Last Month my son sent his 92 Firebird in for an engine overhaul. It's an LO3 were pretty happy with the rebuild but
now the AC doesn't cool anymore and I spent good money not two months before to have the AC system checked out and recharged and it was working before they took the engine out for the rebuild. The guy tells my Son that the AC is a totally seperate system and that it couldn't have been their fault. I think he is full of it. The way they take engines out pulling and pushing stuff aside to get at things I bet it is quite possible they could have caused the AC system to get a leak. Am I wrong in thinking this. Please post up and let me know if I am wrong about this.

 

I'm no expert, but I'm sure it's possible they might have messed something up since it's right there in the way of everything. Though it's goin to be tough to prove it. What exactly is the problem with it?

Mines removed, too much trouble.

 

The Fan and everything works it's just the air comming out isn't cold anymore. It just really ticks me off that I spent around $150.00 out here in California to have that system working and I know it was working before he took it in for the rebuild because he would always drive with the AC on that way the Fan for the Radiator would be running so the engine would stay cool. The temp sensor in the block needed replaced and I was too lazy to get up under there and fix that for him. Now we have that fan hard wired so that whenever the car is running the fan is on.

 

Its entirely possible that moving things around caused a leak. Anytime you disturb something things change. Especially when o-rings get tweaked around.

Is it his fault? I wouldnt think so. The a/c has to be moved to remove the motor. He tried to save you money by doing it without taking the a/c down. If you have to take it down now to change the o-rings you'll only be out the money he tried to save you. It's just part of having a car worked on. He took a chance and lost. Not much else that could have been done about it.

Now if he bent or broke something thats different. That would be his problem and he needs to make it right.

 

He's full of it. When I did my first engine swap, I managed to damage one of the hoses to the compressor. I think the fact that we just moved the compressor around too much while getting the engine in and out caused at least one of the hoses to rupture. Another possibilty is that the mechanic was a complete moron and unhooked the compressor when he took it off the engine.

 

I think if you actually risked having a mechanic pull, rebuild, and replace your motor, and all thats wrong is the AC lost it's charge, consider yourself extreamly lucky and move on.

For the sake of argument, it is possible to have a slow leak in the AC system. Such that it would work when you had it done but not 2 months later.

 

any comptetent mechanic would not have damaged the A/C.

the only thing that needs to be moved is the compressor...its 3 lousy bolts, and then just tie it out of the way with rope, that easy.
I dont see how he could have caused it to leak, unless he did something dumb like unbolt one of the lines, but bieng an engine mechanic, I would think he would not have done something that lame.

hell, im an incompetent mechanic and my a/c worked just fine after pulling the motor 2 times.

 

It's possible that he dischared the a/c and just didn't refill it.

 

Have it recharged, have them put some leak dye in it, soon as it stops working again, have them look for the leak.

 

Is the system charged? one way to tell is to turn it on, if the compressor clutch engages and starts turning then it has enough of a charge to at least engage the clutch because of the low and high side switches. Usually people have to drain the ac to replace an engine, unless he just pushed the compressor off to the side.

 

I changed my engine, and than removed it again and did an overhaul on it without disconnecting any a/c componants and it still works fine. Dose the compressor cycle on and off once evry couple of seconds or dose it run all the time? if it cycles your low on freon and if it keeps on running the freon is at the correct level and you have a diffrent problem. see if the accumulator(silver cannister thing on the pass. side) is cold if it is your A/C is working and your vent box may not be opening.

 

As a mechanic that has done a ton of engine removal and re-installs on all kinds of different vehicles with A/C, yes sometimes they will spring a small leak around a seal when you locate the compressor to the side when you dont want to empty the system.

Usually this seal will seal itself back up once the oil in the system gets cycling again, its possible yours did not.

When I do an engine job like that, I usually will give the customer a heads up in the fact that when you disturb stuff that isnt made to move around, it might have a problem with the seal. They then have a chance to have me charge them for drain and re-fill. I can also drain and put back their original freon.

My rule is always check the A/C system before messing with and engine/radiator, anything that might have to do with the system, I check and make sure it works. I dont know how many times Ive had people come in and say "my A/C doesnt work ever since you did blah blah". And I have no proof it didnt.

Is it possible he messed something up?...anything is possible.

Is it necc. his fault? Not always.

It is also possible that the system had a small leak that went undetected till just now....it was empty before you had it re filled, right?

If it worked when it left his shop, how was he to know?

Dont get me wrong here...Im not automatically taking his side on this..im just saying he may or may not have known if it ever worked or it might have worked when it left.

Then again, he might be full of sh*t.

I have more jobs that dont need a fix after Ive moved them around than I do ones that have problems.

 

Its very possible that the leak was there before you took the car in for rebuild or even there before you had it recharged. A tiny leak can take a long time to discharge the A/C. And the leaks can sometimes be very hard to find. I don't believe its the mechanics fault at all, unless a line was broke or kinked. You'll just have to find out why it doesn't work and then make your assumptions.

 

Someone mentioned sonething above, but make sure the compressor is actually cycling...could be as simple as wiring to the compressor.

 

#1. He/she couldn't be FULL of shìt. That would leave no space for air, and would preclude the possibility of them drawing a breath to lie to you;

#2. There are other possibilities. If the compressor is not even cycling, the compressor high pressure safety switch may be unplugged, the low pressure safety in the accumulator may be unplugged, or the clutch connector may be unplugged. Of course, any of this wiring could also be damaged, cut, and/or shorted, taking out a fuse or causing an incomplete circuit.

#3. If you eliminate the other possibilities and suspect a leak, I would be tempted to return the car to the refrigeration shop that you used, explain the problem, and ask them to locate the leak (if it exists). Once the leak is identified, you can determine whether it was a slow leak or catastrophic one. A slow leak could mean that it was just a coincidence, and the refrigeration shop should make good on the repairs. A fast leak would indicate that your system was O.K. before the engine work, and that the leak was likely the result of the work. If they find no leak, but no regrigerant, you can presume that the rebuild mechanic may have vented the system, and he/she could be in deep "Do-Do" with the EPA. You could ask that they pay for the repairs in exchange for your silence (maybe not completely within the spirit of the law, but you'd only be doing something you learned in church).

Just a few suggestions.