It was spring. The days were longer and warmer. The A/C part of our business
was humming. Repair bays were full of cars. Phones were ringing. It didn't seem
like a strange request, a lot of cars had similar problems. The fact that it was
a '90 Voyager belonging to a busy mom didn't raise any flags. That was exactly
out demographic. A strange
odor from the vents with A/C on? No problem. "We've got this new foam see,
it's a bit like shaving cream, here watch, it expands to get to every nook and
cranny in your evaporator case, it chases out all the smell, then washes it
right on down the drain, cleaning as it goes." (I've used it lots of
times. Works every time, with a nice smell when it's all done.) "I've been referred
to you by another shop" (a speede-jiffy-lube place) she said. "I've
heard good things about you".
Flattery will get you just about anything you want...
Found the evap case, figured where the best spot to inject the expanding foam, and made a nice little round hole. Inserted the foam nozzle, attach the tube, inverted the can and whoooosh, in she goes. Soon the harsh aroma that sent the customer to us in the first place was gone! Now it smelled like oranges! "Textbook" I thought to myself. Set the blower on low, let 'er dry out a bit, write up the invoice.....on to the next car.
Next day she's back. Same smell. Only worse. "My allergies are going crazy. What did you put in there?" I grab the can and roll it over "Well Ma'am, see here, it's mostly alcohol, and chemicals, and some fragrance." I say. Come to find out, she's "allergic to fragrance". Great. Now she tells me. "I want that smell out of there" she says, referring the the orange perfume smell. And I can still smell the original odor! I want that gone too!"
After a long conversation with her about what she is and isn't allergic to, it is decided that isopropyl (rubbing alcohol) is suitable to try to use, and she is not allergic to it. Using the A/C flushing gun filled with store bought isopropyl, whooosh, wash out that evaporator case again. Smells strong, like alcohol. Customer happy.
Next week she's back. "The original smell is still there" she says. "And I can still smell the orange smell". I can tell it's going to be an interesting day. We decide to flush out evaporator case 1 more time using more of the alcohol. Whooosh. Whoosh. Whoosh. We really blasted it this time, including forcing water up the drains to "flood" the case to help wash out whatever might be living in there. She picked it up.
A few weeks later she's back. "The original smell is still there, I'm getting a little tired of it, and the A/C is not as cold as usual. " Hmmm. OK, one thing at a time. Checked for smell. Yep some smell. Not over powering though. Lets look into the "not as cold as usual' part. R12 system. And it's 100% R12. Looks low. Acts low. Add a pound. Gets much colder. Smell not found. While performing a leak check, discovered a very detectible leak at front evaporator. VERY DETECTIBLE. Hmmm. Up front, green dye at condenser. This is just getting better and better. Phone call. "Hello Ma'am, well we found out a couple things about the voyager. But first Ma'am, When was the last time you had this A/C system filled? Oh, two months ago? Uh Huh, I see, by the shop that sent you over here for the smell. I see. Oh, really? Charge it up twice a year huh? They can't find a leak anywhere? Well Ma'am, We need to talk.........."
After spending $1300.00 to replace an evaporator, condenser, drier, manifold o ring, and recharging with 3 lbs R12 her system was nice and cold with no smell. Oh, the smell, well the evaporator coated with crust from dye and synthetic oil, combine that with a little dust, dirt, pollen and water. Whew! What a smell!
The bottom line:
I tried to repair the smell. Only later
did I smell a repair.
"We're sick and tired of these cheap heaters!" he said. Why can't we get good ones like before? Don't they make anything in the USA anymore?
It was the start of another day. The irate caller was a service technician from the motor pool operated by the County, and was upset by the fact of repeated heater core failures on (police) car 38 . "We're buyin' 'em from the dealer from now on. It's just to much darn work to be replacing these heaters all the time. We need better ones!"
Oh great I thought, lost a customer over a quality control issue that I have no control over. As a supplier of A/C and heater parts to the County, I was a little bit miffed by the whole thing. Sure, parts are made across the ocean these days, and sometimes the quality is just a bit shy of what we have been used to. But when I hear that my parts aren't good enough, it hurts. Every heater we sell is inspected, tested, and all connections are reinforced immediately prior to the sale. How could we have a bad one? More to the point, how could we have several bad ones? There had to be more to the story.
Several months later, the same tech calls. "The dealer just called. They want to change the engine on car 38. They say the problem is electrolysis. The new heaters keep failing, and the dealer will no longer warranty them. They say the engine is harboring electrolysis and repeated flushing has not changed anything."
My first though: Whew! Maybe my heaters weren't so bad after all. As more details emerged, there had been a total of 6 heaters replaced, and according to the records that were kept, a new heater would fail 54 days after it was installed! What? 54 days? Are you kidding' me? No wonder the Tech was upset about the failures! After several more conversations with both the Tech and his Boss, I learned that the dealer was measuring voltage in the cooling system, and despite their best efforts at flushing, the voltage remained, and the heater failures persisted. As a solution, the dealer suggested that the engine, all the hoses and radiator be replaced. Surely that would fix it.
After more conversations, it was suggested that car 38 be towed in to our shop, be inspected and evaluated for flushing and electrolysis remediation, as an alternative to costly engine replacement. The next day, as scheduled, car 38 arrived and we anxiously got to work.
"Boss, we've got almost a full volt", was the shout from the direction of car 38. Sure enough, when the DVOM is grounded and positive lead dipped in the coolant, 0.776vdc. We pulled the battery post, and re measured. Same result. Coolant color was nice and green. Ph was normal. Some slight dark residue visible in coolant fill bottle. The engine ran fine: smooth, powerful, no lights on at dash. Nothing that suggested a problem was lying just under the surface.
We knew that if the electrolysis remained when the battery was removed, that it was more of a chemistry problem, yet it was a cop car, with lights, sirens, radios, antennas, and a laptop. The urge to pull every fuse and retest for voltage was irresistible. With all fuses disconnected, voltage reading: 0.77. No change. Shouldn't have been surprised. It was now crystal clear: this was a chemistry problem.
After removing the thermostat, coolant reservoir, heater hoses and radiator, the engine flushing began. Using flush machinery of our construction and design, we are able to flush the entire engine, or any cooling system component or both, keeping liquid to a minimum, and allowing a variety of flushing chemicals to be used. In live flush application, the engine can be run, further enhancing the flush process and adding the element of heat, to aid the process.
After a lengthy flushing session, the freshly cleaned radiator and reservoir bottle were re installed, along with a channeled and banded heater core, When new coolant, inhibitor, and water were installed, the voltage measured 0.55vdc the first day, then 0.39vdc several days later. After 20 days the voltage has further dropped to 0.27vdc
Factors involved in the voltage drop were: 1) Major invasive flushing and cleaning. If it is part of the cooling system, and can be cleaned....do it. 2) Magnesium anode radiator cap, 3) Flushing chemicals and inhibitor chemicals. 4) Time. Other factors that contribute to the final repair were a reinforced copper brass heater (rather than aluminum) and a flow restrictor between the intake manifold and heater inlet, added to reduce surging.
It's been 13 months, car 38 now measures 0.02vdc, and has not experienced another heater failure. Clearly, electrolysis can be measured, evaluated, remediated, and removed.
The bottom line:
It about a month. We saved the County about $3000.00 We don't sell bad heaters.