A/C leaking freon..

[Syringer]

So about a year ago I the A/C in my '02 Ford Explorer wasn't blowing cool air anymore, so I got a recharge, and no more than two months later or so it was dead again signifying that there's some sort of crack in the compressor (?).

How much then can I expect to pay for a mechanic to fix this? I think the process is that they have to put some sort of dye in there to figure out where the leak is, and from there patch it up somehow..and from my guy made it sound last time it can get a bit costly.

Would it be worthwhile at all to go to a junkyard and find an A/C somewhere, or just to have it repaired. Any estimates on how much it could cost?

 

[Billb2]

What makes you think the compressor is where the leak is at?
It could be anywhere. That's what the dye is for.
If it is the compressor, think $$$$ (like around $500). If it's the condenser (the radiator in front of the regular radiator) or the evaporator (in the ductwork), maybe $250.
If it's just a hose, $50.

 

[boomerang]

Yeah, you're just going to have to bite the bullet and take it in for an estimate. You'll have to pay for their time to diagnose the leak and decide from there if you want to take on the additional expense of actually fixing it.

Think of it like going to the Doctor. You're going to pay him to determine what your problem is, but the surgery is going to be extra.

See if you can find a shop that has a leak detector. You may get a less expensive repair from people that are willing to spend the money for real test equipment. Dye is kind of ghetto.

 

[bruceb]

AC dye is not ghetto. In fact, sometimes the only way to find an elusive leak is with the dye. Electronic leak detectors, while good, are far from pefect. That is also why dyes are used to find leaks in a car cooling system or power steering. You put in the dye, run the system for about 10 min, then turn off your workspace lights. A UV lamp and special googles that see the UV trace dye does the rest.

 

[boomerang]

Originally posted by: bruceb
AC dye is not ghetto. In fact, sometimes the only way to find an elusive leak is with the dye. Electronic leak detectors, while good, are far from pefect. That is also why dyes are used to find leaks in a car cooling system or power steering. You put in the dye, run the system for about 10 min, then turn off your workspace lights. A UV lamp and special googles that see the UV trace dye does the rest.

Fair enough. Every tech I've ever mentioned dye to doesn't care for it. (For A/C) Maybe opinions vary. I understand your reasoning and won't argue.

Edit: Added (For A/C) Because that's the only context for which I've ever discussed dye.

 

[crosshairs]

Originally posted by: bruceb
AC dye is not ghetto. In fact, sometimes the only way to find an elusive leak is with the dye. Electronic leak detectors, while good, are far from perfect. That is also why dyes are used to find leaks in a car cooling system or power steering. You put in the dye, run the system for about 10 min, then turn off your workspace lights. A UV lamp and special googles that see the UV trace dye does the rest.

agree...I haven't used a leak detector in years....
dye is the only way to go these days....

I repair probably 50 systems a season and have damn near 100% success rate with dye

 

[boomerang]

Originally posted by: crosshairs

Originally posted by: bruceb
AC dye is not ghetto. In fact, sometimes the only way to find an elusive leak is with the dye. Electronic leak detectors, while good, are far from perfect. That is also why dyes are used to find leaks in a car cooling system or power steering. You put in the dye, run the system for about 10 min, then turn off your workspace lights. A UV lamp and special googles that see the UV trace dye does the rest.

agree...I haven't used a leak detector in years....
dye is the only way to go these days....

I repair probably 50 systems a season and have damn near 100% success rate with dye

Wow! Guess I'm getting out of touch with what's going on these days. I just had my mothers car in for A/C service within the last several weeks and the owner was griping that there was dye in the system. Maybe he's old school or something.

 

[Pacfanweb]

Dye is GREAT. I was using it back in the early 90's. That and a good leak detector are your friends.

Many factory systems come with dye. A lot of the aftermarket recharge cans come with it, too. Shoot some of that, and get out your black light, and you may well find your leak.

Otherwise, you need to take it in to a shop and get it diag'd.

 

[bruceb]

Do you have your ac certs yet ? ? I have both MACS for autos and EPA608 Type 1 cert for household size ac units.
Between them I can purchase R-22 or R-12 or R-134A as needed.

 

[Pacfanweb]

Originally posted by: bruceb
Do you have your ac certs yet ? ? I have both MACS for autos and EPA608 Type 1 cert for household size ac units.
Between them I can purchase R-22 or R-12 or R-134A as needed.

I've had A/C cert since the mid-90's. I can buy all that stuff, too. Of course, anyone can buy R-134.
Had to take some ASE stupid test to get the certification, IIRC.

 

[dud]

OP,

Go out and buy a can of R-134a Stop Leak. It'l set you back a few bucks but it may solve your problem. Put it into your AC system and have it (you can do it yourself) recharged to full capacity. Wait a few weeks/months and see if it plugs the leak.

Good luck ...

 

[BATCH71]

Prepare to be assraped.

I just got done paying about $800 to have the ac fixed in my 98 chevy 1500

It was a hose, then they could not get the hose off, so then a new accumulator, then the compressor didn't work right so that needed to be changed. It was a f'ing nightmare that snowball effected from the get go.

