Chasing AC leak

[eburrows]

Hi All, I'm chasing an A/C refrigerant leak, and using a UV-dye-infused refill haven't found it on the exposed engine-bay/condenser components yet. I'm just about to pull my SAI pipe to check the firewall flanges, and I'm getting ready to pull the whole dashboard apart (fascia in the workshop manual). It seems like a huge PITA, so if anyone has blazed this trail before me, please let me know any tips.

Several years ago I managed to swap out my heater core without removing the whole fascia, but that doesn't look to be possible for the A/C evaporator.

The workshop manual says I can remove the SAI pipe without removing the whole intake, which would be nice, but I doubt that well-protected flange is the source of my leak.

 

[robertf]

the r134a sniffer from harbor freight found my leak

 

[Gordo]

Run the ac and check for dye in the water. Found an evap leak like that in my Saab. The sniffer helps too as that’s how I suspected the evap. (Pushed one down the vents

 

[eburrows]

Thanks @robertf I got the HF sniffer, and eventually narrowed down at least one leak in the compressor-to-condenser pipe at the junction to the flexible tubing.

@Gordo that's a great idea, and I tried it first. I didn't see any dye around the drains, which is great.

 

[discostew]

I think the dye is your best bet for finding the leaks. Make sure your wear the yellow glasses that come with the kit.

 

[eburrows]

I found my leak, but neither the dye nor sniffer were particularly effective. It took me several tries to find the leak with the sniffer, and I found a few things made this easier:
1. Don't have wind
2. Move sloooooowly. At least on the Harbor Freight unit, it took 2-3 seconds to ramp up it's reading to the point where it would alarm, and it took a few seconds to ramp down again if the probe is moved away from the site.

The dye didn't show up at the site of the sniffer-found leak at all. It could be because it was on the uphill-side of the connector, but that was disappointing.