The system has been charged a total of 6 times (I believe) while the troubleshooting has been done. Sometimes the work was done by a friend of mine while I hung around and checked things over, then when I got tired of chasing this problem it was done by a dealership. Each time we charged it (3 times) the system would hold sufficient vacuum for 10 minutes to convince the robinaire machine that it was gas-tight, however upon charging the system I could hear the intermittent bubbling or hissing from the fitting at the back and had it evacuated so I could take it home and continue working on it. Each time I found this the leak was small, if I covered the area in soapy water you could see one tiny bubble every 2-10 seconds.

When the dealership was doing the work only they know what was done, but each time they told me the leak was 100% fixed and it very VERY obviously was not. One time it was literally pouring oil and UV dye from the back end leaving a trail behind the van as they brought it around to me, the other 2 times I could still hear the leak and see their UV dye beginning to collect around the plate that secures the lines at the rear.

We are talking about the lines that run to the rear air. On stow n go models the A/C and heater lines are all one assembly and must be replaced as a set.

My first leak was obviously above the aluminum block that is part of the extension tubes:


however after replacing them I found the following leak (pictures were taken after the dealership worked on it so there is UV dye present) although it was leaking in the same area before the dealership touched it



Based on what I could see (and what I believed the UV dye to confirm) I assumed the problem was O-rings and that I just didn't have the right ones, wanting to solve the problem quickly and permanently I decided to have the dealership do the repair. Unfortunately after 3 attempts (O-rings, extension tubes, then O-rings again) they decided that the lines must be cracked. Given where the UV dye is leaking it looks more like O-rings to me, but I guess depending on where the cracks are they could be the problem. I can't tell for sure which line is leaking (or if they both are) but the dealership said it was microscopic cracks in the liquid line and Tizzy suggested that this is a possibility which makes me feel better that once I get the lines and install them that I might finally have working A/C again.

For all I know I could have put in the wrong O-rings, with everything else being okay at that point, taken it to the dealership to have it fixed and they cracked the liquid line. It seems plausible as they also seem to have tweaked the fitting at the expansion valve and it has started leaking on the top after the dealership touched it, though they won't accept responsibility for that or the tire and wheel they damaged.

 

My own opinion is when the recall came out, they had to make a ton of those lines. Seems line that crimp is the weak point, see them fail there all the time but it is always the recall lines. When you get them off, remove the oring, clean the area and you should be able to see the crack.

 

Thanks for the advice. The crack forms on the "top" of the line where it fits into the block, underneath where the O-ring should seal?
I am just checking so when I get the lines off this weekend I know what I'm looking for. I'll check it out and report back hopefully early next week.

After so much guess work I just want to find a conclusive problem so I can know that it has been repaired and I can move on.

It seems there are some spare lines floating around. The local dealership had one of the recall lines in stock but somebody had bent the front of the liquid line up a full 90* and bending it back seemed like a scary idea so I asked them to order me a new one.


They look like they had been installed, or partially installed. The protective caps were all missing, the block for the back was missing, some parts were loosely bagged up and taped to the lines, and obviously, they were bent quite severely.

 

Parts taped to the lines is normal, that's how they come. Missing caps.....pretty common. Lines bent up.......pretty common. Hard to ship those big things and not get alittle banged up.

 

As for the lines being bent, the one they tried to provide to me seemed a bit excessive, a 90* bend in the liquid line seems like the sort of thing that will not bend back nicely. I offered to take it home if they would straighten the line and allow me to inspect it before taking it but they said they would rather order a new one than bend this one back, and that if I took it and bent it back and it broke that I'd have to pay for another set.

Whether the set I attached a picture of is acceptable or not is all in the past now. I picked up the new lines last night and they fit in my car (by less than 1 inch, but they fit!) so now they are in my garage and I just need to find the time to swap them on. Curiously enough the lines I received have a black sleeve that runs the length of the lines, while the first set (pictured above) is just bare aluminum.

The factory service manual is a little bit unclear about the procedure to install these lines. Do I need to completely remove the exhaust, or would it be enough just to remove the side hanger and lower the section that runs below the lines? It looks like I can get away with that but I don't want to risk damaging that flex pipe by the catalytic converter.

 

I separate the pipes at the union under the passenger side sliding door. Then just move it out of the way. You can do it by lowering it but makes it a lot harder. If you PM me an e-mail address, I can send the instructions from the recall, they are pretty good.

 

Well, I have bad news. I added dye to the system and turning on the A/C, now I hear hissing coming from the vents with the air on. So that tells me, and I hope Tizzy can support me on this. I think the evap. core has the leak? I am glad I didn't start throwing parts in yet till this came up. Question? what does take to repair that A/C evap. core?

 

The hissing noise is Freon metering through the expansion valve. It makes that noise when the system is low on charge. You can visually inspect it by removing the blower resistor. I don't think I have seen more than a couple of front evaporators go bad, not very common.

 

Tizzy, you still think the expansion valve this may be bad. The front core is OK. There is a leak some were. Well thats good news if the front evap. is OK. When I take the resistor off, what should I look for?

 

You use a black light and look for dye. It should glow bright yellow/green. Expansion valves are known to stick but not leak very often.