So I am going to try to fix this slow freon leak that I have been ignoring. The UV dye and the soapy water tricks are not revealing where the leak is so I stopped by Horror Freight and bought a cheap sniffer:

http://www.harborfreight.com/electro...tor-92514.html

It was only $35 because the box was opened. I went over all the lines and connections in the engine bay and nothing. Then I stuck the tip into the passenger side vent (the vent directly to the right of the radio and the detector went off. So I guess I am looking at pulling out the dash and seeing if it is the evaporator or what.

So anyone ever done this? How hard is it to get to the evaporator?

 

The sniffer is ok, but you might get a lot of false positives, I used to use an ultraviolet lamp
and a sniffer to confirm.

Have you tried stopleak? (I had to ask), it's worked for me

luck,greg

 

I leave these issues to the professionals. It is not that expensive, they have all the seals available and it saves you time and maybe, money.
Just my 2 cents...

*****************
After actually READING the post
Sorry - I see you found it. Evaporator - hmmm... Do the heater core if you open the dash that far....

 

Yes I've used the regular seal sweller R134a cans that you can get in the local parts store. Slowed it but did not stop it. I was thinking about trying the white shepherds leak stop but I'd rather fix it for real at this point.

You can get the heater core out without ripping out the dash it's actually not that terrible.

About the sniffer I did not know what to expect as you know HF is hit or miss and I've never read a review on this sniffer. I was not getting any hits or false positives until I got to the passenger side vent. My passenger side AC blows hotter than the drivers side so I want to go in and see if the blends doors are off or if this is in fact causing that issue.

 

My money is on the evaporator and seals won't help it. Usually when you get a sniff from a vent the evaporator is cracked and will need replacing.

 

Yeah I figure I would just get in there and hopefully get a confirmation with the sniffer and maybe even see all the UV dye I pumped in there leaking somewhere and then replace the evaporator..

 

If you've got a uv lite and you've got any condensate dripping from your drains, it may show there, that would make me more comfy.

I can't recall, but I think the evap removal sucks.


I think my uv lite was only $20 maybe 10yrs ago. (my sniffer was $150 20 yrs ago) - I like the uv better, especially outside if there's a breeze.



luck,greg