Year: 1999
Make: Ford
Model: Explorer
So, armed with all the A/C "expertise" that I have learned here in the past week, I decide to finally take on the task that my wife keeps nudging to the top of my Honey-Dew List: make her car nice and cool like it was when new, ten years ago.
Thanks to the advice from you guys here, all went well and her Explorer's A/C is blowing ice-cold now. I am back in her good graces at last!
But, when I started looking around for the service ports, I ran across this gizmo, right next to the liquid-line port. It is a small diameter corrugated plastic tubing with a Schrader valve about the size of a regular tire valve. It has a bright green plastic cap and a tag saying "Evaporator Service Port - 1 PSI maximum regulated pressure."
I did find the both of the REAL air conditioner service ports, but what the heck is this thing for?
I tried Googling, but all I found was a couple guys arguing about whether it was used for the initial refrigerant fill at the factory, or that it referred to the Evaporative Emissions Canister.
I'm sure you old hands have worked on an Explorer or two, so does it have anything to do with the A/C?
That is used to induce smoke into the emissions system to test for leaks.
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Ya thats part of the fuel tank evaporation containment stuff. Has nothing to do with the AC.
Well, another year has passed, and dear wife's Explorer is again having a tough time keeping cool on these hot summer days. I found a lot of oil soaking the foam wrapper on the accumulator/dryer, so I'm about to replace it with a new one I just got from the sponsor.
This Explorer is a '98, with a separate little vent and control for the rear seat area. I can't find a label, so could someone please tell me the amount of refrigerant and oil to use?
Looks like you found the very common problem of the accumulator rusting under the foam insulator. I'm showing the charge as 22 ounces. There's really no way of telling how much oil has been lost, but I think I would go with 2 ounces of PAG46 in the accumulator. You should be safe with that.
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Take care,
Travis
tpestes@dealerautomotive.com
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