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AC System leak

10K views 29 replies 4 participants last post by  Hus_sho 
#1 ·
Sprung a leak in my AC system. Had it recharged last weekend and it only worked for 2 days. When we hooked the gauges to the ports they showed almost no pressure in the system.


Used a refrigerant sniffer immediately after the recharge and it picked up some signs of a leak between the dryer and the condenser. FYI, the sniffer is notorious for false positives so I don't trust it.



The service manual indicated that the AC system comes with dye from the factory. I looked around with a uv light, but didn't see and obvious leaks.



Are there common AC components that fail/leak on these cars?
 
#4 ·
Thanks for the tips.



Most/all of the cans of r134a for consumers that contain dye also contain leak stop. Which I am weary of. This will be a last resort.



My next step is to pull some of the front end parts to get a better look. I don't have a lot of time these next few weeks, so I was hoping to hear something like, "blah blah blah fails on everyone of these cars." And I would simply replace that part without properly diagnosing the leak.



Anyway, I'll let you know what I find out.
 
#5 ·
U don't have to worry about the stop leak in R134a can, i wouldn't use stop leak anywhere else like coolant or PS fluid....etc
But in A/C system the stop leak is just a silicone grease that help rubber get soft.
So its totally safe, I've been using it for years on many cars.
 
#8 ·
I read that the expansion valve gets corroded and stuck onto the evaporator so I just checked the 4 mm bolts to see if they would loosen. One did, the other is now stripped.

At this stage I am only going to have access to the pressure washers on the engine side of the expansion valve. I'm guessing those are not the ones that fail though.

 
#9 · (Edited)
I had the same issue last year, the bracket that holds the expansion valve to the Evaporator ( where the two 4 mm cap head screws screw into) rusts. This corrosion cause the two seals to leak.

After reading about it, i ordered all the associated parts, so I wouldn’t waste time. With that said, I was lucky enough to get both screws out and was able to save the evaporator. Many weren’t so lucky, I have read about having to cut the evaporator lines to get to the expansion valve.

With that said, I have some new and used good parts for this job if you are interested.

Good luck
 
#15 ·
I'm going to replace the dryer while I have the system apart. Do I need any additional o-rings when replacing the dryer?

Also, I purchased an evaporator and it came with the bracket. It also came with screws, but they are Phillips head. What length are the hex screws that are normally used?
 
#16 · (Edited)
I believe the dryer with come with the seals. At the time I preformed my repair, the dryer wasn’t available for the V6. I didn’t replace it. I know I should’ve, but couldn’t.

I can double check the old cap head screw I have, but I think they are 35mm long. They are stainless. I can check for sure later tonight.


Just checked, The caphead screws are M5-0.8 35mm. That is the OEM that i removed.
 
#22 ·
The evaporator came with what I thought was a replacement bracket for the expansion valve. Turns out the two threaded holes are not only 10-32 (which I could deal with) but are also not spaced apart enough to line up with the holes in the expansion valve. Now, I could have bought an expansion valve that came with a new bracket, but when I saw this one, I assumed it was a legit bracket. I probably deserve this for buying cheap parts, but come on.

Hopefully I can reuse my old one.

 
#27 ·
I received a replacement for the "bent" drier and it was also bent. The supplier suggested this might be the way its supposed to be. I don't think it will fit without bending the pipe. Which makes me a little uncomfortable. Has anyone replaced one of these before?
 
#26 · (Edited)
Just replaced the evaporator and expansion valve today. That went ok. I ended up salvaging the bracket that came out of the car.

I cut the evaporator lines from inside the car to get that out and get better access to the expansion valve. Once it was out, I drilled off the head of the screw and was able to knock it partially out. I then cut it with a saw so the bracket and part of the screw were free from the expansion valve. With some heat, the rest of the screw came right out. The bracket got wire brushed and hit with a coat of primer.

The evaporator was a TYC. It was very little $$$. The one that came out was much heavier. It was a valeo.

If I were doing this again, I would buy the expansion valve that comes with new screws and bracket.

Also, for future reference, the screws are M5 coarse thread 35mm.
 
#28 ·
You are lucky as that is a perfect fit its obviously got bent on the way to you somewhere its only soft alloy so easily bent back into shape......when I did mine the pipe was much shorter and had to improvise with some cable ties as the bracket wouldnt line up, rather than go through the hassle of returning it etc
 
#29 ·
Everything installed and back up and running. Ended up bending the drier line and it lined up alright.


Unfortunately not getting good distribution of chilled air through the vents.

-Drivers window side vent (60 degrees F)
-Middle Vents (45 degrees F)
-Passenger window side vent (55 degrees F)


Thinking this may be due to the low quality evaporator I put in.



Also, for future reference. The pad mount on top of the drier was corroded in place. Had to remove the section of high side hose with it. Was able to separate the two parts on the bench after drilling out the stud. Fortunately I had the seals on hand. Drier requires 2X seal 24436644.
 
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