Barbenae Posted September 5 Report Share Posted September 5 I had my Alternator replaced on 2007 Ford Edge. Right after I picked up my car & the AC would not blow cool air. I went back inside and reported the issue. The mechanic said it needed a new relay and replaced at no charge. Upon driving my car the next day the AC was intermittently cooling. I returned my car and the mechanic discovered shrader valves leaking. Replaced the Shrader valves. Charged system. Rechecked and found no leaks. There was a $621 fee for this repair (after replacing the alternator for $1211.15), My question is, could there be a link between replacing the alternator and subsequent AC leaks? Could the mechanic have damaged the AC lines/valves during the alternator replacement? Thank you for your help! Barbara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garycrist Posted September 6 Report Share Posted September 6 Hate to say it but, Shraders wear out. The primary seal is the cap! YIKES $621 for two bucks of Shraders and A/C service? Check your 1st. bill for a refrigerant charge. If so, then when it was recharged during the first service (alternator), one might argue the point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cerberus Posted September 6 Report Share Posted September 6 10 hours ago, garycrist said: Hate to say it but, Shraders wear out. The primary seal is the cap! YIKES $621 for two bucks of Shraders and A/C service? Check your 1st. bill for a refrigerant charge. If so, then when it was recharged during the first service (alternator), one might argue the point. I have never seen a high side port cap that could hold back over 150PSI.. so i'm gonna have to call BS on this one. Shraders do not wear out either. Why would they? Unless they are being opened and closed (slam shut under pressure) there is no reason for a valve that is not moving ever to wear out. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barbenae Posted September 6 Author Report Share Posted September 6 Thanks for your response. Yeah the Ford Dealership charged "$621 for two bucks of Shraders and A/C service". I don't know if the alternator replacement required a refrigerant charge. My first invoice states, the alternator was $464.40 and the labor was $561. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garycrist Posted September 6 Report Share Posted September 6 I am not going to get into a keyboard war. I would suggest one read up on the Shrader Valve. For the longest time all of the service port covers were made of metal. Some like GM, had a rubber seal on the High Side port cap. Fords and Chrysler products had brass.. I am sure that the seat material is probably Teflon based rather than Nitrile as in the past, thus requiring fewer replacements. I used to replace them on all my A/C services to reduce the probility of a come-backs due to less than a dollars worth of parts. I guess that A/C service has changed since Ford Certified me in Heating and Air Conditioning... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barbenae Posted September 10 Author Report Share Posted September 10 Well replacing the schrader valves for a charge of $621 did not fix my AC problem. The next time I drove the car when I turned on the AC it did not blow cold air. I turned off the AC and then turned it back on about 5 minutes later and it was blowing cold air. I'm at a loss as to what I need to do. After replacing the alternator as discussed previously, the AC is just not performing as it should. What could possibly be causing this? Help, please. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cerberus Posted September 10 Report Share Posted September 10 8 hours ago, Barbenae said: Well replacing the schrader valves for a charge of $621 did not fix my AC problem. The next time I drove the car when I turned on the AC it did not blow cold air. I turned off the AC and then turned it back on about 5 minutes later and it was blowing cold air. I'm at a loss as to what I need to do. After replacing the alternator as discussed previously, the AC is just not performing as it should. What could possibly be causing this? Help, please. intermittent failures are often challenging to trace down, and require as much information as possible. but just off the cuff, my first thought was the a/c clutch relay, or a loose connection at the compressor for the clutch also possible; software glitch/failure, loose ground, loose connection to a pressure sensor in the system if it were me, i'd bring it back to the guy who did the alternator and a/c service and say, i already paid you to fix this problem, which didn't start until you worked on the car, so fix it for free. but the likelihood that will turn out well is probably not great. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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