I have an A/C leak somewhere in my 2001 Dak 4.7L. I'm attempting to locate it myself, but haven't had much luck so far with the dye. The front of the condenser is a bit beat up and I would like to view the back. There is no coolant in the system so evacuating will not be an issue.

I want to remove the condenser, but the two bolts that hold it on just turn without actually coming out. What am I doing wrong? To be clear, the bolts I'm talking about are down at the bottom of the condenser near the bottom of the plastic bumper. The bolts will take a hex wrench as well, but they don't do anything different than a socket would.

 

Sniffers work better at finding leaks but not sure you can rent them.

On the bolts what year is your Dakota it sounds like a newer 2nd gen model 2001 to 2004 they are different than my older 1998 Dak so I cant help there but it sounds like they are stripped out to me.

The dye sucks in my opinion and diminishes your cooling capacity by 8% not good in Hot Arizona its like a contaminate in the system

 

Sorry, I did a ninja edit. It's a 2001 4.7. The crazy thing is both bolts behave the same. They act tight, then loosen, then go back tight.

 

Try this if you have the room pull up on the bolt as you turn it this will get it past the stripped threads a pry screwdriver works good on this problem the end looks like a nail puller

 

The staple puller didn't really help much. What's happening when I turn the bolt is that square shaped silver "nut" turns along with it. I tried wedging a screwdriver to stop the nut from turning, but didn't have much luck. Surely it can't be this complex to remove.

 

Ok I didn't know they used the clip nuts you may need to use something to cut the clip nut out or use way more force to get it out.

Have you used some spray lubrication on them? You may need to cut or grind the bolt heads off to get them out

So they look kind of like these?

 

I haven't used WD-40 because the bolt spins freely. I don't want to destroy the bolt or nut either because eventually it has to go back on. Unfortunately space to work is at a premium because of the bumbers being in the way. I may try holding the nut with a vice grip or needle nose plyers while I have my wife turn the ratchet. Why something as simple as bolting a part to another part have to be so difficult?? Yeesh