Tightened fittings, recharged. Nice and cold. 2 days later not so good. A week later, no AC. Checked all the lines for signs of leaks, rechecked fittings. Found a couple hidden towards the rear of engine, tightened them too. Put in a can of "stop leak" with some normal 134a. Worked for about a week. Then winter came and didn't mess with it. Well, it's getting hot again and need to find the leak.

This is on my daughter's 97 Cavalier btw, but AC is AC right?

I'm going to go recharge it now and use a can of that leak finder with the red dye. Anybody had any luck with this stuff? I can't see red very good, so not real optimistic this will do it for me. Usually I have no problem finding these leaks cause the fittings get greasy when the freon is leaking out.

Should I assume the leak is under the dash? Any hints or advice would be appreciated. I'm a little frustrated over this. I don't mind replacing parts, but don't have a clue what parts are bad.

Got a full charge on it again. Nice and cold. No red dye that I can find. Had others look too. Crap!

Any ideas? I think this car may have been hit in the front at one time or another, maybe that radiator thingy (condenser?) has a leak....not sure how to tell though.

:(

If it takes 2 days to leak-down so it won't start the compressor... prolly a very small leak. Go see a local HVAC pro... he will have an electronic sniffer and can track it down pretty quickly. Good luck!

There's also an ultraviolet dye you can put in there. Uses a small UV pen light to spot the leaks. Worked great when I used it on my car. I found more leaks than I wanted too. :(

The dyes work fine if the leak is somewhere visible. You won't find a leak if there's a pinhole in the evaporator core under the dash, for example.

Modern era cars seem to be built with some VERY cheap A/C parts on the assembly line. I've had A/C stuff go bad frighteningly fast that just doesn't fail very often on older cars. Seems to be built to last about 5 years and then poops out. Don't be surprised if you find more than one leak. Evaporators and condensers in particular seem to be more problem prone than I remember back in the R-12 days. But the replacement parts you get actually seem to be better than the stuff they put in on the assembly line. Weird, I know, but that's been my experieince for what it's worth.

My wife's 98 Jeep had the evaporator go at about the 3 year mark (everyone told me Jeep A/C systems were crap from the factory and they were right). The condenser went the following year like it had a time bomb built into it. Then no problems since. Fortunately R-134 cans are dirt-cheap so I don't bother fixing things until it gets to be a monthly routine to charge it back up.

Agreed, an HVAC pro can track things down a lot quicker than you can in your driveway.

you will need to use a halg. meter to find a leak properly.
lower condenser = problem area
possible evap core if not visible with dye.
However just guessing. You need to stop playing games and get it checked with the meter.
besides does she really need a/c;)

you will need to use a halg. meter to find a leak properly.
lower condenser = problem area
possible evap core if not visible with dye.
However just guessing. You need to stop playing games and get it checked with the meter.
besides does she really need a/c;)

Can a meter detect in places that are not accessible like evap and condenser? They seem to be pretty hard to get too.

Nah, she don't need a/c, but I look at it as a safety issue. Defrosters in newer cars work like crap without a functioning a/c. Ain't like you can crack the vent windows these days.

;)

The best tool for this might be the ultrasonic detector. It can "hear" the squeal of the leaking refrigerant and with a leak like you have it should really find it easily.

Go to real AC shop, they will put UV dye in the system and also use an Electronic leak detector.
The Cavalier has O-Ring fittings, making them TIGHTER will damage them and cause leaks.

You can THROW parts at it, or have a PRO do it right the first time.

If its been hit im sure its the condenser up front,98% of the time it is. They get messed up sooo easily. Could also just be a couple o-rings are dry rotted and shot.


I agree,have a shop check it w/ the leak detector (man those things are nice) and stop just throwing parts at it and then throwing your head against the wall.

I appreciate the input guys, but I haven't thrown any parts at it yet. Taking it to a shop for repairs isn't gonna happen either. I'll prob have to find a shop with the sniffer tool who'll find the leak for me. I don't mind paying for that part. I hate being scroungy, but this car just isn't worth shoveling a ton of money into. Shops around here want a hundred bucks just to stick a pound of freon into it.