quit on me after i bought this truck used. Line was freezing up so i put more in and it worked till it drained out again. Is there a usual place when it might develop a leak?

Does anyone recommend the freon that says it seals leaks too or do you think that stuff gums up the works?

Thanks, Bob

 

Do not use the sealer-type refrigerants...Common leak areas are evaporator, compressor shaft seal and o-ring seals...Use an electronic leak detector to find it...I used a propane torch finder for years, but the electronic one works better......Ben

 

just hope its not the evaporator that one isn't fun to get to. another common problem with these ac units is the engine fan clutch not engaging when the ac is on or not pulling enough air through condenser at idle. makes the high side pressure spike and it can dump your refrigerant out the overflow valve. any oil on compressor? also its hard to tell how much oil you loose when there is a leak so its tricky adding R-134a and knowing if you should add more oil, compressor doesn't like too much or too little. you really need manifold gauge set to see whats going on. i wouldn't put one of the "leak stopper" cans either...

 

If it worked when filled then stopped again soon I'd say you've got a good size leak. Look for dirt covered oil on fittings where parts connect together. Evaporate leaks are usually slower. Could be a 2 cent o ring

 

Is it more likely to leak when running? or after it has shutoff and the pressure is still in the line? i assume there`s still pressure there after shutting it off, am i wrong?

Fan seems like its working well, i feel it pulling a lot of air through and temp on engine is good.

 

There will always be pressure. When off, the two sides will equalize. Meaning the high will drop but the low will rise until they are the same. Your still looking at at least 80 plus maybe on each side when off, so on or off really won't matter. On my 99. I had a very slow leak for several years. One can thrown in would get me thru the year. Then one year the leak finally got bigger, and a can would last a few days. I knew it was the evap leaking, which will be the leak in 99.9% of all of these trucks when they leak. When I finally broke down and tore into it, it was obvious that the evap was the problem. i said what I said above because the oil will leak with the gas and dirt will stick to the oil. if you not finding that anywhere, then the leak will be in that evap. When i got mine out, I found it was so covered in dirt stuck to the oil that it was almost completely stopped up. i really have no idea how air could have been blowing thru it.

If you decide to tackle the job, it'll cost you about 350 in parts. Youll need a new evap, a new heater core, cause it so deep to get in there you might as well to avoid going back in, a dryer, because any time the system is opened, this needs to be replaced. it's also a filter that caught all the debris that might be in there from the factory. Youll need a bit of CLOSED CELL foam. Its the foam that's packed around the evap core and it's tear up getting it out. Open cell will hold the condensation like a sponge and get moldy, and you'll have to go back in there. You'll need about 3 feet of 3/4 hose so you can extend the condensation drain way on down low. If yours isnt leaking into the inside soaking your carpet, it will someday, so go ahead and add this. You'll need a ounce of oil for every component you replace. Just pour ir into the vap core and it'll go where it needs to. You'll need tools, which will be good gauges, a vacuum pump, ac line disconnecting tools, and of course various hand tools to remove dash, etc.

A shop will charge you $800 minimum, more if you have the heater done, which they will tell you to. if your not up to it, then it really is best to have a shop do it.

Oh, you'll also need HOAT compatible antifreeze and maybe some flush stuff. Got to drain the radiator so you might as well do a full flush.

 

Oh yea. Look at the bottom side of your hood. If your compressor is leaking out the front seal, you'll see a line of oil with dirt stuck to it like the belt had thrown it up there.

 

Well that was depressing but thanks for the info.

 

If it is the evap leaking does that mean im breathing in the freon and is that bad for your health?

 

It may seem like alot, but if you take a little time, do some reading and learn how the ac's in these thing tick, it is a very owner repairable thing. be sure to pay attention to safety stuff, like opening a line with 250 psi in it. You won't have a good afternoon. I've been where I used to pay folks to do this for me but over time I got to where I do all mine myself. Just made a buddy's wife's van ice cold yesterday. BTW, after fine tuning my 99 ac repair, my wife put a small blanket in the truck for when she rode in it...for use in July and August. And to even sweeten the deal, a week before i did this one, I walked into a brand new O'Riley's store with a buddy to pickup something for him. They had a thing to register to win stuff on their grand opening that was about to happen. I wasn't going to because I never win anything but the guy talked me into it. That Saturday i got a call. I won the $500 grand prize O'Riley card. That cold air felt really really good in that 99.

 

I just went through Texas last week coming back from Indiana , wish i stopped at you place so you could fix mine. LOL