Hi all,

Last month our S70's A/C started blowing not-so-cool air and the compressor cycled every 3 to 5 seconds. The dealer evacuated and recharged the system with the dye tracer. This week I brought the the car in to have it checked and it needed a new evaporator to the tune of $1,100. I couldn't believe this could happen to a 1998 S70 with roughly 27k miles (my wife uses another car to get to work).

Questions:
1. Does the refrigerant leak only when the A/C is in use? I was told that the leak could be small enough for the refrigerant to last for a year or two and was hoping I could delay the repair by just recharging the A/C once every one or two years.
2. For those who already had the repair done how much was the cost? The service department sends a 20% off labor & parts coupon once or twice a year so I could probably get the repair done for a little less.
3. Who still has their original evaporator working? Just curious whether this problem will eventually happen to most (if not all) 850/S70 owners.

-Brian
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Brian M. - 1998 S70GLT, 1998 S70, 1991 Maxima SE