AC woes....

[Warren96]

My AC has a leak somewhere, and I don't see an oily spot on the system that is visible. Since this is the first time it's needed any TLC, I just added gas last year. Has anyone else had any luck finding a leak a leak in there system?

[rameye]

Charge it with the UV dyed freon...buy the glasses...find the leak....available @ autozone ..advance autoparts...etc.

[Robyn]

Best way bar none is a "sniffer" (electronic unit that has a flexible sniff snout)

My be is that either the compressor front shaft seal is leaking or you have hose/connection leak.

The hoses can leak at the crimps
The High pressure cutoff switch can leak through the connectors if the thing fails.

Any of the O ring connections can leak.
Condensers can fail as can the evaporator.

The schrader valves at either the high pressure or low pressure ports can fail too.

The sniffer will howl like a Banshee if it detects any of the producrs.

I prefer the sniffers over the glow additives.

Many leaks are just enough to drain the system but not enough to show any oil seepage

Soap bubbles are good for checking fittings and such.


Missy

[rustyk]

I'm with Missy - dye is nice - if the leak is in the open, but a leak in the condenser or evaporator won't show up.

[Robyn]

In my many years od doing Auto HVAC work, I have only seen one (1) leaking evaporator core.

Seen a few condensers with holes from junk crammed through the grille.

Generally its hose crimps, fitting O rings and schrader (charge ) valves and pump seals that are the usual culprits.

The low pressure/cycle switch on the accumulator can leak as can high pressure relief valves (if equiped) and high pressure cutout switches.

Get a sniffer and snoop the system out.

As I mentioned the dye is fine but it takes a buttload of it to show much.

I had a hose crimp on DaHooooley that would leak the system down to a no work condition in two days and not show any oil leaks.


Missy

[phantom309]

pulling the dash apart to replace the evap,. is a dirty rotten SOb job,..
BTDT ipulled the pass front bucket made it easy..er aargh.

Nick

[rustyk]

I had an evap core leak on an '87 Honda Accord

[Hooptybass]

i had a evap core leak in my 93 jeep cherokee and 98 Grand cherokee .. blah not fun to fix

[Warren96]

Maybe mixing up some bubbles will be a good place to start. Excuse me it's time for my bubble bath!

[Warren96]

I don't know how I could have missed that 8'' oily spot on the bottom of the condenser.Has anybody had any luck soldering them or should I spend the almost $200 for a new one?

[rustyk]

Fuggedaboudit - get a new one...

[kaylabryn]

If using R134a then I would look at replacing the condenser with a better one from here. http://www.ackits.com/c/Parallel/Parallel+Flow+Condensers+-+Aluminum.html They are universal Parallel flow like the new vehicles, much better at shedding the heat. You will have to change the lines a little but for the cooling performance gain it is worth it. Where you live may not be a problem with cooling performance from the stock GM systems but out here is AZ they suck around town. Tried it all bigger fans, more fans, even additional condensers (complicated but works well) these work the best for the effort. Don't forget to replace the Receiver dryer, and orifice, replace all the accessible seals. I would also pick up some Nylog from the same place to put on all the seals, works great to keep the system sealed. Good luck.

Mike

[More Power]

I don't know how I could have missed that 8'' oily spot on the bottom of the condenser.Has anybody had any luck soldering them or should I spend the almost $200 for a new one?

I had to modify a new condenser that I used in Lil Red - i.e. remove the top 4 cross tubes. The ends of the cut tubes needed to be sealed, so I rolled the tubes about 1/4" and crimped them, then aluminum soldered the crimped ends. Not an easy job but doable. Use a propane/butane hand torch and flux-filled aluminum rod. Practice on the waste ends before committing to the part you want to fix. Use carb cleaner to remove all of the oil from the area you're soldering, followed up with a stainless-steel brush to roughen and clean the soldering area.

Takes patience, but is doable....

Jim

[Robyn]

You should be able to scare up a decent used one.
If not then dont waste the time fooling around.

I have repaired these things but it is very time consuming and tedious, and if your like me, the air tends to get a tad blue in the immediate vicinity when things dont go just right.

From there it's goes downhill real quick :eek:

Missy

[Warren96]

Looking at the condenser from the front, I thought that the pipe in it was round. But it's not, it's flat almost like a lasagna noodle. The pipes that bring the freon from the system, enter a 2'' square manifold with two "lasagna noodles'' running to the top manifold then to a pipe to the rest of the system. That looked like a nightmare, waiting to happen, not something I wanted to do again so I installed a new one from NAPA. The new one works fine. My thanks go out to all the members who replied to my post who offered guidance on how to proceed on a repair that turned out less painfull than I originaly thought it was.