"joe" wrote:
> I have a 2001 Town and Country where the A/C would not cool. I charged
> the system with 24 oz. of r124a plus a can of dye.

How did you remove the '10' from r134a to create 124a freon?

> It worked fine for
> 6 weeks and then lost it's charge. High side 125psi. low 20 psi. Using
> an electronic detector there was no signal from the engine
> compartment, but it beeped in the front dash vents. It would seem like
> a front evaporator leak. What causes the evaporator to leak other than
> poor construction?

Well, there's bad construction, crappy construction, and inadequate
construction to name three.

> I called Chrysler and asked if they are having problems with their
> evaporators on T & C's. I know they had problems in the past with
> evaporators in some models and they entended the waranty on them. I
> was told that on this model they did extend the waranty on the A/C
> compressor, but not the evaporator. It would seem that a 4 y/o car
> with 46k miles shouldn't need to have the evaporator replaced.

Evaporators? Heavens, no! I've never heard of an evaporator failure
on a Chrysler product, let alone a 2001 Town and Country... Please
complete the survey after I hang up with you if you think I did a
satisfactory job of customer service. Thanks!!

> It appears that to replace the evaporator the entire dash has to be
> removed.

Yes.

> The dealer quoted ~$1000 for the job.

Sounds about right.

> A friend of a friend ( who is reported to be a good mechanic and has
> done a number of these) quoted ~ $800. He also suggested replacing the
> heater core since the only cost would be the part.

Not a *bad* idea, but the heater core really shouldn't give you trouble
-- statistically. It's probably a waste of money, unless your mechanic
likes to destroy the soft brass pipes during hose removal.

> If I take it to the dealer and there is something wrong with the
> compressor the waranty will cover the compressor. I'd be on my own
> with that if I took it to the independet mechanic.
> Any suggestions?

Treat them as separate issues. At this time you need an evaporator.

> Has anyonre done this job, and is it as much of a bear as it appears?

Give yourself a day or two time frame to carefully remove and keep
track of all of the bolts, screws and dash components and you shouldn't
have a problem. Do you have the capability of evacuating the system to
29" vacuum before recharging? That needs to be done for a proper
repair.

Toyota MDT in MO