Saturday, May 19, 2007 - 10:22 pm, by: Stewart Booton(V84)
had my aircon recharged twice now,both times it lasts a few weeks then no cold air..this time he put extra dye in it to try and spot the leak,i looked today and underneath the pressure regulator the inner wing is green lol from dye so its obviously coming from around the area of the regulator,question is whether its from the reg itself or the main pipe that bolts into the top of it,ie a damaged O ring??? is this a normal area to leak?? thanks!
Sunday, May 20, 2007 - 03:38 pm, by: Evan Kaio(Knave)
Regulators do leak, also check shaft seal on compressor and sensor O ring on side of compressor. The regulator can be repaired if leaking. Getting the regulator out is a we bit of a mission. Once out, you'll see where it's leaking.
Monday, May 21, 2007 - 06:36 am, by: Stewart Booton(V84)
i will get the aircon man to degas the system tommorow as its still pressurized then i will remove the regulator and see what the score is..you say it can be repaired? is that DIY or by a company? thanks.
Evan Kaio Tinkerer Wellington '91 UZZ31 and wrecked '91UZZ31
Tuesday, May 22, 2007 - 12:37 am, by: Stewart Booton(V84)
well i removed it today,that was fun....before i removed it the aircon man shone his UV torch at it and it appeared to be seeping at the main join where the 4 screws are. i removed it and stripped it and i cant see anything wrong with it! there is no obvious damage at all BUT there is aircon dye in both halves of the chamber so it must be getting past the diagphram (sp) somehow?? how did you repair yours?
Evan Kaio Tinkerer Wellington '91 UZZ31 and wrecked '91UZZ31
Tuesday, May 22, 2007 - 05:59 pm, by: Evan Kaio(Knave)
Once reg. is apart smooth off both faces of chamber halves with 1200 wet and dry. I then tapped out screw holes using M5x.08 tap and replaced screws with bolts (M5x30)using something similar to "locktite" to seal up the chamber faces.A copper washer behind each bolt head might be good to, judging by your last photo. My reg. only had dye on one side so I hope your diaphragm is not stuffed.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007 - 12:51 am, by: Stewart Booton(V84)
i can do that easily enough though there is dye in both halves... there doesnt appear to be any damage at all under a magnifying glass,just some light wear half way down.can anyone think of a suitable substance to recaot it and make it airtight yet remain flexible??
Wednesday, May 23, 2007 - 04:35 pm, by: Peter Burden(Cisumevil)
I you have an early soarer than the A/C uses R12 gas, so if you put R134 in it than the seals will leak because R12 seals are not compatible with R134 gas. That could be why that diaphragm is leaking and I don’t think they ever made a R134 compatible version of that regulator? What you could try is running a propane based gas instead of the crappy and expensive Freon gases like R134A. R134A is crap that will rust your system out and is less efficient than propane because it requires higher compressor pressures to work and you need to use twice as much of it. You’re A/C will last longer and be more efficient and environmentally friendly running on propane, and you won’t need to change all the seals, although it would still be a good idea.
Lynton Scale Tinkerer Vic UZZ32 Active V8, RX3 Coupe 13bt
Thursday, September 27, 2007 - 01:49 am, by: Patrick Robinson(Islandsoarer)
Question,
I took my Car over to an A/C Repair place and we found that the regulator was leaking. How important is the regulator to the A/C? Because the repair guy said that he had a situation before with a soarer regulator and he had it welded to bypass the regulator or something of that nature. Help me out here please.
Saturday, December 20, 2008 - 06:10 pm, by: Ben Socratous(Socrates)
Peter Burden wrote on Thursday, May 24, 2007 - 02:43 am:
Lots of places sell propane/butane refrigerants now.
EPIC FAIL!!!
Never, and I mean NEVER run flammable refrigerants in a car AC system! What the hell do you think will happen if you have a front end collision with explosive vapour in your front condensor?!? I've seen the results first hand on a car that was running LPG as a cheap fix, end result wasn't pretty!