. my brother is a mechanic but he stays so busy I don't know if he'll ever be able to do it.

anyway I was reading this and I too when the AC is filled and leaks has a green antifreeze look leaking. it's not antifreeze though. wondering if there was a leak before I owned it and someone used stop leak.

I don't know if you have a single post or email that you can send to help someone out to make this fix go smoother please send it my way.

thanks