Hey everyone. Just joined about 3 minutes ago.
I have a 98 4X4 XLT Ranger with about 122k on it. This season I noticed my AC wasn't as cool as it seemed to be in the past. Went to the mechanic I use. Nice guy, not a real fancy shop, but does decent work. You know, trying to help a guy make a living.
Well, he figured I must have a leak etc... it's a long story so I won't go into it but the bottom line is AC still wasn't cool.
I went to different mechanic that has all the whistles and bells and he put some R134 in with dye. I'm supposed to go back next week so he can do the blacklight thing. AC seems pretty cool too.
Here's my question. When we were pumping out the refrigerant he noticed the heater hoses were very hot. Of course the temp control was totally in the blue. He said there wasn't any vacuum getting to the valve to shut it off and wire tied it shut. Heck, I don't know any better. I've since read on a couple of other forums that the valve will stay open except when the other control in on AC MAX. I don't think it was on that when he checked the valve for vacuum.
To shorten this up, is that what I'm reading? That the valve will only close on AC MAX and stays open on the rest of the positions even with the AC on? I guess this makes sense, since the AC can't really be controlled above 54 degrees or so except in the full vent and full floor positions. Sort of a bad design IMHO.
Does anyone know about this? I haven't searched the forum yet so apologize if the answer is already here.