Aircond 120 series

[Frosty]

Ok, so my aircond was no longer cold, I took it for a service and the shop says they are detecting a leakage from under the dash board innside the car..
Anyone have any experience with this? Does the dashboard need to be removed to fix? The service shop says its outside their normal scope so they were not willing to try and fix it.

 

[Dave]

Its unusual to leak there, but it does happen, and its not easy to find leaks there with certainty. Theres plenty of other places that usually leak first, and these need to be thoroughly checked first. For the evaporator behind the dash, yes, its a big job.

 

[Tractionman]

I'm wondering how they pinpoint a leak under the dashboard. The pressure test won't indicate where it is, so is the dye test showing up ?
The only way you would see that is by looking from underneath, and then all is not visible.
Mine has stopped due to an electrical component, and the compressor seems as not much easier than your case of dash removal. I've given up with it.
Good luck mate.

 

[Dave]

Sometimes you can see dye, but that is usually long gone, or its been a slow leak over a long time and any dye, if there ever was any, is long gone. Sometimes you can get a sniffer near there, but they bleep at all sorts of things, so cant be relied upon much. You may be able to get a visual and see a dirty patch. Or generally, if a certain car has a reputation for leaky evaporators (Volvo 850, early merc S class). If you get it wrong its an expensive mistake with most cars, so you have to be pretty sure (and brave) to condemn the evaporator. Thats why his current garage doesn’t want to do the work. In addition, even if it is the problem, with old stuff like this, it may just be the starting point for more problems, which the garage then ‘owns’.

 

[karl2000]

I remember those horror stories with the old w140 S class !

 

[New Cruiser3.0]

I'm only after testing mine the tests showed a leak at the condensor. I've it changed now will have to do another leak test probably and then put the gas in.

The guy that done the test said they leak bad enough when they get back in the years and it's not worth chasing if not a cheap and quick fix.

Hopefully that fixes my problem or il be out another pile of cash. The landcruiser has a nice sunroof and I'm in a country we only see 3 weeks of summer might be better to make sure the heaters work for me.

 

[Tractionman]

Behind the dashboard would be an horrendous place to find a leak, and assuming the dye test was done then leaks looked for, it would show up in a visible area.
Depending on where the dye seeps out, it could be there days/weeks/months or more etc - good luck with it.

 

[Broadeye]

After spending 3k with maind dealer replacing all pipes last year only to have it empty again after six months I think I am going to have to give up on mine. Downside is that AC also helps a lot with demisting in winter.

 

[karl2000]

Can you just fill it up and go for another 6 months?

 

[Broadeye]

Has crossed my mind.

 

[tony rodaway]

When my air con was not working I took it to get pressure tested.
I got told it was the pipes going from the condenser underneath the body of the car.
Ii got told my aircon compressor seal had failed also.
Wanting my aircon fixed I got a new compressor and got it filled up with gas.
Worked OK for about 4 weeks so it did have a leak.
I got a second opinion from another person and found it to be my condenser seal had failed.
I bought a new condenser and regased it

and that was 8 weeks ago now and still working fine.
The condenser seal can be seen from under the front bumper on the passenger side and just look for signs of a previous leak before you go delving into your dash.
My question is how did the guy no it was under the dash with out seeing it as a pressure test would only show loss of pressure.
I would look at your condenser first as easy to replace and work inwards.
Hope you get it sorted at a cheap cost.