Air Con failure

[drtack]

Brought my RAM 2015 Outdoorsman into the "stealership" today due to the air conditioner not working. Ended up paying $1,000 for a condensor, freon recharge, and labor. How the hell does a aircon cost $1,000 to repair?? Holy ****!! Can someone explain why the cost is so high??

 

[pedersen_tim]

Those machines are pretty expensive and you have to properly handle the refrigerant because its bad for the earth. Theres epa regulations and stuff like that too. They pull out all of the old freon and oil then run a vacuum test on it, find what ever was leaking, replace that, run vacuum again then recharge.

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[Pull Ya]

The price for the "new" Freon is even higher--I hate to say it but your lucky
Jay

 

[Tach_tech]

A/C repair has always been on the higher side for repairs, especially if your system uses the R1234yf refrigerant.

 

[15 Handicap]

$500-$600 for condenser, $100-$150 for a drier/receiver ,$150 for refrigerant and labor.

 

[crash68]

If your '15 has the 8 spd transmission, the top part of the AC condenser is the transmission cooler also

 

[drtack]

I'm dissapointed that the frickin AC condensor would develop a leak in the 1st place. I only have 44,000 miles on the truck. Must be cheap manufacturing. Possibly made out of tin foil. Couldn't the leak be fixed without replacing the entire unit? I guess not if it's made out of tin foil.

 

[drtack]

The labor was $400, the rest was condensor and recharge of 1,2,3,4YF

 

[Tach_tech]

It may not have been the condenser, there’s a pretty common leak with the plug on the bottom of the accumulator, which is attached to the condenser. They recently came out with a repair kit, that has a new plug, updated o-ring and a new bag of desiccant.

 

[drtack]

The repair report indicated a small leak on the lower left side of condensor, but who knows, they decide to change entire unit anyway. The entire repair took 4 hrs to complete. 3.5 if they took a lunch break.

 

[Tach_tech]

The repair report indicated a small leak on the lower left side of condensor, but who knows, they decide to change entire unit anyway. The entire repair took 4 hrs to complete. 3.5 if they took a lunch break.

Probably that plug then, it’s on the lower left side of the condenser.

 

[Aces and 8s]

Well your first mistake was going to the dealer. $400 for labor is quite a bit, which either indicates a high labor rate at the dealer or a good fleecing on the labor time.

The OEM condenser is going to be expensive. A just as suitable aftermarket unit would run about $110 to $150. Labor should have been about an hour to an hour and a half, plus time for the evac and recharge of the freon. Depending on how bad the leak was and how much freon was in the system, you should only be paying for the ounces needed to fill the system back up. R134A is inexpensive, at most $2 an ounce. 1234YF on the otherhand can be up to $10 an ounce.

Honestly any competent independent shop could of done the job for 50-60% less than the dealer charged.

Keep in mind though too, non warranty work at a dealership is ALWAYS negotiable. Fight them on parts prices and labor times. If they don't play ball go somewhere else.

Source: former Dodge technician, current warranty claims administrator.

 

[meedom]

Is it the evaporator that you have to take the whole dash out to get to??

 

[Scottly]

Is it the evaporator that you have to take the whole dash out to get to??

Yes.

 

[drtack]

My first mistake was buying a RAM,
Of course I know your going to pay more at the dealer but I didn't expect the dealer to commit fraud in stating that the condensor was leaking so they had to replace the entire condensor. I expected a minor repair when I brought it in after all it's a 2015 with only 44,00 miles. Obviously it was only the plug on the lower left bottom that was leaking because who ever heard of a condenser corroding or developing a leak so soon. The dealers will conduct a full blown parts replacement repair as if though they are performing a warranty fix since thats what they do is warranty work all the time anyway. The 2 independent shops I contacted for quotes stated that they don't work with the 1,2,3,4 YF so I'd have to bring it to the dealer for a recharge anyway.

 

[pedersen_tim]

My first mistake was buying a RAM,
Of course I know your going to pay more at the dealer but I didn't expect the dealer to commit fraud in stating that the condensor was leaking so they had to replace the entire condensor. I expected a minor repair when I brought it in after all it's a 2015 with only 44,00 miles. Obviously it was only the plug on the lower left bottom that was leaking because who ever heard of a condenser corroding or developing a leak so soon. The dealers will conduct a full blown parts replacement repair as if though they are performing a warranty fix since thats what they do is warranty work all the time anyway. The 2 independent shops I contacted for quotes stated that they don't work with the 1,2,3,4 YF so I'd have to bring it to the dealer for a recharge anyway.

Thats what everyone is going to now days anyway. Ram isnt the only one using the new stuff.

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[marininn]

Sorry to hear you went to stealership.
No idea why they wanted to replace everything when just one thing "needed" replacing, obvious they are not able to diagnosis the issue if it was the plug, or they just wanted to **** you.
The only reason to replace everything is if compressor blew up or something happened to contaminate the system with debris that cannot be cleaned out - which was not their claim.
Your neighbor could have replaced the condenser, is the easiest things to replace.
Cheapest too at about $80-$100.
I am replacing condenser, compressor,drier and one line on my 98, and it will set me back about $250 in parts. Tool rental is free.
Same parts at stealership would be over $600. That's the reason AC repair is expensive. By using expensive parts then the labor is a smaller percentage of the total.

 

[Aces and 8s]

My first mistake was buying a RAM,
Of course I know your going to pay more at the dealer but I didn't expect the dealer to commit fraud in stating that the condensor was leaking so they had to replace the entire condensor. I expected a minor repair when I brought it in after all it's a 2015 with only 44,00 miles. Obviously it was only the plug on the lower left bottom that was leaking because who ever heard of a condenser corroding or developing a leak so soon. The dealers will conduct a full blown parts replacement repair as if though they are performing a warranty fix since thats what they do is warranty work all the time anyway. The 2 independent shops I contacted for quotes stated that they don't work with the 1,2,3,4 YF so I'd have to bring it to the dealer for a recharge anyway.

I wouldn't say buying a RAM was a mistake. AC concerns can happen on any vehicle and any OE dealer will charge an arm and leg. Just the nature of the beast. But if the condenser is actually leaking then it's leaking and needs to be replace. Stop leak is trash and I would never personally recommend it to be used but for a temporary fix.

 

[doubleM]

Mine has fan speeds that work but only cool air at lowest setting, sounds like the vents are "blocked" at higher fan settings. Any ideas? Does that gate just need to be lubed?

 

[ultivssl]

I actually just took my 2018 RAM 1500 in due to its AC not working. The work order referenced a TSB, TSB24-010-18. It covers replacing the condenser plug at the bottom there. Mine was all covered under warranty, so didn't pay attention to the hours, but doubt it was too much.

Sorry to hear about your poor service. I now refuse to go to one dealer in my city to get any service work done there. Trying to get them to reference their own TSB's is worse than pulling teeth.