..................and if you highside checked you would know that instantly..............you realize of course that is the standard answer to pretty much every a/c problem now, just like needing a new transmission is the pat answer to 70% of all ATX issues. The guys there now take full advantage of the lack of knowledge by the rank and file, often the problems can be cured by lower levels of work but they seek the all or nothing jobs that fill profits a $1000 bill at a time. I have fixed several a/cs and ATX that needed 'entire rebuilds' by simply fixing what's wrong for like $25-50 at a whack. It amuses me greatly to take the car to be looked at by people that do that work so that I can feel better about all the cash I save. I fixed one ATX with a thirty cent washer put in a strategic spot to stop two gears from slipping badly. Trans still working some 20 years later. I've saved condenser leak by stuffing the hole with epoxy, a/c still running now years later. I rebuild the compressors myself. I even rebuild the clutches by buying bearing only and refacing the magnetic flats by hand with a file. You can get a working clutch up and running for like $35 that way, last one I did was several years ago and still works fine.
