Took it to a a/c specialst, and got it diagnosed today. TURNS OUT ITS AN "Expansion valve" - sound farmiliar to anyone? anyhow, $79.00 to diagnose $89.00 for the part, and $230.00 for labor! oh well, i need it fixed - i was wondering is this valve the same as the orphais valve? taking it in tommorrow to get it replaced - the part wont be here till then.
why couldnt my mechanic figure this out? hmmm - who knows. BUT! they say that that would not have been the reason for black smoke to come thru the vents????? he said it wounds like it may have been blower brushes? but the blower works fine- it will literally blow your hat off- so what is it? the guy said maybe something electrical? but everything works fine. well, he said he will have the whole dash out tommorrow,a nd he should be able to spot anything that is burned out. i will post again after the the calve has been changed, let you all know how it goes. thanks, Lorin. By the way, any ideas on how i should tell my mechanic that i had to betray him and take it to someone else? hes a great guy, has been there thru thick & thin for me.

 

The expansion valve IS the orifice. And I wouldnt tell my mechanic if I were you, just tell him it got better or something, no need to tell him what it was if he wasnt smart enough to fix it in the first place. He should have seen that when he hooked the gauges up right away. If A/C isnt his specialty, he needs to stay away from it. Im not trying to run this guy down, Im just stating the obvious and dont mean to make anyone mad.

 

You didn't betray him. He betrayed you.

He betrayed you by passing himself off as someone who knows what he is doing

 

Thanks to everybody who all who helped me. It runs great now. Yeah, im just not going to even mention it to my mechanic- if he asks ill just tell him it got better. Its hard to believe that this valve could cause so many problems. It doesnt even bogg down when i turn the ac on-- AT ALL. Thanks guys! Lorin in Colorado.