I'm curious as to whether what I'm experiencing is an isolated incident or a common problem.

My cabin air conditioning on my 2005 4WD FEH (103,500 miles) was getting a bit lackluster so I took it to my mechanic (former Ford Dealer service department that stayed in business when the dealer was closed by Ford). They tested it and told me there was a leak in the rear (battery) A/C lines. The refrigerant for the cabin and the battery is all part of the same system; so this meant that the battery was not getting cooled properly.

I was about to let a friend drive the car to northern Michigan (4 hours in very hot weather). Then I would join him up there (I was flying to the destination from somewhere else) and we would drive back together. Since the A/C was working when I took it in, just not as robust as previously, I decided to proceed with this plan; they said they recharged it and they'd have the part (replacement rear lines) the following week.

Well, the friend drove the car up, and complained to me about the A/C did not work at all, and how sluggish it was from a dead stop and when trying to pass on the freeway. When I got in the car to drive back, A/C was completely dead, and the EV would not operate after the first half hour (due to the high temp in the battery, I assume).

First question is, is it likely that this one incident (4 hours one way, 4 hours the other, in very hot weather) damaged the battery or will significantly affect the battery life?

Second question is, it turns out that they could not get the replacement rear A/C lines. There's a backorder on these parts - 450+ on backorder around the country - and Ford has no estimate of when they will be shipped - "Ford is "working with" the supplier . . . " The few dealers that have a set in stock are hoarding them for their own customer who they expect to come along. I'm also told that these lines are all failing in the same place - over the right wheel well. The shortage tells me that a lot of people must be having these replaced and this might be a common problem. Anyone else out there had this problem?

Anyway, I consider the vehicle disabled until the part is fixed. Am considering having the mechanic take the failed lines to a welder and getting them repaired, since there's no other relief in sight.

 

I'd just get it fixed as you suggested, or get one made up at a shop that does auto air work. probably cost less and be more robust. I didn't realize the line is metal. Make sure if the tig weld it or braze ( not sure of the material) that it gets flushed out good prior to install

 

It is unlikely that your battery was damaged because it has a fail safe system that shuts down power to the motors when it gets to a certain temperature. My '05 FEH still has the original rear A/C lines and I have 70,000 miles so far. Had to install a new compressor a few months ago because it had a slow leak. I didn't mess around because of the battery and summer was almost here in Florida.

The biggest thing you hurt without Assist and EV is your mileage and high RPMs in your engine. Drive real easy till you get it fixed and be careful with contamination if you have the tube welded. You don't want to screw up the entire A/C system with contamination and corrosion inside the line.

GaryG

 

I got it fixed as described. The welder charged $150, less than the replacement lines would have cost. They cleaned them out, vacuum tested for 45 minutes, and all is fine now - we'll see how long it lasts.

 

Not much different than the HVAC system in your home which they braze holes all the time.

 

Same thing happened to me 2 years ago.
About 70,000 miles too +/-.

The $450 sounds familiar and I wasn't going to pay that, even if they got one.

I used a can of freon with stop-leak ($12?) to recharge the system, and put JB Weld on the pin hole on the outside of the tube, and the combination has held for the past 2 years and 40,000 miles.

Knock on wood....

 

Always wondered if that stop leak would work, I guess my concern would be clogging
if it has an orfice tube. We all knoe the wonders of JB