A/C suddenly blowing hot air

xlt4wd

Recently took my 2007 Ford Explorer XLT in for a routine oil change. On the way home there was a hot burning smell coming thru the vents when I turned on the Max A/C and by the time I got home, not far, the A/C was blowing hot air and there was what looked like an oil puddle on my driveway. Took it back on Tuesday and they tightened the oil plug, took it back Wednesday and had it recharged with freon since they had an a/c check special for $9.99.

The hot burning smell went away but the a/c was blowing hot air again by Sunday. Took it back and they said its the a/c evaporator core/coil. Could it have gone bad that quickly? It was blowing cold air when I took it in and hadn't had any noticeable problems with it and now $12-1500 to repair since the dash has to be taken out?!

Any thoughts on what it could be other than the evap core? Thanks

Mr_Shiftright

Where did you take it for the AC work? Maybe you need a second opinion with an AC specialist. They can test the system for leaks to verify what's going on.

xlt4wd

Firestone. I considered a second opinion but would need to pay again for another diagnostic...came across this site looking for insight. Just wondered how often evap cores go bad like that since I haven't been able to find that much about them for my vehicle.

xlt4wd

Took it to another repair shop and had a/c recharged. they're saying its the condenser, orifice tube and weak compressor that needs replacing...at about the same price as the evap core route. I'm skeptical...said the condenser showed signs of temp fluctuations from cold to ambient and the compressor is weak under load when the engine rpm's are raised and something about the high and low side pressures.

Could compressor oil have escaped and that's the burning smell that came thru the vents? It didn't smell like engine oil but not sure how high mileage synthetic oil smells and that was the first time I'd gotten a high mileage oil change.