Summer is almost here and I want to get my Air Conditioning system back in working order. Last summer, I replaced the accumulator and converted the system to 134a. Then I took it to a shop and they pulled vaccum on the system for about 20 min. After that I took it home and charge the system with the 134a conversion kit(making sure to put the right amount of oil in). This worked great for about 5 days...then it went out again. The compressor is not engaging, I guess that means that I have low pressure. Any ideas what I should do/replace to get my system working for good?

Thanks

 

First step would be to verify the pressures in the system... A set of gauges is a good investment (~$70 at a parts store).. Then if it really is low on refrigerant, I'd add some leak detector dye (UV dye), and see if you can find where it is leaking..

 

I've got a guage, it's only reading 3 pounds. I'm sure that's too low. Is the dye expensive or hard to do?

 

No, you can buy refrigerant with the leak dye in it... Get a can of that and enough to charge the system again, then use a blacklight to find any leaks.. Hopefully its not a leak in the evaporator (if you don't see any dye anywhere in the engine compartment, look where the water drains from the evaporator and see if any dye is there.. if it is, you know what that means.. time for a new evaporator)...

 

Not to sound stupid, but where exactly is the evaporator???

 

In the big black case on the passenger side on the firewall...the one that makes changing your two rear plugs a pain in the ***.

 

so do i have to take the plastic thing off to see if it's leaking?

 

No, you'll see dye where the water drains out of the car underneath... That will tell you that the evaporator is leaking...