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#1
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Air conditioning leak
'86 LX Hatchback, 3.8
My air conditioning went almost overnight from cooling adequately to blowing hot air. The clutch was cycling on and off at about two second intervals. I found that the high side schrader valve was leaking so I took it in to get a new valve and have it evacuated and recharged. The shop put dye in so they could look for leaks in a few days. It was cooling good, and I took it back four days later. The mechanic said there was a small leak at the compressor front seal, but I might be good for the rest of the summer. About a week later, after not having run the AC for a couple of days, it started to blow hot again. (I don't mean heater hot, just outside air hot.) I took it back to the shop and they said the compressor was leaking at the seams and needed to be replaced. If the compressor was leaking that bad why didn't the guy say so when he first checked it? Maybe the evaporator is leaking. They said they sprayed soapy water on the evaporator and observed the runoff under a black light, but when I bring it to have the compressor replaced they will check the evaporator with pressure. Having replaced the heater core I know that it's a huge job to replace the evaporator. I also know that there's no way they could have gotten to the evaporator with water. I looked at the system with a black light and I do see a small amount of dye on the seams of the compressor. As fast as it depressurized I would think that there would be a lot of dye. I pressed the schrader valve for a second and could see a lot of dye there. My questions: Could the compressor be leaky enough to lose enough freon to make it blow hot in a few days and still not show much dye on the seal or seams? Could it still have enough freon but something else is causing the symptoms (hot air and clutch cycling)? Thanks, Mr. Bones |
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#2
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Air conditioning leak
AC repair can, at times, be a fickle wench.... I have an ambulance amongst
my "charges" that will hold a vacuum all day, but wont hold a refrigerant charge for longer than a month.... " Mr. Bones" > wrote in message news:8b9Ig.8336$WK4.6945@fed1read06... > '86 LX Hatchback, 3.8 > > My air conditioning went almost overnight from cooling adequately to > blowing > hot air. The clutch was cycling on and off at about two second intervals. > I found that the high side schrader valve was leaking so I took it in to > get > a new valve and have it evacuated and recharged. The shop put dye in so > they could look for leaks in a few days. It was cooling good, and I took > it > back four days later. The mechanic said there was a small leak at the > compressor front seal, but I might be good for the rest of the summer. > About a week later, after not having run the AC for a couple of days, it > started to blow hot again. (I don't mean heater hot, just outside air > hot.) > I took it back to the shop and they said the compressor was leaking at the > seams and needed to be replaced. > > If the compressor was leaking that bad why didn't the guy say so when he > first checked it? Maybe the evaporator is leaking. They said they > sprayed > soapy water on the evaporator and observed the runoff under a black light, > but when I bring it to have the compressor replaced they will check the > evaporator with pressure. Having replaced the heater core I know that > it's > a huge job to replace the evaporator. I also know that there's no way > they > could have gotten to the evaporator with water. > > I looked at the system with a black light and I do see a small amount of > dye > on the seams of the compressor. As fast as it depressurized I would think > that there would be a lot of dye. I pressed the schrader valve for a > second > and could see a lot of dye there. > > My questions: Could the compressor be leaky enough to lose enough freon > to > make it blow hot in a few days and still not show much dye on the seal or > seams? Could it still have enough freon but something else is causing the > symptoms (hot air and clutch cycling)? > > Thanks, > > Mr. Bones > > |
#3
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Air conditioning leak
Whayever did I manage there???
Anyway, this ambulance has a hard time holding a charge.... I don't know how much dye I've got in the system (read that as lots) and I've about torn the bus apart looking for tattletales... nada.... replaced every O-ring... charged the thing with nitrogen and used soapy water all over the place.... In your case, I would address the leaks you can see and work from there.... If the car jas been converted to use R-134a, we must remember that these molecules (I am told) are very small molecules - even to the point of being capable of leeching through some rubber compounds.... |
#4
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Air conditioning leak
> > In your case, I would address the leaks you can see and work from there.... > If the car jas been converted to use R-134a, we must remember that these > molecules (I am told) are very small molecules - even to the point of being > capable of leeching through some rubber compounds.... > I'm still using R-12, which is why I have to have a shop do the work. I'm not going to convert to R134 at this time, but I'll leave that discussion for another thread. |
#5
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Air conditioning leak
Not sure what the current price of R12 is in your area.... I can imagine it
is "painful"... Last I saw in our area, it was a bout $700 COST for a 30# keg... we are not permitted to use it in automotive applications but for logging and construction applications, it is still legal... And I really have no idea what that is all about (other than, possibly, political contributions...). " Mr. Bones" > wrote in message news:4PiIg.14245$WK4.9999@fed1read06... > >> > In your case, I would address the leaks you can see and work from > there.... >> If the car jas been converted to use R-134a, we must remember that these >> molecules (I am told) are very small molecules - even to the point of > being >> capable of leeching through some rubber compounds.... >> > > I'm still using R-12, which is why I have to have a shop do the work. I'm > not going to convert to R134 at this time, but I'll leave that discussion > for another thread. > > |
#6
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Air conditioning leak
Jim Warman wrote:
> Not sure what the current price of R12 is in your area.... I can imagine it > is "painful"... > > Last I saw in our area, it was a bout $700 COST for a 30# keg... we are not > permitted to use it in automotive applications but for logging and > construction applications, it is still legal... And I really have no idea > what that is all about (other than, possibly, political contributions...). > Hmmmm, I wonder if Algore knows that the evil logging industry has that loop hole?? -- When you click the "Forgot password?" button it sends you to a screen where you can change your password. If you first enter your old password. We're talking high-quality programming here, boys. - OrionCA rec.games.computer.ultima.online I used to have abs. Now, I've just got ab. One big ol' Ab. - BigSkiff www.titanspot.com Pyongyang sounds more like the sound effect an ACME catapult makes as it goes off at precisely the wrong moment for Wile E. Coyote. - Cadbury Moose |
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