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AC compressor snap ring leakage

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Old Sep 4, 2022 | 08:19 PM
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Default AC compressor snap ring leakage

ACDelco AC compressor leaking from snap ring retained metal cap on back; red dye in picture. Last month someone had the same problem; fixed with new O-ring under cap. Looks like it will need to have r12 evacuated to repair. Anybody surmise how much oil to add when recharging? It leaked enough to get a couple of fluorescent spots on the floor.


Charlie
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Old Sep 4, 2022 | 09:40 PM
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That’s frustrating with r12….
you are not removing any components or compressor to see how much comes out so i would add 2 ounces plus whatever comes out when evacuating if a few drops on floor.
it will be tough to find someone to capture and replace though isn’t it?
i am so paranoid with r12 i would pressure check with compressed air for leak fix verification before adding more r12, then obviously long vacuuming
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Old Sep 5, 2022 | 11:12 AM
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2 ounces of oil sounds reasonable. Mac’s Radiator here in town evacuated r12 for $60 last time. I have a little bottle of Nitrogen and some Snoop solution to pressure test after replacing the O-ring. Plenty of NOS Freon on hand. I’ll post another picture when I see what’s under that plug.
Charlie
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Old Sep 5, 2022 | 11:48 AM
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I wouldn’t put any oil in it , it got oil when the dye was injected and probably has too much oil already in it . I drained 8 ounces out of a Suburban condenser from a vehicle recently that had dye injected in Florida a few years ago , then a recharge with dye in Tennessee last year and by the time we got it not working good after another shops recharge we drained 14 ounces of oil from Condenser, lines and Compressor total , we replaced receiver drier that probably had several to four more ounces in it on a 8 ounce system
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Old Sep 5, 2022 | 01:07 PM
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Originally Posted by Eric P
I wouldn’t put any oil in it , it got oil when the dye was injected and probably has too much oil already in it . I drained 8 ounces out of a Suburban condenser from a vehicle recently that had dye injected in Florida a few years ago , then a recharge with dye in Tennessee last year and by the time we got it not working good after another shops recharge we drained 14 ounces of oil from Condenser, lines and Compressor total , we replaced receiver drier that probably had several to four more ounces in it on a 8 ounce system
I concur. Oil leaks look a lot worse than they are. Just change the seal and move on. Just evacuate and see if it holds vacuum for a few hours. Funny thing about oil leaks, the seals hold vacuum, but leak under pressure sometimes. I'd rather see a little less oil than too much.
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Old Sep 15, 2022 | 11:43 AM
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Default AC compressor leak fixed

My O-ring assortment didn’t have a match to the one removed. Two auto supply stores, Baxter and NAPA, didn’t have a match either. The existing O-ring looked good-as-new, so I coated it with Nylog Red and put it back in. Held pressure with Nitrogen at 120psi and vacuum for hours. Several road tests over the past week and no leaks.
The aluminum plug and O-ring don’t fit very tightly and held in by the snap ring don’t make the best seal. Poor engineering fix for those that don’t need this orifice.
Lesson learned; if a part comes with extra ports you are not going to use, don’t count on the factory having sealed them properly. Nylog Red was used on every AC connection except this one; it was the only one that leaked. And resulted in a lot of work and material to get one O-ring sealed.

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Old Sep 15, 2022 | 02:46 PM
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thank you for update!

and possible fix..
i thought they would put a green one in there
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