(unconfirmed) Source of AC Evap Failures Possibly Identified [POLL]

[louierg]

So, my car is back now, blowing nice, cold air as it should. By now we all know the evaporator is a faulty design, but little has been said about how it's failing.

Talking to friends at the dealership, It seems this won't be limited to the Mustang. There's a new design of evaporator they're using across the lineup. In older designs, the AC system has one of many temperature probes located in the ductwork. The recent design puts this probe in the aluminum housing of the evaporator core.

Now, I don't know the specifics of what the probe's housing is made of, but it seems that where the probe housing is screwed into the core, this is causing the coolant leak. I'm speculating that the probe housing is make from steel or some other metal that is not expanding and contracting at the same rate as the aluminum evaporator core, thus leaking.

So far, there is no TSB. But, since this design is used in multiple Ford products, I expect one is coming. I do not expect a recall, as it's not a safety issue.

There's also no word either that this new evaporator core we're getting is an improved design (unless someone can chase part numbers) or is the same faulty design that will fail again in the future.

[MENTION=7992]FordService[/MENTION] Are you watching all of these issues? Is there something else you can tell us? Feel free to search this forum, there's well over half a dozen different threads covering at least a dozen owners reporting this problem. I'll even add a poll for people to tally.

My Mustang was three months out of warranty and had 20000 miles on it when diagnosed with evap leak. I have possession of the failed evap. Seems like from here the problem could be more than diagnosed. Have had dealer discount with cost, but a thousand dollars for three months out and twenty thousand miles combined with Ford thumbing its nose at me sucks. Had same kind of loss, cam lobe wear to 1995 Mustang. Sucks times two.

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[GT Pony]

My Mustang was three months out of warranty and had 20000 miles on it when diagnosed with evap leak. I have possession of the failed evap.

Can you see any obvious cracks on the evaporator or the fittings on it?

 

[louierg]

Hmmm... this has me a bit worried for multiple reasons. For now, mine appears to be working ok. I bought my car in February 2015 and have been daily driving it every day. I'm nearing 30,000 miles so I definitely don't want to have to deal with a failure after warranty, especially if it's a crappy design that's known to fail.

Interestingly, over the weekend, I had the A/C running and was listening to music at medium volume. I started hearing this weird noise. Kind of like an intermittent sighing. It happened a few times back to back. I thought it was in the music but when I turned it down, it was still there. Sounded like it was coming from behind/under the dash area. I turned the system off and then back on and it seemed to disappear.

For now the A/C seems to be working ok still but I'm definitely getting worried. I can't imagine what the dealership would charge to replace this off warranty. Hopefully if there is in fact a TSB, it will extend warranty coverage (not sure if this is typical or is done on a case by case basis).

2015 Mustang bought 2/17/15. 5/18 and 20000 miles later diagnosed with evap leak. $2000 bill Thus paid an extra $.50 per mile to know I have a Ford Mustang on the road.

 

[louierg]

Can you see any obvious cracks on the evaporator or the fittings on it?

Not skilled enough to examine and find results. Plan to have it inspected. I would like to know the problem.

 

[GT Pony]

Not skilled enough to examine and find results. Plan to have it inspected. I would like to know the problem.

If you find out, please post the results.

 

[packick]

I think my mechanic has found the reason why my 2015 GT has been losing A/C coolant (refrigerant).

In August of 2018 I experienced hot air coming out of the driver's side vents, and warm air coming out the passenger side vents. So I took my GT to my regular mechanic and he determined the A/C refrigerant was pretty much gone. He checked the system for leaks and there were none. He then added new refrigerant and the A/C system worked great until . . .

this month, May 2019, when I experienced the same symptoms with the A/C. Again my mechanic tested the system for leaks (again there were none) and then added more refrigerant. But this time he noticed that the dust caps that screw on over the two Schrader valves that are used to add the refrigerant have a 'prong” in the middle of the caps He believes that when the cap is tightened down tight, that prong is pushing ever so slightly on the Schrader valve, thus causing a slow leak, draining the system over the months.

