Any AC Techs out there? or just really experienced owners?

ABBEY1227ABBEY1227 Wagonist
in Electronics, Fueling & Air Conditioning
Got a dilemma, need some advice.
My buddy is admittedly a little out of his realm with the AC in my 90 wagon. He attempted to recharge the sytem after it hadn't worked in the 3-4 years i've owned it and who knows how long before that.
Before that he replaced a defective sensor and the dual switch as well as replacing some wiring the previous owner had cobbled together that looked like it had melted. It had been converted over to to accept 134A.
I wasn't too confident in the thing being intact after all this time but he was all excited to get it working.
So he's charging the system after first putting in that Neon green lubricant which he explained would make it easy to identify if there were any leaks in the system, he also explained that the compressor would not fire up until the system had a minimum amount of pressure in it.
After the 2nd or 3rd bottle installed, the compressor did fire up for a little while, but then it stopped working.
he continued putting in refrigerant thinking the system was just completely empty after all this time and needed to be completely filled and purged of air.
The compressor never came on again and after the 4th or 5th bottle, he put his pressure guage on and it showed that the system had lost all pressure. The strangest thing is that we have yet to see any leaks or green lubricant anywhere.
Anyone got any ideas on what is going on here? Or are there any particular failings common to our era Hondas AC systems?

Comments

  • bam-bambam-bam Council Member
    Sounds like you've got a BIG leak- there's no way that thing would hold all that refrigerant, and no way to force it in there. If you're seeing absolutely no pressure...where'd it go? 134's static pressure pretty closely tracks ambient temp(at least in the 65-85 deg. range) so you should see that pressure at rest. If the compressor didn't run much, your UV dye may not be distributed to the leak site yet. If you can't find sign of a leak underhood, check the evaporator(inside car).
  • bam-bambam-bam Council Member
    What is the wagon's ac system capacity? anyone know? I'm guessing <2#ish.
  • wagodizzlewagodizzle Council Member and EDM expert
    a friend of mine and i were just recharging his Chevy Blazer yesterday from being completely empty, and it took 3 of the smaller cans of R134. the tech dude at Autozone ( :roll: ) said these bigger trucks dont need more then that.

    so im sure a humble little civic needs only like 2.

    you definitly are leaking somewhere man. hope its not inside your car! check behind the dash for green stuff.
  • ThatDoodleThatDoodle Council Member
    There's a pressure releif valve on the compressor. If the system is over pressured it will pop off. Try illuminating the bottom of the compressor with the black light and see if the leak detector shows up.
  • joesvoodoodrinkjoesvoodoodrink Band Wagon
    Yeah 2# max like ThatDoodle said check the compressor either the blow-off valve or even the main seal. If the system has been empty for awhile the O'rings and seals often dry up and then don't adapt well when once the pressures and temps change with re-charge. Also check the evap drain hose coming out under the passenger floorboards (where water usually comes out) you might even catch some leaking there if it is not visible anywhere outside the car. If it is really leaking out that fast and you are desperate to find a leak you can also take the schrader valve out of low side and using an air hose with a rubber tip force air into the system and listen for a leak. This is a little unorthodox but it will help you find a big leak. Make sure it is really empty before you take the schrader out or you will have a mess. You should replace the receiver dryer as once exposed to air it gets saturated and will not remove moisture from the system. Also with the amount of refigerant you added you probably will have more oil in the system than recommended ideally once you find/repair the leak you should replace the dryer and evacuate the system before adding more refigerant.
  • B18C5-EH2B18C5-EH2 Moderator
    Like others have said if you cannot find a leak in the under hood compartment then I'm guessing you'll find the evap core box full of dye/oil etc. The evap core is under the dash - looks like a boxy radiator.
  • ABBEY1227ABBEY1227 Wagonist
    thanks for the hints so far guys!
    I'll pull that evap core out and see wassup.

    Keep you all posted.
  • 4WD-TwinCam4WD-TwinCam Wagonist
    Should also have added the required amount of PAG oil to the system with the R134A, but since it was never evac'd to begin with who knows how much oil is in there or not even in there at all? 5 bottles though, wow that refrigereant went somewhere, just gotta find it and if it vented to the atmosphere, oh well but try and locate that dye :wink:
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