Maybe a coolant leak????...
bought 1995 Chevy 3500 diesel2 wks ago from chevy dealer... said vacuum check the night before we bought it. Dealer said A/C AOK.
Few hours ago, no A/C. Certainly will not take to Chevy Dealer to look at;
Suggestions of where to take it? I live in FL.
Really frustrated, I take responsibility for buying older truck but I dont like it when Dealer said "ac great shape, nothing wrong even ran a test before you took the keys"

 

Buying from a dealer may work for you in this situation.
You should still have a 30 day warranty. If they said it worked good, they need to make it that way.
Before you sign anything, (Work order) You and Service needs to be clear and on the same page re: charges for the A/C repair.

You can easily expect $300 + for a system purge and refill + leak test and possible replacement parts.

Make the dealership come good for it.

 

Sorry about your luck but the truck is almost 20 yrs old.
I've had transmissions that were bone dry and never had a hitch on the truck start leaking on the trip home and need overhauled. Things go wrong on old cars.

Now more information is needed to help with the diagnosis. You mentioned it just quit,
-did the fan stop?
-plenty of air volume just not cold?
-did it slowly warm up or do it all at once?

There are many rubber seals in the system and while they may hold back 250PSI of pressure now there is no telling if they will split with age and blow out 10 minutes from now. The system might have freon in it but the compressor suffered a major failure that can't be forseen.

Call the dealer and see if they'll diagnos for free, might be as simple as a blown fuse.

 

thx, Dealer said have to replace entire ac unit. $647. plus tax. Took your advice appealed to buying truck only 2 weeks ago. finalized wihth $590. plus tax. I wouldnt have returned to the dealer if the 2 hadnt suggested. Need ac in FL and when we go on our very first road trip in a few weeks! Owning a big truck and pulling a 5th wheel is an adventure.

 

Sounds like the A/C compressor went bad.
I would expect a whole a/c replacement of compressor, condensor, evaporator and dryer to cost over $1,000.

Still too bad that had to happen so soon after the purchase though.
Hopefully it will be the only big surprise for a while.

 

i could have gone without hearing $1000. I am not going to spend that type of money. I will sell the truck first. Had an offer of $8000 already. This truck is sweet. I believe the owner just didnt keep the ac running all year. He didnt use it much but kept it up.

 

What I was getting at is the $590 price sounds like a component replacement not entire system replacement. It is quite common to only replace components in a/c work so don't worry if that is all they do.

One thing I like about your '95 model is that is the first year for the updated interior and older OBD1 electronics. While it means nothing to you it is an easier system to work on for the at home mechanic. You can buy towing chips for the ECM where as the '96-2000 OBD2 systems have to send the whole ECM in to be re-flashed.

Do you know if your truck has R-12 or R-134A freon?

 

thks for all the input. Took truck to A/C repair place. all it needed was some type of gear thingy for less than $100. Blows out cold well anything blows cold in this weather. Here in Central FL it got down to 30's.

 

Good to hear it was relatively painless!
Was it by chance in the dash?
Like a bad blend door motor?

 

What kind of suggests were you getting at Diesel Bomb?
U know there is rules re: that link