I'm selling my '98 RAM Quad 4X4 in the FOR SALE forum. The A/C clutch is not engaging. A guy looking at my truck told me it was common in these, in that they develop a leak somewhere near the control panel. I assume he meant inside near the dash controls, but am not sure. Have any forum members heard of this common problem in Dodges? What exactly is the problem, the fix, and/or cost??

He also said that sometimes you can put in some stopleak, to correct it for a season. What product would that be? Thanks.

 

More common than not, it ends up being a blown or leaking ac evaporator core, witch yes, is located in the dash in the heater core box. If you suspect a leak in the system, have the ac system drained and recharged with a uv leak detection dye. Then run the ac for a month or so and then return and have the ac system checked out. The leak will show up with the uv dye. Its really hard to check the ac evaporator core, you get under the dash and pull out the blower motor relay and shine your uv light and mirror up inside and looks for the signs of the uv dye. if you see it the evap core is leaking.

 

I'll give you a little advice/info... It is very common for the evaps to leak on these trucks. I dont know if its a cheap coil or what but they are prone to develop leaks. Anyway, when I suspected mine I just did a quick check for leaks on the system. The good news is that all componets are easy to inspect for leaks on these trucks. You can easily see all the lines and condensor. If you dont see any obvious leaks ( via oily residue or dye) its going to be leaking in your evaporator. After I did a quick inspection and didnt see any obvious leaks I didnt even hesitate to start tearing my dash out. Sure enough it was the evap! I posted detailed instuctions on evap replacement under a/c evaporator replacement. But by all means make sure your not leaking anywhere else. BTW I would not recommend stop leak under any circumstances.... These trucks use an orifice tube and anytime you add something such as stop leak you are just asking for a blockage. DO IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME! Replace the evap or fix the leak.