Should I drain it before adding freon. It has a slow leak. (About a year between freon add) Also do you drain it from the same connection spot that you re-fill it? Thanks!
As long as there is pressure, air did not get in. Most of the time, if it's not a compressor leak, it's a valve stem leak on the fill port.
Mine has a leak too, but I am not sure where. I would like to track it down during the winter. Can the valve stem leak be fixed by tightening, or is that where the bad o-rings come into play
For now: Charge it with freon and dye tracer. Eventually you will need to find the leak and the dye will assist you with that. Best of luck, Doug
Charge it with dye tracer and trace the leak. Yes, you can tighten the valve although there's more to it than just that. The seals are probably bad -- very typical for Gen II Vipers. Regards, Doug
Which valve do you drain it from? I added and it was still warm, this happened before and the shop drained it and re-added freon and it was fine for a year. Thanks!
The only problem I ever had with my 99 was a slow AC line leak. Got the line replaced under warranty and never had any more problems.
If you don't have an evacuation pump then you should leave it up to a trained AC technician. After verifying and repairing the leak you should replace the drier, evacuate the system and then recharge. Just letting the freon drain w/o evacuating the system is a waste of efforts -- it allows moisture in that could be harmful to your entire system. Best regards, Doug
Most likely its the compressor and condenser o-rings that need to be replaced. Doug is correct. If the system has a major leak you need to replace the dryer, whenever doing any AC work the system must be evacuated to remove the moisture from the system, then charged.
Its actually quite interesting when you vacuum the system since whatever moisture that is in the system actually starts to boil (crackle/snap) as you pull more and more vacuum. My rule of thumb when evacuating an AC system is that when you get to the snap-crackle-pop stage during the evacuation process (moisture returning to liquid from vapor under vacuum), I continue to pull a vacuum for about 10-15 minutes more and then call it good. You cannot achieve 100% vacuum (scientifically impossible), but you can achieve a vacuum state well below that needed to liquefy H2O at normal atmospheric pressures.
