Possible ac leak

took it to mechanic last week who recharged it with 134 plus dye and stop leak.

Drove it a week and ac is starting to blow warmer.

Mechanic said it could be a leak from the condenser behind the dash which would cost around 700-800 dollars, Any ideas and comments would be appreciated.

PS he also said the stop leak was not going to do any good if the leak was on the high pressure side.

 

To find out where the leak is, you would need an A/C Sniffer (A hand held device). If you have a evaporator leak which is the one behind your dash, you would need to start the engine and hold the sniffer up to the vent, then you would put the A/C on low to see if that is leaking. The sniffer can also be used to check all areas under the hood for freon leaks. Putting in dye ONLY works if there is a massive leak. The stop leak is all hype, waste of money because there is nothing that will seal an A/C leak whether it be a little or large leak. The dye works with a UV light to check for leaks but like I said before, it would have to be large enough to see that. A/C systems have a certain amount of oil in it, usually spotting some oil stains around any component in an A/C system will varify where the leakage is at. Usually if a Mechanic tells me that the condenser behind the dash is leaking and puts in dye with stop leak in the system will put up a flag to me telling me he does not know what he is doing. Take it to a reputable shop that uses the sniffer instead of trying to put a bandaid where it does not belong.

 

im pretty sure pete is correct on this (im not A/C expert, but what he says makes perfect sense to me)

 

put the defroster on.. if its leaking behind the dash it will fog the heck outta the inside of your windshield.. you would also be smelling it and getting light headed when driving.. also.. if it was leaking from the evap core then it would be a very sudden and raped loss of you AC pressure.. (its all metal) the most feasible places you can have a slow leak would be from your expansion block, anywhere the lines would join together, or from the filler valve on the compressor..

 

An evaporator core leak can be little or large, it all depends on where it is leaking at. It can have a pin hole in it and that is a small leak. Same thing for the condenser. When the OP says that it leaks out in a weeks time, that tells me that he has a small leak in his system. Fogging up the windshield could also be a heater core leak so that in itself would not constitute a leaking evap. core. Like I said before, take it to a reputable shop that uses an Freon Leak Detector (A/C Sniffer) and that is the only 100% way of telling where the leak is at. Slow leaks are very hard to trace down without the right equipment, large leaks are very easy to see or hear and the freon would not last a week in the system.

 

id trust pete, this is what he does for a living (kinda)

 

Thanks Sharps. Yes I am certified in A/C but just ask Hydra, I am still a shade tree mechanack.

 

a "pin hole" leak on the high pressure side doesn't really make too much sense though unless its at a union joined by a seal or packing, like in the expansion core. On the inside of the firewall its all just the metal tubing with no joining parts. a pin hole leak on the inside would cause quick decompression and is pretty unlikely. (even though the evap is low pressure) My comment on where to look for the leak holds true and given the information i would doubt it to be the evap. But i have been proven wrong so we'll see..

 

Yup, I think I gave him that certified title........

 

We're all some sort of "certified" here! LOL!!!