Hi,

I'm in need of some help

I have a 2004 Freestar that appears to be leaking A/C coolant from the left rear of the vehicle. I went to my local mechanic over the weekend, and they were able to pinpoint the leak to a specific hose/area as pictured in the attached photograph.

Today I went to the dealer in hopes that I would be able to order the replacement part that is needed to stop the leak, however the dealer provided me with a diagram (which i have attached to this post) that lists a variety of parts which are associated with the Auxiliary Heater Hoses. As one would expect, the dealer demands that I specify the exact part that needs to be ordered.

I would be grateful if one of the experts on this forum could tell me which part no. from the diagram relates to the leaking part encircled in the photograph.

 

From looking at the picture, I would suspect that you just have a breached O-Ring. Before ordering an expensive line, I would recover the A/C charge, clean up the fitting area with a small wire brush. Then I would break both lines loose and unscrew the fittings and inspect the fittings and O-Rings. If all looks OK, I would then install new O-Rings coated with some clean refrigerant oil and put some NO-OX on the threads. Hook up a vacuum pump and pull a vacuum of 29.9" Hg. R-134 systems are particularly susceptible to moisture contamination which can only be prevented by evacuating the system for a minimum of 30 min after attaining a minimum 29.9" Hg vacuum. On vehicles with AUX A/C, I normally pull the vacuum for 1 hour after reaching 29.9" Hg. I use a 6 CFM vacuum pump. Then I close the gauges yellow line valve and shut the pump down. Then I make sure that the vacuum holds for 1 hour. Since you will be opening your system up, I recommend you replace the accumulator/dryer including new O-Rings.

 

Thank you very much for the insightful advice. I will pass it on to my mechanic and let you know whether or not the issue was resolved.