The AC in my 2003 GMC Denali SUV appears to be on the fritz. When I use the controls to turn on the AC it blows as usual but a I get no cold air. I checked the AC compressor fuses and they are all good.
Does this mean it needs refrigerant or what? Is adding refrigerant going to be expensive?
Refrigerant itself won’t be that expensive. However, it may be the compressor. If that’s dying, it is rather expensive to replace.
My '03 S-10’s is going and given its age, I doubt if I’ll replace it before trading vehicles for that reason.
GaryT or Rick will probably be able to be more specific as to the possibilities and cost.
I’m not very knowledgeable about automotive stuff, but if it’s only 6 years old, hopefully the compressor didn’t fail. First thing I’d try is taking to a dealership to drain/replace the refrigerant. About 10 years ago I remember a local auto place offering to drain/replace the stuff for around $40-60, the price may have changed since then.
This is nowhere near enough info to determine anything. Lack of refrigerant is the most common, but certainly not the only, cause of no cooling. Recharging the refrigerant is usually not expensive, but if it’s lost refrigerant, it has a leak. To rectify that involves leak-testing, then repairing whatever is leaking. That can get expensive. But the bottom line is some inspection and/or testing is necessary to identify why it’s not cooling.
Engine coolant (anitfreeze mixture) is drained, A/C refrigerant (“freon”) is not. While it can be recovered when the system has to be opened (to replace some component), that’s usually not necessary for simply recharging.
'Gotta agree with what’s already been said. If you’re lucky, it’s just a coolant leak; if you’ve really done something to offend the Juju Gods, it’s the condenser/compressor and you should be prepared to shell out some serious green.
Just had a very similar situation on my 2003 Camry, turned out to be a refrigerant leak, unfortunately, the leak was on the condenser side of a fitting, so the whole condenser had to be replaced, fortunately, the extented warranty was still in force, so the bill came out to be $117.00, the service manager hinted that without the warranty, it would have been around $1,000.00.
If it was covered under the warranty, why’d you have to pay for it at all?
It was an extended warranty (privately purchased insurance, with a deductible), not a factory warranty.
It’s gotten more expensive since then, I guess due to restrictions on freon etc.
My Caravan wound up needing a new compresser at about 3.5 years old, and a new condensor at about 5.5 (we limped along for about 2 years before doing that repair, by having the freon topped off several times). I may have the order of the repairs switched (as in condensor at 3.5, compresser later).
Anyway - have a qualified shop look at it. I’d say that if the freon has gotten low, it means something’s wrong that needs to be fixed, and a top-off will be temporary at best.
Forgot to say - each of those was on the order of 2-3K dollars. It turns out A/C was a known problem with Caravans (and other Chryslers) of that car’s vintage, but Chrysler wasn’t giving any relief to Caravan owners - I heard they were giving some help to other models. It’s the single reason I will never own another Chrysler product.
You can try to recharge it. The coolant + hose would be about $10 to $15. If you are lucky, then the A/C will work until it leaks again. If it is a slow enough leak, then $10 to $15 every month or so would be better than paying for a new condensor/whatever. That is a poor man’s “fix” that I used for over 2 years before…
[correction]Not coolant, refrigerant. Coolant is in the engine and helps keep it from melting. Refrigerant is in the A/C system and helps keep you cool.[/correction]
Just wanted to chime in to say that while the new refrigerant, R-134a, is less hostile to the environment than the old “freon” stuff, it’s still damaging and not something that should just be used wily-nilly. There is a reason that dealers recapture the stuff when testing your system, and it’s not to save on the cost of a measly can of R-134a. They are required to by the government.
Recharging your car every few months may save you money, but is not environmentally responsible.
I had a similar issue in my old car. I couldn’t get cool air at all, either just with regular vents or AC because a part of the temperature selector switch (I think it was a vacuum switch or something) was broken. Good thing summers up here are so short. It was great in the winter, and in the summer I just rolled the windows down. It was fixable, but I just never bothered.
Assuming, your vehicle is beyond the warranty period, I’d suggest an A/C shop vs. a dealer. Chances are you’ll get it repaired less expensively.