New to the forum! Have some concerns too about my '07 Edge.

[raven13mb]

Hello everyone,

 

I purchased an '07 Edge in January of '08. I simply love the vehicle! Love how it looks... drives... is built. Just a great vehicle. But, I've had some problems with it and wish I would have found this forum a while ago!

 

I'm just under 50k miles at this point. Well before the 36k warranty limit, I had told my dealer about the transmission slipping from time to time, especially when accelerating at lower speeds. They came back and told me that was normal... and I bought it. Now I'm reading on this forum there were some TSB's about the transmission.

 

Recently, about two months ago, my A/C unit started to leak into my car badly. It did it once before last year (when I was still under 36k miles), but it wasn't bad and when I told service about it they couldn't get it to duplicate. Now it's leaking really bad... down around the floors. Took it to the dealer and they blew out the lines once. It worked good for a week and it did it again. Took it a second and third time... they'd keep blowing the lines out. Now they're telling me it could be the evaporator and it'll cost $1000 just to clean it out!! He said though that since it's not a replacement it's not covered under warranty.

 

So my questions...

 

1. If they had to replace the Evaporator core, would it be covered under warranty? Anyone else experience this problem? Sounds like to me they're just trying to avoid having to do warranty work (no $$$ in it for them maybe?).

 

2. Could they have potentially ignored the Transmission issues for the same reason?

 

Any help/advice would be appreciated!

 

Matt

[Fingernip]

I would say there is nothing wrong with the core itself. The problem is that there is some sort of foreign body in the box itself that keeps blocking the drain lines. That $1000 is likely pure labor since they have to take it all apart to get into it, and IMO is entirely too much. There has to be someone in here that has done an evaporator core or heater core swap on one of these cars that can give some advise on if this is a job you can do yourself. I have done a similar job on my 86 Lincoln mark vii and it involved complete dash removal. There was a shortcut that involved cutting open the heater box and actually using a CD jewel case as an access panel. I did it the hard way in about 3 hours while shopkey quoted it as a 10 hour job.

[raven13mb]

I would say there is nothing wrong with the core itself. The problem is that there is some sort of foreign body in the box itself that keeps blocking the drain lines. That $1000 is likely pure labor since they have to take it all apart to get into it, and IMO is entirely too much. There has to be someone in here that has done an evaporator core or heater core swap on one of these cars that can give some advise on if this is a job you can do yourself. I have done a similar job on my 86 Lincoln mark vii and it involved complete dash removal. There was a shortcut that involved cutting open the heater box and actually using a CD jewel case as an access panel. I did it the hard way in about 3 hours while shopkey quoted it as a 10 hour job.

 

That's exactly what Ford thinks... just dust and stuff has gotten into the system and is clogging it up repeatedly. They think that by taking it all apart and cleaning it all out, especially the evaporator, will do the trick. But I had some serious sticker shock! I'm a very handy guy and can do it myself... just need a repair manual with procedures on taking the dashboard apart and what not.

 

Anyway... I did a lot more research on this. I found out that you should clean your interior air filter every 15,000 miles (didn't even know there was one... lol). You would think Ford would suggest this when I'm in there for oil changes and check-ups. I found this 'how-to' (with pictures) on how to do it:

 

http://www.paulstravelpictures.com/Ford-Edge-HVAC-Cabin-Air-Filter-Cleaning-Guide/index.html

 

When I got to the air filter, I was SHOCKED with how much crud was on it. Dust... dead bugs... leaves. It was incredible. You couldn't even see through the darn thing. I don't doubt some of that was getting into my system. So I cleaned that all off.

 

Did more research... found out you can attach a shop-vac to the drain line to unclog them. Tried that, and viola, I had a river coming out of that drain tube.

 

But, I'm a little upset with Ford. They obviously did the same thing a couple of times before this to unclog it and they broke the clip that hold the drain hose into the car's floor (located to the right of the gas pedal under the carpet). Needless to say, when it was working after they cleared the lines a couple of times, some of that water was leaking back into my car and soaked the thick insulation under the carpeting. No too happy about that.

 

Anyway... did even more research and talked to a mechanic friend of mine. He said that mold can build up in the evaporator and cause the same issue. He said, with the air conditioning on, to spray some bleach right into the fan (just a few bursts). That would be enough to get inside the evaporator and kill any mold. So I did that. I get a nice refreshing whiff of bleach now when I turn on my A/C... lol (that'll go away after a day or two).

 

He also said to take a commercial grade air compressor and attach that to the drain tube securely after the car has been sitting all night on a dry night (to assure all the inner workings are dried out). Then, roll the windows down and turn the air compressor on and let it run for a minute or two. It'll force out any dust and leaves throughout the entire HVAC system in the car. It'll be a bit messy and require some cleanup obviously, but it does the trick.

 

He suggested to do that every 20k miles or so (on top of cleaning the air-filter regularly) and it should prevent the problem. Also said it should solve the issue as well (repeated clogging). If it doesn't, then it's time to resort to pulling the dash apart and ultimately the evaporator to clean it by hand.

 

I'm gonna cross my fingers and hope these solutions work. If anybody else would like to chime in, feel free! Especially anyone with information on how to dis-assemble and re-assemble the dash to get to the evaporator (in case I have to resort to that).