AC Refrigerant Leak

[96RedRunner]

Compressor shaft seal failure is easy to determine. Look for the oil stripe in line with the belt...

A dusty inner fender n frame perfect for shaft seal inspection, leaves nice stripe don't it.

 

[96RedRunner]

make sure the system can hold vacuum at least at -28hg, if not -30 for at least an hour.

Yep good rule of thumb, been burnt by it also, my stuff suck it down close it off, beer fire up grill beer grill beer eat beer dark30 take a look.

 

[Bad Luck]

Ditto on testing the condensation hose for the AC and the vents themselves.

I'm running down a similar issue, is there a smell associated with refrigerant leaking from the evap core?

Also I notice if I turn the truck off with the ac still "on", I'll hear a hiss for a few seconds after the truck is off. Conversely, if I turn the ac to "off" before shutting down, there's no hissing. Is that a thing?

Sounds like you're hearing the low and high side pressures equalizing.

 

[papabeach]

Definitely didn't wait that long...only waited about 5 minutes. Will give it another trial at 20 min and see.

Interesting results....I left the sniffer in the central from for about 15 mins and drove around. 4 or 5 times the sensor would alarm but only for a few seconds. I had it set on the lowest sensitivity so I want to think this is real. I could never detect anything by the drain hose either immediately nor about sporadically out to 20 minutes. In lieu of the fact I don't see dye leaking anywhere in the engine bay I left to think this has to be in the evaporator somewhere. Looks like I am buying a new one. So new evaporator, dryer and O-rings...anything else I should do while in there? I was thinking I would wait until the system decharges itself then just open up at home...unless I still need to have someone drain the system?

 

[papabeach]

Ditto on testing the condensation hose for the AC and the vents themselves.

I'm running down a similar issue, is there a smell associated with refrigerant leaking from the evap core?

Also I notice if I turn the truck off with the ac still "on", I'll hear a hiss for a few seconds after the truck is off. Conversely, if I turn the ac to "off" before shutting down, there's no hissing. Is that a thing?

No smell and no hiss from my side that I can detect. I am curious if it is the evaporator if I will see dye on it when I take it out...

 

[papabeach]

[MENTION=10169]TheDurk[/MENTION]

Thanks for the part info and tip on getting that silly clip off. I picked up a Denso evaporator/dryer....the expansion valve was out of stock so I went with one of the off brands and picked up the set of O-rings and some oil. Honestly...pretty easy job. The 5mm Allen head bolts holding the expansion valve on were in horrible shape....wire wheeled them and hoped for the best, added a little anti-seize in case I have to go back (hopefully not). They really should have been replaced but I wasn't stopping now. Dropped off at the shop this morning for evac, probably took me 3hrs to take everything apart and put back together. Dropped back at shop for vacuum and recharge. This is definitely a doable job for anyone with basic skills. For me the biggest PITA was getting to the 10mm bolt on the clamp for the dryer...my Shrockworks bumper was in the way and the bolt was rusty....took some PB blaster, removal of grill and the smallest wrench I had to get in there...

All said and done a good day....got to enjoy the smell of a pork butt in the smoker while working. Tonights reward...