most common place for AC leak?

[oldsmoker]

Hello,

have AC system leak on my van, is there a place that they are commonly known for leaking??

do i need to check inside the black plastic evaporator box where the Large AC hose goes into it?

the two hoses join into one single connector block at the back of the compressor right?

any help would be great, thanks.

[Krank88]

I took mine to a mechanic years back and they used a sniffer to find the leak. Mine was at the connection from the hose to the compressor. He said it needed a new compressor. I never did get it fixed but am thinking about it now. My concern is that most of the o rings in the system might be weak or dried up by now and may need to be replaced. I don't know for sure about detecting a leak in the core, but I think they just check around the area where the hoses go into the core. Also, somebody previously had replaced the core on my van, so I guess that might be a common leak on an older van.

[oldsmoker]

what do you mean by the "core"

[Krank88]

The evaporator core is the radiator like coil inside the evaporator box as you call it.

[Kidhauler]

My dads van had a leak so when he recharged it and they put some pink or green stuff in so if it leaks again you can see the colour mark at the point of the leak.

[6spd_monte]

The radial style compressor is known for leaking at the front shaft seal. I asked an AC guy to take a look at my van's system a few years ago. His response: If it's an Astro van it needs a compressor! He charged the system and used a sniffer to find the leak and it was leaking strongly from behind the compressor pulley. He recommended that I replace the compressor, hoses and orifice tube because they're all original. I haven't gotten to it yet.

[oldsmoker]

I have put one can of charge with the UV die, still cant find the leak, tomorrow im gonna let it sit and idle with AC running, and catch the drips from the Evaporator to see if there is die in the water, if so then i guess the core is bad.

last summer, I had a friend of mine evacuate, leak test under vacuum and recharge. He determined that the compressor was good, strong in fact. Even though it was working good, it was running a high pressure, we thought this was because the condenser was really old, maybe even the orig' and that it was not able to cool efficiently hence the higher pressure. Im gonna change the condenser, drier and, if bad, the core.

I will still have to check the front compressor seal.

its freakin hot out there!