Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General General Contour Air Conditioning

By the way, have whomever you take it to check the accumulator for leaks.

The AC on my '95 died and kept loosing the charge, turned out that the accumulator was leaking.

There's an insulating wrapper on it and I suspect it traps condensation causing the accumulator to corrode/rust. The fix should be to rip it off. It's located under/near the battery if you want to look, it's a cylinder about the size of a soda can.

Brian

If you need suggestions to find a reputable shop:

http://cartalk.cars.com/About/Garage/intro.html

It's called the MechanXFiles..

Brian

Exactly! Did they give you anything in writing that states this supposed conversion from R-12 to R-134a?? If so, you may be able to screw them even harder

Just remember this site if you have any other questions or problems. There are some really knowledgeable people on this site. I really wonder if some of them work in the auto repair business.

D Davis,
Yes, they actually hand wrote the conversion of R12 to R134. First they gave me a joke of an estimate, not really an estimate, it basically told me what was wrong with the ac, not what needed to be fixed. So, I had them fax me part #'s, hours of labor etc.. Well, the service advisor hand wrote, labor, $548, parts $750, which includes converting your ac from R12 to R134. I wrote a long letter to Ford, I will fax it to Stillwater Ford, and then the Customer Relations people at Ford. I will fax all 3 copies that the service advisor faxed me as well.

My car is still in the shop. They guy working on it said he was waiting for a new diode, so he can test the ac compressor. He said Ford disconnected alot of wires and left them disconnected. He also thinks they weren't able to test it to begin with. I will know more about what needs to be fixed, by Monday at the latest.

LOL - between the Contour's quirks, being and enthusiast and Ford's (lack of) service, you almost have to become one if you have a thin wallet.

ContourGirl: I hope you get some results. Him putting it in writing would seem to be the proverbial "nail on the head". Teach that mo-fo a lesson if ya can

I just ripped the insulating wrapper off the accumulator on my '96. It took all of about 2 minutes, you can reach up from under the car and just tear it in half, then wiggle it out.

Two things of note:

1)There were rust stains on it (hmm....)

2)It cools just as well without it.

Based on those two things I'd highly recommend removing it!

Brian

If it's already rusted, do u need to replace the accumulator?????

They're either scheisters that are trying to pull a fast one because she's a she or they're the dumbest Ford mechanics ever!

If it's rusted to the point where it's leaking...which will be obvious because your AC will stop working when the r134a charge gets too low.

Brian