MACS Service Reports - 2016 - SEP1

Total Vehicle Climate and Thermal ManagementTM

September 2016

By Paul Weissler, MACS Senior Technical Correspondent

THE REPAIR PART YOU CAN'T GET
Further, car dealers may simply decide something similar,
that is, from an inventory turnover standpoint, they stock complete assemblies only, because that way you can fulfill a higher
percentage of parts requests.
Many aftermarket parts suppliers, particularly when they
note a high pattern failure that is traced to detail parts, will decide to source and distribute them. So as an A/C specialist you
should check with those A/C parts suppliers and see what they
can do. If you get to a MACS trade show, you'll often see some
of these companies and the specialty parts they offer. And we do
find that some aftermarket evaporator suppliers will be able to
deliver a unit that will fit into the case if you can justify cutting
it to get out the leaking one. The only obvious hitch is that the
evaporator might be an older design that simply is the "closest
to a fit" choice in its line, rather than anything close to an OE
duplicate. So if you're in a very hot or hot/humid area, it might
not match the OE in peak performance - something to keep
in mind. So the savings had better be really significant for the
motorist. (Fig. 1)

Paul Weissler

It doesn't happen often, but we do hear periodically about an
A/C system failure that involves the need for a cheap small part
that you just can't get. Probably it occurs more than occasionally, and over the years we've written about the issue of getting
"detail parts."
One reason you can't get them is that the component supplier just doesn't make them available. An orifice tube in the
condenser outlet is often an example. As far as the supplier is
concerned, that's just a "part in assembly," and he doesn't call it
out. The car maker will note its existence, for sure, as it means he
doesn't have to find another place to install it, or for that matter
pay extra for it as a detail part.
At the manufacturer's level, we see many "part in assembly"
issues. In the past we've discussed a number of them. One is the
orifice tube in the condenser, with no other availability, so if you
want the O/T, you have to buy a condenser assembly (a common issue with some Nissan models). Of course, the usual reason for needing an orifice tube is that the existing one is plugged
with debris, and tracing the root cause almost invariably leads
to a compressor replacement and debris also is likely to have
plugged the condenser. So unless you can flush the debris from
the condenser, the issue of O/T availability may be moot.
Another, covered in the February 2015 edition, involves availability on some Ford products of the evaporator packaged in a
sealed HVAC case, and only that complete assembly available
from the manufacturer. Sometimes it comes down to what is
chosen as the most economical way to service a major component, or the most reliable way if the evaporator case is sonicwelded and requires cutting apart and re-welding to install a
new evaporator.

Figure 1: This old serpentine evaporator might fit into a number of larger
HVAC cases, particularly with a spacer or two, but it probably won't
match the performance of a new design.

ALSO INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
Other Detail Parts ............................................................................................................................................................................... 3
It Should Be Obvious ........................................................................................................................................................................ 3
Hey, This One Is Apparent, Or Is It? .............................................................................................................................................. 5
Another Intermittent A/C - This Time Hyundai ......................................................................................................................... 7
And One More - On A Kia ................................................................................................................................................................ 8
"Has To Be A Bad Connection, Right?" Well Maybe Not ........................................................................................................ 8
MACS Service Reports is the official technical publication of the
Mobile Air Conditioning Society Worldwide, Inc., P.O. Box 88,
Lansdale, PA 19446. The material published in MACS Service
Reports expresses the views of the contributors and not necessarily that of MACS. Every attempt has been made to ensure

September 2016

the accuracy of the content of MACS Service Reports. MACS,
however, will not be responsible for the accuracy of the information published nor will MACS Worldwide be liable in any way for
injury, labor, parts or other expenses resulting from the use of
information appearing in MACS Service Reports.

MACS Service Reports

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of MACS Service Reports - 2016