3.8 litre, dual cooling, 160K, good runner

Okay, some but not great cooling. Probably have a slow leak in system cause it fails completely in two to four weeks, then a coupla cans of 134 and back up again.

Bought a set of gauges, and I would like to get smarter about AC. After putting in freon, high side reads 45 psi with compressor running, and about 6psi on low side. This seems very low compared to factory manual, but it does cool? also seemed to be a LOT of bubbling in the sight-glass. I'm of the opinion that the compressor is worn out, but would really appreciate any advice from the experts.

Thanx

 

well the bubbles is because u have not fixed the leak where ever and thats air and water in the system.
U should have 200 high and 30 to 50 low side. U might have several different issues.

 

Thanx for the come-back, DodgeTech. This'll sound dumb, but when I went looking for dye marks, I noticed that the condenser (that's the thing in front of the Radiator, Right?) is concave rather than straight like a radiator. I've never owned a GC before, so I don't know if it's supposed to be, but it looks as if the car had been hit dead center front. Looking behind the heavy gray molding, There's a fiberglass lower body piece that's broken, and the heavy support rod running top tp bottom is bent and pressed into the center of the Condenser. Could this be where I'm leaking, like between the radiator and condenser where I can't see, and really, do I want to get much deeper into this since I expect that it's gonna be mondo expensive. I'm a halfway decent shade-tree mech, but like I said, I'm fairly clueless on ac, but trying to learn.

Thanx again

 

that would be a starting point u will see green dye come out under a UV light

 

Yep, yer right, a little dye on the front (visible) side of condensor, I suspect a lot more on the hidden side between the condensor and radiator. Got another dumb question... factory manual identifies high side (discharge) service port up by the firewall, and suction down by the dryer but the service ports seem to be backward, the high side connector from the gauge fits only the one near the dryer, and vice/versa. Also, a recharge kit also fits only at the port by the firewall. Is there a possibility someone switched the physical ports or was there a factory screw-up at one time, or is it possible that it was retrofitted from a r-12.

Thanx