If thats the case. Then they already have the leak. Just put a UV light under there and the leaking joint should glow like nobody's business.

If there is too much glowing to localize, wipe it all off and drive around a bit.

 

My A/C lines to the rear started leaking this summer.

To replace them was upwards of $700! I said no way!

Going against my mechanic's advice... I added 3 cans of 134a that had "stop leak" in the cans. Took 3 or 4 days of driving with A/C on to get enough circulation to the back, but I'll be darn! The thing stopped leaking!

Note: if the "freon" has stop leak in it, it cannot be reclaimed and recycled. My mechanic will not hook mine up to the diagnostics or reclaimer / purge now, but oh well! 3 cans of stop leak cost about $30.

 

The dye is precisely what I saw that gave it the green color. I took my FEH to the dealer today and it was a bad O-ring, pretty much what I expected.

Can anyone tell me if I should be worried about the HV battery? The service counselor laughed when asked about the battery and said that the A/C had nothing to do with the battery but I double checked the Ford service manual and it said it was for "Auxiliary Climate Control - Hybrid."

 

The service counselor sounds like an idiot (wouldn't be the first one out there). The FEH definitely uses the A/C to cool the High Voltage battery as needed. I would have to point out his obvious lack of knowledge to the service counselor and make sure this is repaired (I would expect this is still covered if you're under 36,000mi).

If there was enough of a leak for you to see a green puddle, I don't think there's any way your system is still charged to the proper limits and should not be functioning correctly. It may not be an issue during the winter but I'm betting it will be come summertime.

 

That greenish-yellow dye is pretty concentrated.
Mine would leak for a week or more, and I'd still get cold air up front.
While there is one "system" there are two zones. I guess I was lucky and when the back zone was closed, I was still able to use the front zone.
The back one is most important.... to me though!

 

We have a 2006 Escape Hybrid and have a leak from a aux a/c lines that run to the battery in the back. It took 2 visits to the dealership to be ID'd and the vehicle has <36k miles! I asked the service if warranty was covered and they said "no". I don't believe the service dept. I asked what could happen if the risk is not fixed and they said it could overheat and cause a fire. (this, after my wife was sent away the 1st time) The fix is supposedly $920+. Has anyone had this fixed under hybrid warranty by Ford? It seems that the a/c is a key part to keep the hybrid system running.

 

If the service manager was implying that the lack of A/C to the battery could cause a fire, I disagree. The FEH battery control system has programming to reduce/prevent assist/regen if an overheat condition exist. I expect this is the reason why people who have had their battery fan (inside the battery casing) go bad have noticed reduced EV assist/regen and higher RPM.

The factory 3yr/36,000 mile warranty would have covered the rear A/C but obviously the 3yr time limit has been reached. This is one example where and extended warranty would have been beneficial.

Also note that Ford did away with the rear/battery A/C on it's newer hybrid models and now uses cabin air for battery cooling.

 

Depending on how bad the leak is....

When you need to refill with Freon, you can get a can of Freon ( 134a) with stop-leak in the can. You can get one or two cans and a hose at any auto store at try it yourself for about $20 to $25.

I tried it, and knock on wood.... mine has been "fixed" for almost 2 years.

 

Mike,
Glad to see you found the green hybrid site! The Edmunds forum rules did not allow me to send you here (they don't allow references to outside sites). Edmunds is pretty much dead as a good place to find information, due to some boneheaded changes they made to the site about 3 years ago - many of the long term users left the site.

 

TO bad he never told us what he found.