Mystery Leak

[MichaelP]

After considerable effort, I have been unable to find the A/C leak in my 2006 TownCar. It will not hold a charge and is always gone in about 3-4 days. Each time there is a dye additive used, and the last time I tried a stop leak. (I know it does not work if one cannot hold a charge for at least two weeks, but I was desperate..)

We always use a proper light and glasses to look for leaks, but none are seen. Over, under, sideways, inside, outside....., nothing shows up. With that amount of leakage, there should be huge amounts of dye trails.

Has anyone had such a problem before, and has anyone found a solution?

Thanks.

 

[smperkin]

Hi:

My leak was at the bottom of the drier. The cradle that it sits in held moisture so it rusted out. I could never figure out how the oil would leak out but not the 134a.

Martin.

 

[mark95man]

After considerable effort, I have been unable to find the A/C leak in my 2006 TownCar. It will not hold a charge and is always gone in about 3-4 days. Each time there is a dye additive used, and the last time I tried a stop leak. (I know it does not work if one cannot hold a charge for at least two weeks, but I was desperate..)

We always use a proper light and glasses to look for leaks, but none are seen. Over, under, sideways, inside, outside....., nothing shows up. With that amount of leakage, there should be huge amounts of dye trails.

Has anyone had such a problem before, and has anyone found a solution?

Thanks.

Sometimes when you have an issue, you just do the wrong thing. WHY did you install stop leak into the A/C system? That will plug up the system at best. Maybe the leak is inside the car in the evaporator? The dye can be seen, in most cases, with a ultraviolet flashlight--that's the only way to see the dye. I had a leak in my condenser due to a rock hit. The dye was all over + on the garage floor.

 

[Mark I]

I've had two leaks in my '01 system. First was beneath the foam insulation around the receiver dryer. It holds moisture, which promotes rust and so conceals the leak. The replacement did not have the insulation. The second leak was on the front condenser; also hard to see because it's directly against the radiator. Perseverance! You'll find it- GL with Solution.

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[MichaelP]

Thanks, everyone, for the feedback and efforts.

However, I may have not made myself clear. I meant exactly what I described. We did use the correct light and glasses. Yes, the dryer is in that silly housing that causes it to rust, but it was uncovered and checked as well. I find that condenser leaks are easy to find in the TownCar because there is so much room around them. Further, the evaporator core was replace simply because that area was opened up and it was sound thinking to put a new one in while convenient. (Nothing wrong with the old one, as it turned out.)

Just to correct some misinformation; stop leak has been used in refrigeration system for years for tiny, slow leaks with no problems. It is what is is designed for. But also note, as I pointed out, that it is for leaks in systems that can hold their pressure for at least two weeks.

By the way, we even took off the split loom used to protect around some of the hoses to see if it was hiding anything, but there was nothing there.

The reason this is out of the ordinary is that such a large leak must show a trail, but there is none found. It should be spraying out around a bad compressor seal or a pin hole or anywhere it is dumping out to such an extent as to be easily noticeable with the naked eye, to say nothing of the light and glasses, when such a huge amount is coming out. Dye and charge as been redone at least four times.

This must be one for the books. But I am hoping someone has heard of this before.

Thanks again.