tank1949

When my wife told me this, I gritted my teeth. Her friend needed AC repairs on a Saturn. HER tech told her that her complete AC system had been contaminated and she needed a total replacement, at over $4000. This seems preposterous. Contaminated with what???? Nuclear waste????

tech2

if the system was charged with a "can fill" ie cocktail refrigerant by some dude in his driveway...it no longer can be recovered by professionals as the cocktail refrigerant will contaminate and possible damage their $6000 equipment (contaminate for sure, damaged if the fill has sealer in it).
unfortunately, that is what happens when she gets backyarders who don't know what they are doing to work on the ac system. so now she has to continue with can fill cocktail which is very inaccurate.

tech2

most shops don't have containers they can recover to waste and they "legally" can't discharge to air. so if she found a way to evacuate the system to change the bad or leaking part....then can fill it and yr done.

tank1949

She doesn't have a do-it-yourself person. Only legitimate shops repaired her car. I would have seeked a 2nd opinion. If you are suggesting that you should not refill AC with the correct R refrigeration purchased from Autopart stores, I have don't that for decades. Perhaps I misunderstood you?

mountainmanjoe

https://technician.academy/when-the-ac-fails/

tech2

modern ac machines have refrigerant identifiers...they sample what is in the system and if it registers a cocktail refrigerant it won't recover the charge. This what happened and hence the quote. Somewhere along the line someone charged this thing with a can. Any can fill from an autopart store is a cocktail blend and is not what professional get when they buy a 20lb tank of refrigerant...yes, i know the "can" says r134a but its a blend.

tank1949

Thanks!!!!

510man

It may have suffered Black Death where all components need replacing. May be cheaper to replace hose than clean them. All other parts are replaced since you can't clean them appropriately.

I've owned several Saturn's. I recall replacing the evaporator involved pulling the dash on many models. The the $4k cost may be in the labor. It also may be a super uplift because the shop doesn't want to do the work. "We'll do it if you pay us stupid money."

I'd get a second opinion and also post on the Saturnfans forum to find out if the dash has to be removed.