Long trip on a hot day...sudden, evil hiss and then AC quits blowing cold air. What happened?

Question

We made a seven hour trip in triple-digit heat in an older van (94 Dodge Ram conversion, about 98K miles). On a quick potty stop with the van running, we suddenly heard a tremendous hiss that lasted 10 to 20 seconds or so. At the time I wasn't sure where it was coming from--or if it was our vehicle or someone else's, but shortly after that I realized the A/C was not blowing cold anymore. So far I've been given two suggestions: one was that the system "froze up" after being run all day--however the A/C is still blowing hot air even after being left overnight. The other was that we lost our freon. We won't be able to get it to a shop for a while for financial reasons after making this trip for a family emergency. I am hoping that somebody on here has expertise to suggest what might be wrong and how it could be fixed. Any help is appreciated--thank you!! :)

Answer 1

Uh oh, you've lost all your freon!

Sounds like maybe a hose broke and you lost all your freon.

The good news is a leak that you could hear should be really easy for a mechanic to find.

After a fix and a refill you should be good to go.

Good luck, stay cool.

Answer 2

sounds like you lost the freon out of your system.  you can get a can of freon with uv dye to put into the system but will need an ultraviolet light to find the leak.

best bet is to take it to an ac shop for repair but it will cost depending on what let loose.

ps-quick potty stop? how long was the engine running?

Answer 3

Your air conditioner's refrigerant system apparently sprung a leak.  There's no easy or temporary fix.  You have to find the location of the leak (and maybe the reason - road debris, unsupported line vibrated itself to death, refrigerant line touching moving engine part, etc.), then repair or replace the damaged part, evacuate the system, recharge it, and go.  Sorry to bear the sad news.