Anyone ever had any luck with a/c stop leak stuff?

[jme5343]

I have an a/c leak in my 98 Chevy venture. I'm not sure exactly how long it holds a charge, but it holds for 4 to 5 days at the least. I'm watching it more closely now that it's hot as blazes.

I had a mechanic buddy put some dye in today and drove it for an hour or so afterward and we can't find the leak. Checked the common leakage points (condenser and rear a/c lines) and nothing.


It takes 4 $3 cans of coolant to charge and I do it myself. So, $12 to charge it every week, let's say. If some stop leak could slow down or even stop the leak, it would save some $$. But if I hear a resounding no from everyone, I won't waste my time...

If you did have one that worked, what was it?

 

[T2urtle]

it can leak at the compressor....

generally if you have a leak at the AC hard lines i would JB weld it up to slow down the leak. my parents camry has a minor leak. I just gotta top it off once a year. $5 a can works for me.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Leak stop will gum up the compressor. It's not a good idea. All it really does is introduce sludge into the system in the hopes of clogging the leak before it clogs anything vital.

ZV

 

[alkemyst]

My wife's car had a compressor/clutch problem. I think it was just the clutch, but it's wasn't worth the savings to chance it. I was quoted ~$1000 for the job and ended up replacing the compressor, dryer, expansion valve (to get the warranty it was required) myself, and having the shop just do the vacuum and refill for $60.

I did the job for about $400-500.

At $10-20/can every week you will be pretty close to simply fixing the problem area for a little bit of cash up front.

I would recommend refilling next time with freon with die and look for the leak. It could be as simple as a compression fitting.

At that stage you'd need the fitting, a dryer and someone to vacuum and refill...maybe around $100-150 if that's it. You always need to do the dryer when you open the system. If you don't do a vacuum you will never get the moisture out (the vacuum mainly decreases pressure to boil out the water rather than sucking it out actually).

Stop leaks in general just cause more problems than they help. I have maybe heard one success story out of many using stop leaks for radiators, engines, a/c, etc...and many additional problem stories caused by them.

 

[Bignate603]

I have a '97 venture that was suffering from AC pressure loss. It turns out that it was just a bad fill valve. It was a really cheap fix.

 

[Elstupido]

Personally I have never seen any kind of stop leak product work, with the exception of radiator stuff that may work on a very slight leak. Other than that, forget it.

 

[RU482]

My 03 Pontiac Montana decided to quit working about two months ago. I grabbed a can of the re-charge w/ sealer & conditioner and gave it a try before taking it anywhere for diagnosis. It came with a dispensor that had a gauge on it (very handy).

First thing I noticed when I hooked it up was low pressure. I proceeded to pump the entire can in, got it up to the correct pressure, and it's been working fine ever since.

Hope you have the same luck!

 

[radioouman]

Originally posted by: redly1
My 03 Pontiac Montana decided to quit working about two months ago. I grabbed a can of the re-charge w/ sealer & conditioner and gave it a try before taking it anywhere for diagnosis. It came with a dispensor that had a gauge on it (very handy).

First thing I noticed when I hooked it up was low pressure. I proceeded to pump the entire can in, got it up to the correct pressure, and it's been working fine ever since.

Hope you have the same luck!

My Dad has had luck with the stop leak stuff too in one of his cars that had a small leak. It didn't help another one of his cars that seemed to have a much worse leak.

 

[Mxylplyx]

I just had a leak fixed in my A/C yesterday. Many times the leak is in the high or low side charge ports, and is inexpensive to fix. Take it somewhere and let them check it out. My bill was about $120 to replace both ports, and vacuum/charge the system.

 

[mooseracing]

Originally posted by: Elstupido
Personally I have never seen any kind of stop leak product work, with the exception of radiator stuff that may work on a very slight leak. Other than that, forget it.

And just like any other stop leak stuff it plugs the rest of the system up.


Why is AC that important, roll your windows down if you can't afford to fix it properly.

Or buy the cheaper dye kit and do it yourself a few times to see if you can find the leak. It's best to search for the leak around midnight when it is really dark and you just use a single light to look for the leak. The dye shows up very well th

 

[jme5343]

A can of refrigerant is $3, wth would I spend $800 to fix it if I can get by with adding a can once a week. Granted, the problem will not get better and very likely will get worse. I will probably go ahead and take it in to have it diagnosed, b/c we did add dye when we charged it Saturday. It remained cold through yesterday. Even now it's still cool, but colder on one side than the other. Hopefully it's a port issue and not compressor or clutch. What I don't want it for them to start throwing parts at it.

 

[xanis]

I had a leak a while back and those recharge kits didn't work. Why? Because my leak was in the compressor. It cost me $400 for parts and labor to get a new one installed (I know somebody) and it's been running like a champ ever since. I would definitely go take it to an A/C specialist and see what they have to say.