Goose
Well-known Member
Several days ago, I posted a thread about a weird, intermittent noise in the rear of my wife's Chrysler T&C. It would only do it under certain conditions, and then for only a few seconds, not long enough to really get a handle on it. Motorcycle, woodpecker, machine gun, take your pick.
I went through all sorts of possibilities. It wasn't a muffler rattle. I went so far as to consider an injector sticking and spitting raw gas into the exhaust system where it ignited.
Saturday morning I had my wife drive it while I sat clear in the back. She was able to make it make the noise, and it was obviously coming from inside the right rear quarter panel. Over the weekend, I pulled all the panels and it was obvious the noise was coming from the rear A/C unit. I checked the ducts for rattles. One at a time, I unplugged the blower motor, both blend door actuators, and the main plug on the entire rear system. Nothing made any difference. It still kept on doing it, mainly after you'd driven for about five miles on the open road, came to a stop, shifted into "park" and let the engine idle for about 10 seconds.
I gave up and took it into our local NAPA shop this morning. Thankfully, I was able to make it make the noise bigtime twice while the Service Manager was riding with me. When they got it into the shop, they found--even though it was still cooling normally, the entire A/C system was a tad low on refrigerant. That simple.
The fellow, Tom, who worked on it (and also worked for me once in a different situation) said he test drove it and got it to make the noise, then after he added refrigerant he drove it again and couldn't get it to do it. He tested it for leaks and couldn't find any. That had to be it, as we'd eliminated everything else one way or another.
Tom said sometimes things do go good on a Monday. He and I agreed that of all the hundreds and hundreds of vehicles we've been involved with over the years, we've never ever had one make a noise like that from being low on refrigerant. The shop even warrantied it because they'd charged the system last spring.
Guess you live and learn.
I went through all sorts of possibilities. It wasn't a muffler rattle. I went so far as to consider an injector sticking and spitting raw gas into the exhaust system where it ignited.
Saturday morning I had my wife drive it while I sat clear in the back. She was able to make it make the noise, and it was obviously coming from inside the right rear quarter panel. Over the weekend, I pulled all the panels and it was obvious the noise was coming from the rear A/C unit. I checked the ducts for rattles. One at a time, I unplugged the blower motor, both blend door actuators, and the main plug on the entire rear system. Nothing made any difference. It still kept on doing it, mainly after you'd driven for about five miles on the open road, came to a stop, shifted into "park" and let the engine idle for about 10 seconds.
I gave up and took it into our local NAPA shop this morning. Thankfully, I was able to make it make the noise bigtime twice while the Service Manager was riding with me. When they got it into the shop, they found--even though it was still cooling normally, the entire A/C system was a tad low on refrigerant. That simple.
The fellow, Tom, who worked on it (and also worked for me once in a different situation) said he test drove it and got it to make the noise, then after he added refrigerant he drove it again and couldn't get it to do it. He tested it for leaks and couldn't find any. That had to be it, as we'd eliminated everything else one way or another.
Tom said sometimes things do go good on a Monday. He and I agreed that of all the hundreds and hundreds of vehicles we've been involved with over the years, we've never ever had one make a noise like that from being low on refrigerant. The shop even warrantied it because they'd charged the system last spring.
Guess you live and learn.
