Short answerIn the Ypsilanti and Washtenaw County market, the most common AC repairs, capacitors, contactors, thermostats and drain clogs, typically run in the low to mid hundreds including the service call. Fan and blower motors land in the mid hundreds to around a thousand. Refrigerant leak repairs, evaporator coils and compressors run from the low to mid thousands, which is where replacement becomes the question.
Why this guide gives ranges and not a price list
Every repair starts with a diagnosis, and until a technician has measured what failed and why, a specific price is a guess. What we can do is tell you what typical market pricing in Washtenaw and western Wayne County looks like for the jobs that make up most of a summer's AC calls, so that when you get a quote you know whether it is in the normal range. These are market figures, not our price list. Our own AC repair quotes are flat-rate, given before any work starts, and the dispatch fee is credited toward the repair if you approve it.
The small jobs: low to mid hundreds
These are the repairs that resolve the majority of "AC not cooling" calls in Ypsilanti, Pittsfield and Belleville, and they are usually done on the first visit.
- Run capacitor. The most common AC part replaced in Southeast Michigan. The can itself costs little; what you are paying for is a truck, a meter and someone who knows which terminal is which. The symptoms are in AC capacitor failure signs.
- Contactor. The relay that switches power to the compressor. Pitted or welded contacts, ants in the contacts on units near a garden, or a burned coil.
- Condensate drain clog or float switch. Water on the basement floor and a system that will not run. Clearing the line and testing the switch.
- Thermostat replacement with a basic programmable model, or correcting wiring on one the homeowner installed.
- Low-voltage repairs. A chewed wire at the condenser, a blown 3- or 5-amp fuse on the furnace board, a loose connection at the disconnect.
- Hard-start kit added to an aging compressor that is struggling on humid afternoons.
Where a job in this group lands within the range depends mostly on whether the part is a stock item on the truck and whether the repair is done on a weekday or after hours. Many companies in the area add an after-hours premium; we do not.
One thing to watch in this tier is the add-on. A capacitor call can turn into a quote with a surge protector, a hard-start kit, a UV light and a "compressor saver" attached, and the total triples. Some of those items have a place on the right system; none of them are required to fix a dead capacitor. A fair quote separates what fixes the fault you called about from what is optional, and lets you decide each one. We write them as separate lines for exactly that reason.
The mid-size jobs: mid hundreds to around a thousand
- Condenser fan motor. Often paired with a new capacitor and sometimes a new blade. Universal motors fit most units; an OEM motor on a variable-speed condenser costs more.
- Indoor blower motor. The AC depends on the furnace blower to move air across the coil, so when that motor quits in July it is an AC call. Older PSC motors are cheaper to replace than the ECM modules in furnaces built after about 2010, which can push this job past a thousand.
- Refrigerant recharge after a leak search. On an R-410A system, finding and repairing a small leak at a Schrader valve or a flare fitting, then weighing in the charge. On an R-22 system from before 2010, the refrigerant alone can push this job well past a thousand, which is part of the story in the R-22 phase-out.
- Control board on the furnace that runs the indoor side of the system.
- TXV (expansion valve) replacement. Requires recovering and recharging refrigerant, so labor is substantial.
- Evaporator coil cleaning when the coil is matted and inaccessible without pulling it.
The big jobs: low to mid thousands
- Evaporator coil replacement. A new indoor coil, matched to the outdoor unit, with refrigerant recovery, brazing, evacuation and recharge. On systems under 10 years old the coil is often covered by the manufacturer's parts warranty, which leaves labor and refrigerant.
- Condenser coil repair or replacement. Less common; often a replacement conversation.
- Compressor replacement. The single most expensive repair. New compressor, filter drier, refrigerant, several hours of labor. On a system older than about 12 years, or any R-22 system, this is almost always money better put toward a new unit, and we will tell you so. The decision framework is in repair or replace your air conditioner.
- Major refrigerant leak inside a wall or under a slab, where the line set has to be rerun.
What moves a quote up or down
Refrigerant type. R-410A is still reasonably priced. R-22 is no longer manufactured and what remains is expensive. The new R-454B and R-32 systems from 2025 onward use different handling and some techs are still tooling up for them.
Diagnosis quality. A system that "needs refrigerant" every June has a leak, and a tech who adds a pound and leaves has sold you the same repair three summers running. A proper leak search with nitrogen and a detector costs more on the first visit and less over the life of the system.
Warranty status. Most manufacturers cover parts for 5 to 10 years if the system was registered. Labor is almost never covered past the first year. We check the serial number before quoting a coil or compressor.
Access. A condenser on a pad behind a Westland ranch is a quick job. A coil in a furnace jammed into a 1970s Canton condo closet with 4 inches of clearance is not.
Age and matching. A 2007 R-22 condenser matched to an R-410A coil is a mismatch nobody should quote. If the right part no longer exists, the honest answer is replacement.
Time of day. A lot of local shops charge 1.5 times labor after 5 p.m. and on weekends. Our rate is the same at midnight on a Sunday in July as it is on a Tuesday morning. The service call fee explainer covers how the trip charge fits in.
How we quote, and what we tell people not to fix
We diagnose first, then write a flat-rate price for the repair and for any alternatives, and you decide before a wrench turns. The dispatch fee is credited toward the repair if you approve it. We do not charge overtime, and estimates on a full replacement are free. More than once we have arrived at a house in Ann Arbor or Superior Township where another company quoted a compressor on a 16-year-old system, and our advice was to not spend that money and to read new AC cost in Michigan instead, because the same dollars go most of the way toward a new system with a warranty and a 30 percent lower electric bill.
The reverse is true too. A 9-year-old system with a dead capacitor does not need to be replaced, no matter what the postcard in your mailbox says, and a repair in the low hundreds will have it running for years.