Hi my wife has a 98 dodge Durango with the 5.2 I have an issue somewhere in the a/c. I have really cold air in the back but the front is not cold at all. It blows really well its just not cold. I pulled the dash and checked the blend air door and they seem to be working. I mean they move up and down when I turn the dials. Not sure what is considered open or closed. I used a recharge kit and still nothing? I can hear the compressor kick on as well. Please help me out. Jon

 

not sure if this truck uses a orfice tube or txv for metering refrigerant. I would feel the inlet and outlet hoses near the ot/txv. With the system running, the inlet should be hot and outlet cold. this tells you the ot/txv is working properly and the problem may be an air distribution problem or air flow problem through the evaporator.
if the temp is the same at the pipes in/out of the txv/ot; the tube may be plugged or the txv stuck closed

 

I was told by O'Riley auto parts that this truck does not have an orfice tube. What is a txv?

 

It's an expansion valve (txv). It's mounted against the firewall on the passengers side. Just follow the a/c lines. Just be very careful with the screws if you're removing it. Some genius decided it was a good idea to use steel screws in aluminum, and if they break off you're either in for some creative fabrication like I had to do, or replacing the evaporator.

 

Ok and what if it is still charged with freon. Is that all gonna cone spraying out

 

Yes it will if you open it. The correct way to deal with that is to have a shop recover the refrigerant, but there are "other" ways such as cracking open a fitting when noone's looking. You're going to have to pull a vacuum on the system after replacing the part and then recharge it. Both of those require a manifold gauge set to do properly.