air dye conditioning AC leak

Okay, my AC has slowly been dying over the last year or so. I kept it alive as long as I could with R34 refrigerant. The last time I added refrigerant, it lasted about 9 days cold. There is a serious leak somewhere.

So, thoughts?

What can I do to begin to track this leak down? Anybody fans of the Autozone leak-dye / glasses pack? Should I just suck it up and take it in to a shop?

Also, seriously, what if I wait till next April or so when it starts to get warmer. Am I doing more harm to my AC system by letting it sit for 9 months or so?

1997 jimmy W

no noticeable belt or ac elec problems ...

Also, seriously, what if I wait till next April or so when it starts to get warmer. Am I doing more harm to my AC system by letting it sit for 9 months or so?

1997 jimmy W

no noticeable belt or ac elec problems ...

Mine went one winter needing a charge (1 12oz. can), but that was in 2000 when the truck was 3 years old. I wouldn't recommend waiting, because if you use your defroster, your compressor will run every time you turn the defroster on, in a sense hastening the draining of the refrigerent.

I saw cans of the violet light detectable leak fluid that you insert into the system on the internet (J.C.Witney's and Interdynamics both have them)
Get one of these 11 oz cans and a black light and start searching.
good luck.

this was my problem. i charged the system and it lasted about 5 days. i used an electronic sniffer to find that my evaporator is leaking. considering the labor envolved in replacing it, i think i'll do without the a/c.

You can pick up cans of UV sensitive dye-laced refrigerant at Walmart @ $19/can. Use an LED tracer light to follow your lines. I killed a slow A/C leak this way when I saw a spot of green glowing back at me around the banjo bolt on the back of the compressor. Sure enough, it was just 3 turns too loose. Tightened her up, hasn't needed a can of refrigerant since.

You can pick up cans of UV sensitive dye-laced refrigerant at Walmart @ $19/can. Use an LED tracer light to follow your lines. I killed a slow A/C leak this way when I saw a spot of green glowing back at me around the banjo bolt on the back of the compressor. Sure enough, it was just 3 turns too loose. Tightened her up, hasn't needed a can of refrigerant since.

On newer vehicles, the existing refrigerant should have had a UV tracer already added to it from the factory; if your leak is big enough, the UV tracer looks like green antifreeze under normal light, with a big enough leak. Not sure if you have this in your '97, though.

In 02, the condenser mounts are notorious for breaking and causing the leak. For what it's worth, the cost to replace my condenser and recharge the refrigerant was about $900.

Okay, I bought a can of 134a with UV dye and the glasses and the tracer light with the flexible neck. Let the dye circulate with AC on high and drove around the block for about 10 minutes to get it circulating.

back to the garage ... turned off the truck ... turned out the lights, disconnected my underhood light, put on my stylin' shades and looked around ...

I didn't see much in the way of an obvious leak anywhere.

What I did see what faint flecks of neon green (the dye). Pretty much all over the compressor. The flecks of green looked old and faint. Not bright neon. It looked like a faint green dust, particulary around the pulley and around where the inlet outlet pipes are.

I looked through the front grill with the light to see if I could see much of the condensor ... I didn't pull the shroud or anything ...

Thoughts ???

also, when I shut off the truck after running the AC, I here a slight hiss for about 3-4 seconds coming from the accumulator area, possibly the evap core. Is this hiss normal?





You can pick up cans of UV sensitive dye-laced refrigerant at Walmart @ $19/can. Use an LED tracer light to follow your lines. I killed a slow A/C leak this way when I saw a spot of green glowing back at me around the banjo bolt on the back of the compressor. Sure enough, it was just 3 turns too loose. Tightened her up, hasn't needed a can of refrigerant since.

Hiss in normal back there. These compressors are somewhat noted for leaking at the seal and even around the body itself. Not a cheap replacement for sure. Ours cost about $400 all told doing it myself.

If caught soon enough, a compressor body leak can be fixed with JBWELD.