Q&A

 Rookie

My 2004 Ford Explorer, 95,000 miles has AC problems. It has front and rear AC. This past summer it would not blow cold. In July the dealer replaced the valve on the compressor saying there was a leak that showed after they put dye in the system. The AC worked for 2 months and blew cold air. Then after 2 months, no cold air. Now the dealer tells me there are leaks on both rear AC lines and it will cost almost $800 to fix. They say the parts are about $350, it will be 3 hours of labor, and then recharging the AC. They say that the repressurization from the first fix probably caused the leaks in the rear AC. It is now Nov. and I don't need the AC but I want to see if there is a cheaper way to fix it. Does anyone know if this is a relatively easy job for a good automechanic (NOT the FORD dealer) who does AC repair?