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Re: Bad A/C day Posted by sam96CS [Email] (#852) [Profile/Gallery] (more from sam96CS) on Sun, 12 Jul 2015 12:17:49 In Reply to: Re: Bad A/C day, BobS, Sun, 12 Jul 2015 11:35:29 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
I've been thinking about the expansion valve and the dye in the system.
The original compressor died in 2008 and killed almost the whole system. My indy replaced everything but the evaporator. After that I occasionally found green oily drops on the BPC hoses. It took a while to figure out that the source was the over-pressure relief valve located on the back of the Sanden SD7H15 compressor.
I took it to another shop (not a Saab specialist) in 2010 who said I was probably right about the relief valve but that the system had a full charge and normal pressures. In retrospect I doubt that the system had a full charge. I think it is normal for a system to leak 4-5 ounces of R134a yearly no matter how tight it may be.
What I saw yesterday was abnormally high pressure on the high side despite an 80% charge, and unimpressive cooling before the leak developed. Both point to the expansion valve as a possible culprit.
The leak confirmed that the dye my indy installed is still very much inside the system. The dye is oil based, and my adding a little PAG 46 was neither necessary nor helpful. Too much oil is better than too little, but excessive oil prevents R134a from working efficiently.
The 3rd thing I question is my own sanity for fooling with a/c.
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