Non wedge air con question

[niva441]

Sorry for polluting the forum with non wedge talk, but you guys are so good with most problems.

My Stuttgart taxi has started dumping Air Con refrigerant. It worked fine driving down to Le Mans (wedge still reluctant to leave the garage), but the next morning it was dead (when it would have been really useful).

I've just had the car serviced and the specialist reckons it could be the matrix. As that requires removing the dashboard, they're quoting silly money, before they've even started to diagonse / look at the problem.

Wandering round Halford I noticed that air conditioning leak sealers are available.

My question is has anyone any experience of these air con leak sealers?

Thanks for your time.

Todd

[grady]

A/Cs operate under such high pressure with such small molecules that I doubt a liquid leak fix would work for long (but that's just IMHO).

However, before they start ripping things a part, I would think they could use a sniffer to get a fairly precise determination of where the leak is or isn't.

BTW - I once read that a full sized sedan requires about as much a/c effort a 2-3 bedroom house. (I think it was a function of package size, glass area, etc.)

Grady

[niva441]

They charged it pre Le Mans with UV dye and found traces of it in the footwells. So it would seem like it's probably something behind the dashboard.

Of course they didn't find much dye as I'd taken some time out from working on the wedge the previous weekend and cleaned it, including the footwell mats.

[redcar]

They can pressure test it, problem is bloody car Mech do a 2 day course and think there specialists, there do have you by the balls, it is however illegal for them to recharge a system that they know or suspect has a leak.
Martin (Industrial A/C engineer for 33 years).

[grady]

Find a shop that uses a freon sniffer-probe not a UV drip. With a limited amount of under-dash removal, they should be able to poke into the nether parts of the system and get close to the actual source of the leak in real time. Which is as likely an O ring in a fitting, etc.

Don't know about the UK but here they can re-charge to source the leak, but as said above, they are suppose to then evacuate the system if not repaired.

Good luck, Grady

[niva441]

Cheers for the advice.

The freon probe sounds like a good next step to try and suss more precisely where the problem is.

[chunder]

They should be able to charge the system to a high pressure with nitrogen and use an electronic leak detector to pinpoint the fault area without re-filling with refrigerant and adding to global warming.

I guess it depends upon access and where the leak is as to whether it can be fixed - even at the matrix you can cut fins out and braze small holes up although more likely a seal gone hard that can be replaced especially if the ac hadn't been run for a while - best to run for 2 mins weekly even in winter to push some oil round to stop seals drying out.

Good luck and hope it doesn't cost too much !