AC sealer?

[Bonnewagon]

I know it should be a last resort. I am chasing a ghost leak that is driving me crazy. System has a new compressor, accumulator, hard line/orifice, and hoses.My sniffer can't find anything around the condenser or the ducts of the evaporator. I have some Super Seal Premium that solved a similar leak on a Firebird. What have I got to lose?.

 

[Ribbedroof]

Have you tried dye in the system yet?

Sealer isn't for keepers, IMO.

 

[Bonnewagon]

Brian, yes the dye is in. Not showing up anywhere. But then a pinhole leak would not let dyed oil out much, if at all. On the Firebird I could not find the leak either so in desperation I used the Super Seal. It worked well and held a charge. Then a couple of years later it showed itself. The hard line off the condenser ran right next to the battery. Acid was slowly eating the aluminum hard line. Pinholes everywhere that the sealer tried to keep up with in vain. So I later replaced that line and protected it. Replaced the accumulator and expansion valve and recharged it and to this day it works great. The sealer did not affect anything else in the system. I will try some more to sniff out the leak but it is getting really old.

 

[motorheadmike]

Wow. I cannot wait to chase my tail with the AC in the wagon soon.

 

[Bonnewagon]

Mike- this leak is on my Jeep. On my wagon I left the original 35 year old system in place except for the compressor. That I bought used. The ES-12 freon worked as good as R-12 and I only had to put a can in every other year or so. It is going on 10 years now and is the best working system in my fleet. This Jeep I want to set on fire.

 

[Bonnewagon]

OK, I give up. In a last ditch attempt to nail down this leak I put water balloons on the high and low fittings hoping they would inflate. Nope. So today I vacuumed down the system for a LONG time and a lot of vapor showed at the pump. At rest it held vacuum forever. Then I charged the system with the correct amount of r134a and then added the dose of Cliplight Super Seal. I drove the car for an hour or so to let it circulate then shut it off a few times. I hoped the high pressure at rest would help it find the leak. I will know soon enough as the pressure would usually drop just enough to let it cycle like crazy then stop leaking. A true MF of a leak. I will report back with good or bad news.

 

[Bonnewagon]

OK here is the results. I waited for it to slowly leak out and damned if it did. But at least it took 3 weeks instead of 3 days. So I figured maybe the sealer worked a little so I topped it off to where it was with the correct fill and waited again. Nothing. Then today I went to check the low side pressure and BINGO there was a shot of green vomit on the firewall by the back of the head. The leak? Only problem is that there was no green on anything AC related. The nearest thing is two hard lines coming from the evaporator housing which have those stupid square "C" clamp type connectors. And not a drop or trace of green on them at all. Even stranger, the system still had the same low side pressure as when I topped it off. All I can guess is that one of the connectors had the pinhole leak, it finally blew apart, pissed out an ounce or so of dyed oil, and the sealer patched it. All without losing hardly any freon. I washed off the oil and waited for it too cool so I could top it off if needed but at rest it had 100psi- no loss! Now I wait and see if it vomits any more or stays fixed. See the vomit all over the connectors? Wouldn't there be at least a trace from where it came from? Nope.