A/c problems?

[Caymanized]

Ok so I bought the car today, and I asked if it had A/c and the individual said it had a bad condenser. Said he could charge the A/C and it would be gone within 2 days. My wife suggested (she's a smart cookie) that there could be a hole in the lines somewhere, and I am leaning more towards the guys assumption that the condenser is bad or may have a crack in it. Anyone else had this kinda problem and what it was for you? I'll try the general census on this one and see who had which problem the most.

Car is a 1995 D16B7 DX, with 176k miles on the clock. I just want to see what you Civic Gurus know about this before I go and shell out 100+ bucks on a condenser if it's not the problem.

THANKS!

 

[mikemo]

put pressure in system (air) and soap up all joints look for bubbles ,thats were leak would be. I test building for leaks thats how we do it, not sure if it will work on a car .

 

[Caymanized]

Thanks! I'll check that out asap! It's just getting tiresome not having and cool air in the MS heat!

 

[RonJ]

Add refrigerant that contains a leak detecting dye. You can find it at your local auto parts stores. Where the dye appears is where the leak is.

 

[Caymanized]

That's the thing... I did the dye and it's not showing up period. It's leaking from SOMEWHERE I'm sure, but I have no idea where. How hard is it to access the components behind the dash? I heard from the individual I bought all my stuff from yesterday that it's right behind the glovebox.

 

[RonJ]

Yes, the only part of the A/C system that does not reside in the engine bay is the evaporator. It's behind the glove box. You'll likely find the dye there.

 

[Caymanized]

Dang, rough estimate on the price of one?

 

[RonJ]

Too early for speculation. Locate the dye, post a picture, and then go from there.

 

[Caymanized]

Found part of the problem! but I'm not gonna say how I fixed it until it holds up for another 100k miles. The problem was the aluminum hose BEHIND the rad, hence it looking like it was blowing refrigerant out of the Rad. I'll update on the fix as soon as I have some updates

Oh and thanks very much for having the Service manual in DL form That will DEF come in handy!

 

[JohnS.]

It's nice to see RonJ still comes here and helps out. He's a good guy.

And grats on fixing your A/C problem. But who needs a/c? It gets up to 95 here in the summer and my A/C has been broken for over 2 years .

 

[Caymanized]

Well to me A/C is nothing but a parasite sucking up potential HP (yes I know it's a noob thing to say, but it felt good to say it) and in my car, I don't have any, but the civ is the wifes car and if her and my son are gonna ride in it, I want them to be comfortable. And yes, much thanks to Mr. RonJ for lending a helping hand!