My 1994 Dodge Dakota's AC stopped working and i'm scared to have someone look at it. Don't want to spend too much on it but I do live in Florida and A/C is a must. Any help and maybe tell me what you may have paid so I don't get ripped off?

I've got the 3.9 V6 btw.

 

Is this something that came on gradually, or did it work one day, and not the next? Does the compressor run at all?

 

On the passenger side of the engine compartment is the receiver/dryer. It has a switch on the side to shut the compressor off if the system gets low. Pull the plug off and jumper it with a iece of wire. If the compressor works, your pressure is low. It's supposed to do that. There are basic kits with a gauge to recharge the system. 1994 is when they went with R-134. The kit will only go on the low pressure port. Don't put all the can in, just enough to get the gauge reading right and the system working.

 

Well I inherited the vehicle this way. My uncle had it parked for a bit before passing and I've just started using it for fun recently. Sort of a project/learning car.

 

Then.

Time to find a competent shop.

OR.

Time to first pick up the factory service manual, then plan on finding the leak, and repairing it.

I'd plan, on a truck that old, to replace ALL the HVAC parts - condensor, evaporator, receiver/dryer, hoses, heater core (while the box is out for the evaporator), blower motor and resistor, compressor.

It's the only way to be certain you've gotten all the leaks.

RwP

 

Let me add ... due to the age of the truck, you MAY need to get the current hoses rebuilt by a hose shop.

They can do latest chemistry barrier hoses good for R12, R12a, R134a, or almost anything else (including the Duster Can hack).

New thermonic expansion valve is a given on a 87-95 (maybe earlier); by 1996, they'd switched to an orifice tube design, so a new orifice tube.

You may be able to borrow the gauges and vacuum pump; I own a set here due to having two old cars, and the stepson having three (!!) vehicles with A/C in them. Or that should have A/C *grins* The Astro is missing A/C and has been since before he bought it used; we have the parts, but need to get in there and reassemble it.

A good A/C is wonderful in these trucks; R12 and supposedly R12a make it chill in almost no time flat, but even R134a with R12 plumbing is nice in Louisiana in the summer.

RwP

 

I'm in Florida and my AC hasn't worked in 10 years. You get used to it.

 

That helps out a lot, thanks. Idk why I didn't think of it sooner lol