So he added dye to the refrigerant, loosely put the caps back on, had me drive the car around for a couple of weeks with the A/C always on, then return to his shop to see if any dye had leaked out. There was no dye present around the Schrader valves this time and the system works great. I will really know whether this was the problem about 9 months from now.

Moral of the story. Don't tighten down the caps over the Schrader valves.

 

[Deleted member 35786]

I think my mechanic has found the reason why my 2015 GT has been losing A/C coolant (refrigerant).

In August of 2018 I experienced hot air coming out of the driver's side vents, and warm air coming out the passenger side vents. So I took my GT to my regular mechanic and he determined the A/C refrigerant was pretty much gone. He checked the system for leaks and there were none. He then added new refrigerant and the A/C system worked great until . . .

this month, May 2019, when I experienced the same symptoms with the A/C. Again my mechanic tested the system for leaks (again there were none) and then added more refrigerant. But this time he noticed that the dust caps that screw on over the two Schrader valves that are used to add the refrigerant have a 'prong” in the middle of the caps He believes that when the cap is tightened down tight, that prong is pushing ever so slightly on the Schrader valve, thus causing a slow leak, draining the system over the months.

So he added dye to the refrigerant, loosely put the caps back on, had me drive the car around for a couple of weeks with the A/C always on, then return to his shop to see if any dye had leaked out. There was no dye present around the Schrader valves this time and the system works great. I will really know whether this was the problem about 9 months from now.

Moral of the story. Don't tighten down the caps over the Schrader valves.

Sounds great and hopefully that is the case. But my money is still on a leaking evaporator behind your dash...
Save your money!

 

[808muscle]

Took my 16GT 8500 miles in for the evaporator fix. Dealer had for 3 days only to find out the replacement part failed. Finally got my car back after 8 days. Lets hope the fix works as I only have 6 months left of warranty.

 

[GT Pony]

Took my 16GT 8500 miles in for the evaporator fix. Dealer had for 3 days only to find out the replacement part failed. Finally got my car back after 8 days. Lets hope the fix works as I only have 6 months left of warranty.

The new part should have a 1 year warranty from Ford. Not sure if they only cover the part, or both parts and labor.

 

[dpetrore]

Just got my 2016 back from the dealer, they couldnt find any leaks, filled the system, added dye, and now I have it back to drive for a few days,and then they will check for leaks again!!

 

[jrsimon27]

Just got my 2016 back from the dealer, they couldnt find any leaks, filled the system, added dye, and now I have it back to drive for a few days,and then they will check for leaks again!!

If they cant find the leaks its the evaporator core for sure.

 

[dpetrore]

Picked the car up today. Was told they cant find the leak, drive it for another week, then bring it back. I asked twice if they checked the evaporator for leaks and they told me they inspected the entire system and cant find any leaks!!

 

[GT Pony]

Picked the car up today. Was told they cant find the leak, drive it for another week, then bring it back. I asked twice if they checked the evaporator for leaks and they told me they inspected the entire system and cant find any leaks!!

They must have sent "Ant-Man" inside the dash board with a black light - lol.

 

[jrsimon27]

Picked the car up today. Was told they cant find the leak, drive it for another week, then bring it back. I asked twice if they checked the evaporator for leaks and they told me they inspected the entire system and cant find any leaks!!

Take it to another dealer its imposible that they inspect the whole system without taking out the dashboard.

 

[Deleted member 35786]

Picked the car up today. Was told they cant find the leak, drive it for another week, then bring it back. I asked twice if they checked the evaporator for leaks and they told me they inspected the entire system and cant find any leaks!!

Did you show them this? I would think they have it in their system for a proper diagnosis.
https://ford.oemdtc.com/3936/poor-air-conditioning-a-c-performance-2015-2017-ford-mustang

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