1995 850 AC system is empty in a day Topic is solved

[volvoras]

Hello,

I have gotten myself in a somewhat bad situation here. The AC on the car was leaking and i decided to fix it myself.

When the new refrigerant was put in the car (june) it lastet only about 24h until it got completely empty and started blowing warm. The guy put in the uv refrigerant but he never checked it after. I just assumed the evaporator was bad as everyone always says its the problem.

Fast forward to today i have the dash and the climate control unit out of the car, when i found out the evaporator has been changed, it is not volvo oem and looks in preety good shape. To clear up why i changed it, from the hole in the resistor it looked moldy and crusty, whitch it is, but the other side looks brand new. I tried to tested the old evaporator and it appears it has no leaks.
I understand it might be a dumb post but i really dont know what to do, just put the new one in and forget about it?

So now i am asking for your opionions on what the reason for the leak is.
I don't think its the compressor, because when i was runnimg the system after a couple of days after the refill just to try it againg if something magical happens, the air was cold for about 10 seconds and then went back to ambient/hot air.

Where are other points of failure? The condenser? Idk
I am really desperste now after one week of woring on the car trying to fix the issue.

Any help or information is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[abscate]

You can test the evaporator by putting it under water and then putting a few psi, maybe 1/2 bar at most , and then look for leaks

They don’t leak in any one spot, so you need to look at the whole surface. Look at the date code on the evaporator amd if it’s over 5 years old, stop and replace with a new Nissens

That’s the only hard part of the system to replace, and it’s just stupid labor to get to it. Once that is good, test the other joints with a leak tester which sniffs for Freon, or pump it down and see it hold vacuum overnight as a final test

For sniffing, you cam use propane, which is cheaper and easier than a Freon charge.

[June]

You don't specify what you did to repair the original leak? Look at everything for a area wet with oil. Don’t mess with pulling the evaporator in the future. Thats just silliness! Pressurize the system with refrigerant. Then check all outlets inside the car with a electronic leak detector with the system off and don't forget the the evaporator drain. Check the drain for dye as well. Because the UV dye will be carried out the drain with the condensation. Either test is positive, then the evaporator is likely bad. That's how a leak in the evaporator used to be diagnosed.

You did replace the dryer??? That is extremely important especially if was not replaced with the evaporator. Any moisture not contained due to a bad dryer will settle in places like the lower portion of the evaporator and turn to acid rotting the evaporator from the inside out as well as damage the entire refrigerant system internally which causes what was referred to as black death by Ford. If that happens every component must be replaced with the exception of pressure switches. Its cheap insurance! Also check the areas you replaced the O-rings. Keep us informed! June

[volvoras]

To clarify i got the car with the ac not working with no service history, it was my neighbours car for going onto the fields and his forest. But he maintened the car mechanically well, doing regular services so the engine is ok.

I haven't touched the ac system, before doing this repair.

The drier is volvo oem i woild say as there is rust building up on it, now that i think of it it was a dumb moove from me to not check it. I will take pictures of everything tomorrow and post them if that would help.

Thanks for your suggestions

[June]

To clarify i got the car with the ac not working with no service history, it was my neighbours car for going onto the fields and his forest. But he maintened the car mechanically well, doing regular services so the engine is ok.

I haven't touched the ac system, before doing this repair.

The drier is volvo oem i woild say as there is rust building up on it, now that i think of it it was a dumb moove from me to not check it. I will take pictures of everything tomorrow and post them if that would help.

Thanks for your suggestions

You cannot see the inside. The drier should be changed when a system has been open to the environment for more than 30 minutes as long as the existing drier is no more than 5 years old. Over 5 years old it must be changed once the system is opened. Example of less than thirty minutes and newer than 5 years not requiring the dryer replacement:(This would be common ticket at Lincoln Mercury) Three month old Town Car with customer complaint being surging or fast cycling of compressor at highway speed. Ford had five fixed orifice tubes, each being a different color indicating orifice diameter. So tech would in this case evacuate the refrigerant, open the connector at the orifice, and put the next step larger orifice in, orings then seal the system evacuate and replace refrigerant. The system was not open but a couple of minutes and new enough therefore not enough moisture from years of use or environmental moisture from being open to the atmosphere to shorten the desiccant life in the drier significantly.

Buick Motor Division required dryer replacement regardless of age or time open. Buick 1994 and before had no problems with ac. Companies like Mercedes Benz, RR, Jaguar used GM built ac systems for just that reason. Even Lincoln Mercury through the 1970s used the GM A6 compressor on Lincoln and high end Mercury/Ford luxury cars. So for my cars the drier is always replaced. I also change the engine oil 3months or 3000 miles whichever comes first because i feel GM had the maintenance schedule correct for long life of the Buick car. I worked at Buick for nearly a decade stubbing service tickets Lincoln Mercury four years. I saw a lot of tickets in my lifetime.

In a sealed refrigerant system moisture turns to acid, therefore once the drier can no longer absorb moisture the system becomes polluted and the resulting acid destroys the system parts from the inside. I hope this makes sense as it's been 30+ years since I attended a class on ac repair. June

[volvoras]

So you are saying i also need to change the drier in order for the ac to work mostlikley?

[abscate]

You need to both find the leak and Change the drier

[wizechatmgr]

They make a sniffer that you can buy that sniffs halides and hydrocarbons that will allow you to sniff for a refrigerant leak. They are VERY sensitive and can be triggered by as little as an exhaust leak. I think I got one from China for like $40.

[volvoras]

Hello

So today I didn't have enough time to do much work but I put the rubber thing that seals the evaporator to the housing on it and sort of fitted it in the housing

I have ordered the drier so it will come in a weeks time I hope, so I will inform you when I get that and fit it to the car.

[volvoras]

Hello.

Coming back after a long break, I managed to replace the evaporator and the drier but when I went to my mechanic, he vacuumed out all of the moisture and started adding the refrigerant and oil. he said that after 800g of the refrigerant the pipe from the drier to the rest of the system the quick connect one blew off. he doesn't know why it happened and I am sure that I put it on tightly.

Does anyone know what could be the problem?

Thanks