I'm a heavy equipment tech, and I've worked at both dealer and as an independent. I'm not saying the independent techs aren't smart, however they don't have the resources offered at the dealer. While that is very true they COULD have worked at any given dealer, there is just as good of a chance they were not and typically you don't get to interview the tech before you use the place. And a lot of indepents could be smarter and cheaper find a good mechanic and stay with him he will save you money in the long run and you have a relation ship with him.

The guy you get could have worke at chev or Canadian tire up till the day before. That will make a mess of the chemistry in the circuit. Just don't recharge your system with those lame miracle-fix cans of butane called r20a, even just to see 'what will happen'. You could briefly short the switch leads to check if the compressor clutch engages, but somebody should have pressure-checked the system first to make sure there is enough r134a to start with. (What's the history of recharges so far?) Theoretically it is possible for the program in the CU to be faulty or have problems but that's pretty low on the list of probabilities. Compressors naturally have a very slow leak inside across their seals too maybe the system just needs a recharge (with sufficient PAG) for another 5 years. Maybe in the hi or low schraeder valves, or a pinhole in the tubing or heat exchanger or accumulator, or a loose or bad fitting. Or there is really no pressure in the circuit, meaning a slow leak somewhere. The switch might be screwed (but probably not at 6 years old), or the wiring to the CU is frayed or ripped. It indicates there is enough refrigerant (pressure) and therefore enough PAG compressor lubricant circulating around with it so that the compressor doesn't seize up. Stabbing in the dark on your problem from the info provided, the 'safety switch' might be the low-pressure protection switch which needs to pass a 12v signal to the control unit (CU) to enable the a/c to work at all. After a few evenings of 'tubing you should develop a sense of what is good info and what is bs. Huge amounts of info are available on YouTube, mostly by US authors because a/c is so common there. And you'll be able to have an intelligent conversation with an a/c mechanic if need be. I'd first do basic diagnostics to get a good idea what's going on 'as found', but then cut to the chase and rebuild the circuit without wasting too much time.Īt least I'd get a good manifold gauge set and a common digital voltmeter and learn exactly how an a/c system works, and then do a self-diagnosis to get some probable causes of the problem(s). Diagnosis labor, installation labor, canada-sourced oem parts markup, and frequent recharges all get crazy expensive if you're leaning on somebody else to 'fix' your a/c just enough to get it running for awhile. There's a ton of stuff going on in an a/c system, and everything has to be working right for it to be useful and dependable.īest to know that every component is working as new and has been systematically and correctly installed and set up by your own hand.

Granted my a/c was getting pretty beaten up, and bled out 3 times in 3 years, but you could do diagnoses on any old system until the cows come home and still miss something that eventually causes poor operation, or a slow leak requiring an annual recharge, or the compressor to seize up. I assume the parts are slightly smaller and cheaper on the Escape as well, and are all available through RockAuto. At the 6 year mark I'd do the same with an Escape too, assuming the parts are at least as accessible on it.

Having swapped out every a/c component myself on my truck this spring (except the in-dash expander) and then just getting a recharge at the stealership I've had great results since. My question is does it have to be Ford or can some of the AC specialty shops access the computer and do just as good a job? The next step is to Ford so they can access the computer or something close to that. A very competent mechanic looked at it, replaced the safety switch, read the codes etc but couldn't fix the problem.

Dashexpander