Lesson is: When the AC goes South, wave goodbye and enjoy the windows down

Dave

 

[brblx]

sounds like kind of a shitty shop. they should quote an accumulator any time the system is opened, anyway, and any tech worth his salt would have verified compressor operation before selling a simple hose.

not that it would have likely costed any less (assuming the compressor was indeed bad). but shops who do jobs like that give everyone else a bad name.

 

[DarkThinker]

Today I turned on my AC system and discovered it was dead, hot air was coming out of the thing. I had not used my AC for a year pretty much.

So I went to a Murray's (An AutoZone like store) and I purchased an 18oz can of Ez-Chill R-134a Refrigerant & Leak Sealer for $25, it comes with an inline AC gas pressure meter and has a table on the back to indicate proper ( pressure vs temperature ) values.

I checked the refrigerant pressure value for my car and it was about 10 psi, way too low. So I knew the problem is R-134a related and not necessarily a hardware failure. So I followed the instructions on the can and refilled my A/C.

I then took a long trip, A/C worked just as it should. Now all I need to observe, is the R-134a pressure, if it doesn't drop back to where it was within the summer, then the leak was fixed with the can otherwise, it will need to be inspected.

 

[brblx]

stop leak isn't a permanent solution. i wouldn't want that stuff going through my compressor or dryer, but besides that it will always leak again, probably sooner rather than later.

 

[Bignate603]

Originally posted by: DarkThinker
I checked the refrigerant pressure value for my car and it was about 10 psi, way too low. So I knew the problem is R-134a related and not necessarily a hardware failure. So I followed the instructions on the can and refilled my A/C.

I would still think a leak is a hardware problem.

Not all AC problems are pricey. I took mine in because it wasn't working and it turned out that the valve core on the fill valve was loose. Tightening that up and refilling it was all that was needed. There's no way to know though until you take it in.

 

[DarkThinker]

Originally posted by: Bignate603

Originally posted by: DarkThinker
I checked the refrigerant pressure value for my car and it was about 10 psi, way too low. So I knew the problem is R-134a related and not necessarily a hardware failure. So I followed the instructions on the can and refilled my A/C.

I would still think a leak is a hardware problem.

Not all AC problems are pricey. I took mine in because it wasn't working and it turned out that the valve core on the fill valve was loose. Tightening that up and refilling it was all that was needed. There's no way to know though until you take it in.

What I meant is, since my AC is working now, I know the R134a leaking was the problem and not something else being faulty like I don't know, a compressor problem for instance. If a tech tries to tell me something else, I would ask another place to see what they would say first. It should be diagnosed as a leak for sure.

 

[Bignate603]

Originally posted by: DarkThinker

Originally posted by: Bignate603

Originally posted by: DarkThinker
I checked the refrigerant pressure value for my car and it was about 10 psi, way too low. So I knew the problem is R-134a related and not necessarily a hardware failure. So I followed the instructions on the can and refilled my A/C.

I would still think a leak is a hardware problem.

Not all AC problems are pricey. I took mine in because it wasn't working and it turned out that the valve core on the fill valve was loose. Tightening that up and refilling it was all that was needed. There's no way to know though until you take it in.

What I meant is, since my AC is working now, I know the R134a leaking was the problem and not something else being faulty like I don't know, a compressor problem for instance. If a tech tries to tell me something else, I would ask another place to see what they would say first. It should be diagnosed as a leak for sure.

I see your point. I guess knowing that its a leak rather than a blown compressor when you take it into the shop would be useful.

 

[Meghan54]

Goddam necro. Posting a response to an 8 year old thread. Spam, anyone? Or look out in FS/FT....you've got another hot one coming soon.

Hi, I suggest you to find the any leak into your a/c. If you can't find it perfect location of leakage. You should try refrigerant leak detector. It will be help you. I know to stop leak is not permanent solution. But, you should try it. When you find new A/C then you can change it. Now, you just try to stop leak.

 

[darkswordsman17]

This actually almost would've been a good thread for me as seem to have gotten a leak in the A/C system on my Mom's 2006 Prius. It was working fine a couple of months ago (and for the whole time we'd had it, blowing nice cold air in Phoenix heat for months), but now it doesn't blow cold air. Can't see any signs of leak (all the A/C pipes look clean). Initially I thought the compressor wasn't turning on (couldn't hear it, saw no flow at all through the sight glass), but then it started working. Blower motor was obviously working. Changed the cabin filter (when Googling have seen some have even Toyota dealerships tell them that can make it not blow cold air although I think more it would prevent it from blowing adequate amount of air if it was like totally clogged; but it needed changed anyway). I think I saw something about getting some codes from the Climate system that could possibly be used to diagnose but not sure I did it right (did the method and it caused that menu to kinda react but didn't seem to be doing what it would to show the code). Not sure if I should have it checked out at a shop (there's some that even specialize in hybrids in this area), or just recharge.

Also found out that the electric compressor needs special refrigerant with some non-conductive oil (lubricates the compressor, which actually sits in the refrigerant fluid as well?), otherwise it could short the compressor. Seems that they sell recharge kits with that already.