Yes, and no....

Ouch!! Not what I wanted to hear.

But thanks anyway.

Looks like a $300 or $400 bill in my near future.

Have you tried tapping the front evaporator's TEV yet? It might be stuck closed.

Low on gas perhaps?

Possibly but OP reckons that the rear evaporator is working fine.

I'm guessing the OP is just trying to figure out what his potential jeopardy is when he takes it to get fixed by someone who might actually have a manifold gauge.

I assumed two separate systems, but that could have been an error in my interpretation of his statements.

if possible ensure that the front evaporator is actually getting cold....

That is if you can get a view of it with maybe an IR Thermometer...

Also is there airflow actually occuring thru the front evap?

if a single shutter/damper isn't in the proper place (open/closed), airflow thru the evap may be blocked and bypassing it, causing one to think the air is actually out...

Dodges aren't known for good plastics (see dash cracks in trucks), the dampers sometimes break and hang up... (I've got a piece of coat hanger stuck thru one of my dampers to open/close it for summer/winter ops)

Lastly the TXV... There should be Temp drop across the front TXV (Thermostatic Expansion Valve), and this should be similar to the Rear TXV.

If there is no Drop, try light taps with your hand, if you hurt your hand, you're hitting too hard... no metal, or plastic... Rubber maybe if you're careful..... Modern cars are eggshells compared to my 77 Buick Electra Limited I miss sooooo much..

It's a split system 1 compressor, 1 condenser and 2 evaporators with expansion valves.

System pressures high and low side were reasonably close. I have the gages necessary to measure it and did that the first thing. I didn't bother with the temperature measurements the system manual says is necessary to determine optimum charge since the rear unit passed the cooldown test the manual gave.

In any event the expansion valve (and dryer) was replaced today and it now works again.

Thanks for the suggestions.

PS: I did try giving the valve a rap or two (and a good deal harder than suggested) but no change.

Well done.

How much did that set you back?

I have seen split systems where the first warning of a low refrigerant charge was one of the evaporators not getting cold enough. The clue was the return line from that evaporator was not as cold as it should have been. Usually the feel of the return line is a good clue to the charge levels. Another thing that had me going once was an evaporator that was clogged with crap on the outside, blocking air flow. Once cleaned (luckily it had a filter) the extra air now was able to warm up the refrigerant , and then the low charge became evident. Diminished air flow across the evaporator is hard to detect. Good luck.

Shagged TXV exhibits the same symptoms as low refrigerant.

OP's sorted it apparently.

Despite a certain inclination to shoot the messenger I gave SolarEagle the GA on this one although everybody gave good advice.

Not having the tools necessary to (nicely) evacuate or vacuum the system out I hired out the job to the tune of $600 US (ouch!) I figure I could have saved perhaps $250 of that buying the parts and replacing them myself. Given the amount of labor necessary to gain working access to the valve (it's well buried) not an unreasonable charge.

I find doing my own diagnostics prevents being ripped off either inadvertently or intentionally. Not to mention I found the air filter I was told didn't exist when I tried to buy one as part of general maintenance.

Self scoping helps prevent a ripoff for sure.

Getting someone else to do the spannering saves knuckle bark.

$250 for labour and $350 for parts/gas?

The labour component sounds reasonable for western market (that is where you are right?). Parts seem to be a bit steep there.

Here's a US based supplier for realistic price comparison. Still a lot cheaper.

Na, With the laws around here and whatnot it works out to $100 to pump it out and $200 to vacuum and fill it with 2.8 lbs and makeup oil. Prices I got for parts varied from $50 to $100 depending on just how long I was willing to wait for them (or stand the current weather which has been running 90F to 100F lately).

There was also a consideration that not having much hands on experience with these systems, messing up one of the minimum of 6 seals involved means I get to do it all over again, paying a premium to get educated.