AC compressor leak question

One of my cars keeps leaking the freon out over a period of about 2 months. I didn't find any obvious leaks and put some dye in a couple months ago. Went to drive the car yesterday and the AC wasn't working again. Got out my UV flashlight and went looking for leaks. Could not find anything obvious at any of the fittings. There is a sort of cloud like scattering of "bright spots" on the outside of the compressor itself. At the link is a photo taken with just the light of the UV flashlight. Does that look like sufficient evidence of a compressor leak? The compressor body is mainly purple and the dye trace is teh green. You are looking from the front toward the back of the compressor, that upright little tang is right on the back.

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PS - sorry this was improperly cross posted here and in home repair. I spelled one of them wrong the first time and it didn't post.

Reply to
Ashton Crusher
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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.

Reply to
Paul in Houston TX

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.

Reply to
Ashton Crusher

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.

Reply to
Steve W.

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

Reply to
bob

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Reply to
dsi1

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.....

Reply to
Ashton Crusher

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.

Reply to
Vic Smith

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

Reply to
Vic Smith

Good luck to you!

Reply to
dsi1

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.

Reply to
dsi1

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