Goblin Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Hey all, I have a 2011 Ford Fusion SEL, 3.0 L. The car was blowing ice-cold air one evening. I parked it, and the following morning it would only blow neutral / hot air. After taking it to 2 shops we've confirmed the AC evaporator discharge temperature sensor went out. The car is a few thousand miles over the 36,000 mile factory train warranty. Has anyone experienced a scenario like this and managed to get it repaired anyways? I'm kind of annoyed that I bought a fairly new car to avoid big hassles like this, and multiple things *transmission too* start going out right after "warranty." From what I've read, it's a 5+ hour project to get this little $20-30 part replaced because it's DEEP in the dashboard. If that's the case I suppose I'll just drive around without AC for awhile and do some research and attempt to fix it myself, though I'm no car person. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thefoeyouknow Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Own any tools? It's not that hard, just time consuming. The part is like $15, I do these a lot and I can turn one around in an hour. If it takes you 5 whole hours, you're doing something wrong. There's a locating pin in the center support that lets you tilt the dash forward enough to get behind it and swap the sensor without pulling the dash all the way out. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goblin Posted February 21, 2014 Author Share Posted February 21, 2014 Well if you are a Ford Certified Electrical Specialist Tech, I'd imagine your skills and knowledge would let you do it far faster than someone like me. I am not a "car person," I mean I don't generally even change my oil, though I do like projects and I like learning. The forums I was looking at people said it was taking them far longer than 1.5 hours. I don't own any tools, but I'm in the military and have access to hobby shops that I can use on Saturdays, so I might just give it a shot! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thefoeyouknow Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 Go for it! I don't expect you to turn it around in an hour, but even at a novice level, you should be done in under 4. See if you can get a hold of a manual, it helps to know what to disconnect/remove. Makes things faster. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robd23 Posted May 30, 2014 Share Posted May 30, 2014 (edited) Nevermind Edited May 30, 2014 by robd23 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt351 Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 I have fixed multiple of these, without taking dash off at all. I drop glove box cut the 2 wires vio/brn and gry/blu either hook them to a new sensor or just wire it to a resistor that fakes computer to think its above 32* I tell customer if its really humid make sure u run max or it could freeze up. I have had fusions for years now still working without a single complaint. And repaired in 15minutes. Also no bridges are burned wires can easily be hooked up and repaired correctly later if want to. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thefoeyouknow Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 My biggest problem with that is that customers want a repair they don't have to think about. If I had to tell a customer to be mindful of the environmental conditions, I will have not repaired their car, I will have rigged it up. Personally, I consider myself to make too much money doing my job to be rigging things up. I don't know about you, but I'm expensive, and people's expectations of my work are accordingly high. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt351 Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 Give them a choice 500$ or 100$ usually a easy choice plus they get cold air right now not waiting days. Figured there would be haters out there. But how is it cars have had a/c for the past 40 years working fine without one??. And most people are smart enough to turn it to max. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thefoeyouknow Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 And that would be fine if Fusion had a clutch cycling switch, but it doesn't. The evap temp sensor IS the clutch cycling switch. I've see early systems with both, but Fusion, having a TXV, a high side transducer and a temp sensor, relies on it exclusively. I'm just saying that at my level, my customers would run me out of town on a pole and I wouldn't blame them, They ask if I fixed it and I say yes, not "yes, but remember that if it's humid, run the recirc door open to reduce the amount of water the evaporator gets on it". Not "yes, but (anything)" I do the job in an hour, I get paid for 6. I don't think that the process needs to be made any shorter, especially at the cost of eliminating the $20 dollar part the keeps it from freezing and potentially deforming the evaporator and causing it to rupture. Ruptured evaporators are WAY more expensive. Ask me how I know. Seriously, when the next mechanic works on it and finds it, what do you want him to think of you? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RybSE Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 And the customer gets billed for 6 hours. I've always loved creative accounting. