hb4

The rear AC in my car was blocked off by a PO, and the front air seems a little puny. I need to evacuate the system to adjust a compressor hose that's rubbing a transmission housing clamp and am thinking about reconnecting the rear AC at the same time.

A photo of the block-off is shown below; basically the lines to the rear AC were separated and a spare set of couplings with a short piece of crimped and soldered line were used as plugs. (Photo below; hokey air pump line is now gone and abandoned).

I don't know why the rear AC was disconnected so unless there's something obvious when I open it up, I need to check out all the parts back there. The fan still works, so from PET it looks like I need to:

- Replace the O-rings
- See if the solenoid works by connecting 12VAC and listening for operation.
- Check components for pressure. I figure this can be done where the lines were disconnected if I can block one off.
- Check and clean the evaporator - Can this be removed and taken to an AC shop, or can I do this myself?
- Expansion valve. How is this checked, or should it be replaced?
- Resistor. Check for ??? ohms.
- Control unit. How is this checked, or should it be replaced?

Comments, suggestions, pointers to repair threads?

Bill Ball

Hey Bill: I very rarely use the rear air. In fact, basically never except turning it on once in a while to keep the seals from drying out. If the front air is not doing the job, something is wrong there. Mine blows ice cubes. You could be investing a lot of effort to get the rear working again for little gain. Like you say, you don't know why it was disconnected. You may find it has a leaky evaporator after all the other repairs. Yes, you can remove that and have it tested. The expansion valve can't be tested, so it should be replaced if you go forward with this. I would check the front air first.