Air conditioner is leaking

[McLin]

Hi,

my air conditioner on my 98 Lumina is leaking. I think this is an common problem, because the 2nd Lumina had this problem too.

Did anybody know an common place where the air conditioner is leaking?

[Schurkey]

Every rubber o-ring in the system, the compressor clutch shaft seal, and any aluminum part that corrodes through or gets punctured by flying road debris, such as the condenser.

In other words, the entire system is prone to failure.

Look for A/C oil traces, often thickened with dust and road dirt.

Thanks to the environmentalists, A/C work is mostly not a Do-It-Yourself project anymore. Years ago, nobody cared if the A/C lost a pound of refrigerant a year. Now they measure the leaks in fractions of an ounce per year. Might want to consider having a professional with leak-detection equipment find and repair your leak.

[Blue Bowtie]

A common place for leakage is the compressor case end seals (belly leak). Most replacement compressors have solved this problem with a design change.

[McLin]

I was in a shop, they made an vacuum test, and there was no leakage. But ther was 0 Gramm of gas in. So they filled the 850 Gramm in and the air conditioner is working. I hope longer then 2 days

[brcidd]

If there was "no leakage" how do you explain the fact it was empty?

[Schurkey]

Originally Posted by brcidd

If there was "no leakage" how do you explain the fact it was empty?

Winner.

A/C shop didn't FIND the leak(s). Obviously didn't look very hard.

[McLin]

Originally Posted by brcidd

If there was "no leakage" how do you explain the fact it was empty?

Because the ac does not worked, and the printout from the filling machine printed that outgoing was 0 Gramm gas and 0 ml oil. These facts told me that the ac was empty.

[Schurkey]

Originally Posted by McLin

Because the ac does not worked, and the printout from the filling machine printed that outgoing was 0 Gramm gas and 0 ml oil. These facts told me that the ac was empty.

Therefore, the original refrigerant charge LEAKED OUT.

If there was no leak, the original refrigerant charge would still be trapped inside.

[McLin]

Ok, one more question:

can I replace the condenser without removing the radiator? If I remove the fans somebody can push the radiator back, and I can pull the condenser out..

I had this year enough from Lumina repairing and of the coolant topic...