In my car I have switched over to the new refrigerant last year. I drove the car and air was really cold and everything worked great. I went on vacation in june and came back to find that I didn't have any air. I took it to the place that had did my switch last year and they checked it for leaks with the dye stuff. Never found a leak. He put 1lbs. of refrigerant in the system and it is ice cold again. My question is where is the refrigerant going? At a certain point do you have to replace the refrigerant every year?
Just don't get it it's a closed system nothing should be getting out and if it was then the leak should be seen right? I hope this is the right board to put this under..

Kevin

 

You might want to post this under a specific "generation".... since you apparently had to switch to R-134a it must be a 3rd Gen or older. Maybe the people with similar cars would be more familiar with the issues.

What year are we talking about?

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Fred
94 Formula A3: 381/TH400/N2O

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11.513@115.59 on motor; 11.162@127.67, 1.643 60' on a 125-shot. Going with a 275-shot this year

 

Actually the '93 didn't come with 134a...
When you recharged your a/c, did you reduce the pound charge by at least 10%? If not, you may have vented some refrigerant via a relief valve built onto the rear of the compressor...or you may have a leak. When you changed over, was your system flushed and o-rings changed? Was the system evacuated (pumped-down) with a vacuum pump for an extended period of time, and was a PEG oil introduced to replace the old oil?... Is your condencer debree-free? Just a few ideas for you to kick around...

 

Those are some good ideas, I checked with them and they didn't know if they replaced the oil, but they did reduce the pressure and they didn't leave it on vaccum for too long. They are trying to tell me that it's the extractor that is leaking. But wouldn't you be able to see the dye coming from it? I'm just wondering if this is a bad place to keep taking my A/C to be fixed..

Kevin

 

Oh yes they did

Anyways if it started working again after you put more refrigerant in it then it's probably leaking from somewhere.

I know someone who had a similar problem with their Civic. It kept leaking and not even the dye test could find it. Turns out it was leaking from the evaporator (part under the dash) and they never checked that part.

Anyways good luck!



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Jason
93 TA, M6

 

That's what they said the evaporator, not the extractor.. but wouldn't the dye be on the floor?? How much does a evaporator cost?

Kevin

 

93 was the cut off year for R12, some came with 12 others with 134A. now if yours came with the R12 and they converted to 134A. With the POE oil that is required for 134A the R12 hoses will break down internally and will start to seep. The dyetell that they put in has a hard time showing up with that type of leak. Also the clutch will seep if in the winter time you do not run your defrosters.(the compressor engages to remove the humidity). That helps to keep the seals lubed up. eather way you do have a leak on the system, an electronic leak detektor will find were it is at. if all the shop you are going to has is dyetell find another that has a proper leak detektor.
I work on commercial refrigeration systems that is how I have come to learn these things. Good luck Later

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Steve
69 Camaro 355ci, Dart Pro-1's, Flowed by CFM. Solid Roller 6" rods 13.2-1 Comp Turbo350 Trans 4700 stall.4:88 gears 29" Slicks or MH RaceMasters on the street