Auto shop specializing in AC repair in SDC (Escondido, Poway: shops, stats)

[kbuhagiar]

Hello folks,

I'm looking for an automotive repair shop that specializes in AC repair, preferably near Mira Mesa or Escondido. Vehicle that needs service is a 2012 Ford Flex. I'm looking for alternatives besides a Ford dealership.

Any recommendations?

[phinneas j. whoopee]

Originally Posted by kbuhagiar

Hello folks,

I'm looking for an automotive repair shop that specializes in AC repair, preferably near Mira Mesa or Escondido. Vehicle that needs service is a 2012 Ford Flex. I'm looking for alternatives besides a Ford dealership.

Any recommendations?

Besides word of mouth, auto repair is one of the industries where Yelp really is an incredible resource for charting unfamiliar territory. Searching their site for "best auto air conditioning service" and your city or zip should reveal a number of reliable shops. The ratings need not be perfect, if theres a couple of negatives see the owners response or if the complaint sounds reasonable.
From my personal experience, if your air conditioning hasnt been functional (not blowing cold at all) for an extended period like a year or two or more, be prepared for a costly bill, like one or more major components and the whole system requiring an overhaul of all its seals and o-rings. A simple evac and recharge is possible if the system was operational until fairly recently. The system needs to be pressurized regularly to provide lubrication for all the small nitrile parts that keep the refrigerant from leaking out. (Which is why you should power up that AC compressor weekly, even-no, especially all winter long)
When the AC has been broken for extended periods everything dries out and goes bad. Youre almost always looking at a compressor, the receiver drier unit, full seal and o ring kit, the labor to replace all of that, plus the refrigerant and oil charge and an additional hour of labor to pull vacuum on the system before they can fill it.
Fortunately the r134a your vehicle uses is pretty reasonable.

[NYSD1995]

Originally Posted by kbuhagiar

Hello folks,

I'm looking for an automotive repair shop that specializes in AC repair, preferably near Mira Mesa or Escondido. Vehicle that needs service is a 2012 Ford Flex. I'm looking for alternatives besides a Ford dealership.

Any recommendations?

These days most accessory systems like AC are just replaced, not repaired. Over the past decade most parts like pumps, thermostats, compressors and electric motors are no longer serviceable and just get swapped out. 2012 Ford Flex is a very basic vehicle that any competent mechanic can work on. Try Yelp to find someone in your immediate area.

[phinneas j. whoopee]

Originally Posted by NYSD1995

These days most accessory systems like AC are just replaced, not repaired. Over the past decade most parts like pumps, thermostats, compressors and electric motors are no longer serviceable and just get swapped out. 2012 Ford Flex is a very basic vehicle that any competent mechanic can work on. Try Yelp to find someone in your immediate area.

Agreed, its been a long time since it was common for shops to do component rebuilds. An exception would be alternators and starters, but you need to go to an auto electric specialist to do that.
Apparantly many of those are easy to repair with access to the rebuild kits, every time I had one fail I was tempted to wait a day or two and get the parts and rebuild it myself. The one time I seriously considered it that particular alternator had a bearing that was a beast to get out of the case so I blew it off.
(Rebuilts of those two parts are such garbage at chain parts stores now)

[NORTY FLATZ]

Can “West Automotive Group” do it? I know they have 1 store in Escondido. But they have half a dozen other stores.

[FlySD]

Originally Posted by kbuhagiar

Hello folks,

I'm looking for an automotive repair shop that specializes in AC repair, preferably near Mira Mesa or Escondido. Vehicle that needs service is a 2012 Ford Flex. I'm looking for alternatives besides a Ford dealership.

Any recommendations?

I'm not aware of any repair places that specialize in AC repair but some do offer AC repair among other services. There is a place I took one of my vehicles to in Poway (Off Poway Road) to evacuate the R134a so that I could take the system out for repair. I did not want to spend the money for a recovery cylinder to recover about a pound of refrigerant so I took it there instead. Unfortunately I don't remember the exact one but it is within the cluster of repair shops in that section of Poway. Also I cannot speak to their expertise in diagnosing and repairing AC systems since I only took it there for the evac but I assume they would know what to do.

[FlySD]

Originally Posted by phinneas j. whoopee

Agreed, its been a long time since it was common for shops to do component rebuilds. An exception would be alternators and starters, but you need to go to an auto electric specialist to do that.
Apparantly many of those are easy to repair with access to the rebuild kits, every time I had one fail I was tempted to wait a day or two and get the parts and rebuild it myself. The one time I seriously considered it that particular alternator had a bearing that was a beast to get out of the case so I blew it off.
(Rebuilts of those two parts are such garbage at chain parts stores now)

I rebuild my starters and alternators. Not difficult to do but can be timing consuming to take apart and clean and test everything. Also to do bearing you will need a press.

[kbuhagiar]

Hello folks,

I appreciate all of the responses. I am hobby mechanic and full-time car enthusiast who is familiar with the ins and outs of automotive AC. I normally would diagnose this problem on my own but all of my tools and test equipment are back at my other place in Sonora (CA). I would rather deal with a shop that specializes in AC rather than a shop that dabbles in it.

The AC is still functioning reasonably well (still cool to cold at the ducts) but it has been getting weaker over the last few weeks and based on my observations without my gauges it may just need a Freon boost. I was just hoping to avoid any attempted upsells or unnecessary component replacements, if at all possible.

The situation is not a show-stopper but I was hoping to resolve it in the next couple of week before my next scheduled return to Sonora via the Central Valley.

Thanks again!

[kbuhagiar]

Originally Posted by NYSD1995

These days most accessory systems like AC are just replaced, not repaired. Over the past decade most parts like pumps, thermostats, compressors and electric motors are no longer serviceable and just get swapped out. 2012 Ford Flex is a very basic vehicle that any competent mechanic can work on. Try Yelp to find someone in your immediate area.

I appreciate the tip; my problem with Yelp is you still get sponsored (paid) responses first, and every auto mechanic in a hot climate knows to make sure he mentions 'air conditioning' somewhere on his website so all of the search engines pick it up. EVERY mechanic in Southern California says he can repair AC, but few are specialists.

That being said, I haven't tried Yelp for this yet so perhaps I may be surprised.

[FlySD]

Originally Posted by kbuhagiar

Hello folks,

I appreciate all of the responses. I am hobby mechanic and full-time car enthusiast who is familiar with the ins and outs of automotive AC. I normally would diagnose this problem on my own but all of my tools and test equipment are back at my other place in Sonora (CA). I would rather deal with a shop that specializes in AC rather than a shop that dabbles in it.

The AC is still functioning reasonably well (still cool to cold at the ducts) but it has been getting weaker over the last few weeks and based on my observations without my gauges it may just need a Freon boost. I was just hoping to avoid any attempted upsells or unnecessary component replacements.

The situation is not a show-stopper but I was hoping to resolve it in the next couple of week before my next scheduled return to Sonora via the Central Valley.

Thanks again!

Maybe just get one of those cans of 134a that has a small gauge and hook it up. If the pressure is low it could be a low charge and you can try to raise that by adding some refrigerant. Of course without the high side gauge you won't know if the fault is something else like a restriction in the metering device but if the performance improves after adding a small amount of refrigerant just add some until the low side reads about 40 - 45 psi at idle. That should help until you get back but eventually you would want to check and fix any leaks in the system that could be causing a low charge condition.