AC compressor leak question

Not real conclusive. :( Oil will also glow in UV. When I used to work on automotive A/C systems there one main leak place: compressor shaft seal. Sometimes the condenser would have hole from rocks, etc. Sometimes other seals on the compressor would leak.

Part of what I'm trying to trade off is the difference in cost between taking it to a shop with good leak detection equipment where they will hopefully be able to confirm that leak or not and wind up paying $500+ for what will most likely turn out to be the compressor leaking versus going ahead and replacing the compressor and Receiver/dryer myself for $250 in parts and hoping I win that crap shoot. Thanks for taking a look.

Doesn't look like enough of a leak to kill a system in 2 months. Might want to borrow a sniffer unit and see if you get a hit in the evaporator area.

i had a S10 a few years back i put a pump on because it was leaking. With UV dye in it, you could see the Compressor case was leaking in the middle wear the two half's meet. First time i ever saw that one.

bob

I've got one from harbor Freight. It didn't come up with any "hits" that struck me as meaningful. Perhaps not sensitive enough. I had a system with a leaking schrader valve and it would get a hit on that but that was enough of a leak that if you put spit on your finger you could get the fitting to form a bubble immediately.

I replaced the compressor yesterday and so far so good. Well see in a month or two.....

I've used dye 6-7 times for AC leaks. The UV penlights aren't very bright. Best to use a shop light with a couple of 4' UV bulbs. It was the only way I found the last leak, which was on the radiator side of the condenser. Had to squirm underneath and flex the radiator cowling out of the way to find it. Glad it was there, because the only place left was the evaporator.

That looks good. If it works better than dye I'll go for it. Anybody here have experience with them?

Good luck to you!

I have no experience with that. I'll try it out though. If I can detect one leak, I can throw it away and it'll all be worth it. If it doesn't work - well, I had to take a shot at it.