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thefoeyouknow Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 It's called flat-rate. It means we use a standardized labor guide (the same one everybody else uses) so you pay the same number of hours no matter where you go. I can do it in an hour because I'm awesome and I've done them a lot, I get paid 1.0 hour for diagnosis, and then 4.9 hours to pull the shifter and console, and pull the dash. If you've ever done one, you'll probably agree that 4.9 is fair. Since I can do it in about an hour, I still get paid 5.9 total. If I have trouble, or something breaks and it takes 7 hours, I get paid 5.9. Straight time penalizes a tech for their experience and skill, flat-rate rewards a tech for it. Flat-rate shops also produce superior techs, hourly shops (which still bill the customer out of the same slts book) produce techs that don't care about their productivity and these are the low volume shops that make people wait for days for their turn in line. When you pay me 5.9 you get what you pay for: an actual repair, not a fast and loose hack job. If I ever have a Fusion come in with a BillyBobbed evap temp sensor, I'll know who to blame. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt351 Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 Go billybob yourself. I did not make the last statement. I save my customers money and they always come back telling there friends. And they like that I give them the option. I have been in business for 25 years. And I have never seen a evap break cause of freezing either. And non of the fusions I fixed ever had a complaint of freezeup. Your the guy who would probably never use a heatertreater either because it would put less in your pocket 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thefoeyouknow Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 I'm the guy who gets your freeze-ups. Me and other guys like me who actually FIX their cars, if you're not getting the comebacks, you need to ask yourself "who is?" because when they stop trusting you, they come to me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RybSE Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 yeah, I know what it's called. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smac2133 Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 It's called flat-rate. It means we use a standardized labor guide (the same one everybody else uses) so you pay the same number of hours no matter where you go. I can do it in an hour because I'm awesome and I've done them a lot, I get paid 1.0 hour for diagnosis, and then 4.9 hours to pull the shifter and console, and pull the dash. If you've ever done one, you'll probably agree that 4.9 is fair. Since I can do it in about an hour, I still get paid 5.9 total. If I have trouble, or something breaks and it takes 7 hours, I get paid 5.9. Straight time penalizes a tech for their experience and skill, flat-rate rewards a tech for it. Flat-rate shops also produce superior techs, hourly shops (which still bill the customer out of the same slts book) produce techs that don't care about their productivity and these are the low volume shops that make people wait for days for their turn in line. When you pay me 5.9 you get what you pay for: an actual repair, not a fast and loose hack job. If I ever have a Fusion come in with a BillyBobbed evap temp sensor, I'll know who to blame. "if" billybobs send you business because of bypassing evap's, why you crying about it? Wouldn't that be more 5 hour overpaying customers for you?? This is the reason why "Good" forums today are hard to come by. Now days people that may know a little want to start hating on others for what/ or how they do things. ADVICE for ALL... If its not affecting you directly, leave it alone....... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt351 Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 "if" billybobs send you business because of bypassing evap's, why you crying about it? Wouldn't that be more 5 hour overpaying customers for you?? This is the reason why "Good" forums today are hard to come by. Now days people that may know a little want to start hating on others for what/ or how they do things. ADVICE for ALL... If its not affecting you directly, leave it alone....... thank you. I I will also follow up with dickheads response. all the ones I have fixed have come back to me because of the fix, I was the one who pulled the thorn out of there heal and saved them hundreds. last one I fixed in 15 minutes after a test and only charged like 50$ out the door including diagnose test and resistor install. hell the customer had spent almost that buying freon from a parts store to try and refill it when that wasnt the problem. other shops around me may not like my practice but all respect me and call me for advice 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwbiggs Posted June 29, 2015 Share Posted June 29, 2015 I know this is an old topic, but I changed mine sensor yesterday. It was time consuming for me, but I took my time being that it was my first and hopefully last time doing it. I didn't want to damage any trim or plastic removing anything. There is a good video on youtube that I followed and swapped the sensor without any problems. It was the 28 minute video or something like that. Good luck! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WWWPerfA_ZN0W Posted September 8, 2016 Share Posted September 8, 2016 Thought I'd post a link to the video for anyone looking: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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