I just had my car in to get AC regassed and apparently the high pressure hose is leaking and needs replacing.

they wanna charge me over a grand.

obviously not gunna spend that until i know that is the issue for sure and that is the cost.
so told them to not do it for now.

how can i check for myself to be sure?
what is the cost?
is there anything i can do?

AC does work. It just takes too long to get very cold.

 

The 2 wire low pressure switch is no longer used after the coolant fans TBS is done you can cap off the switch after removal

The initial TBS on this area covers a leaking low pressure switch reliability

The hoses on the ends should have O - rings that can have the seats cleaned and new O - rings

A good A / C shop can braze repair the line

 

I don’t even believe it is leaking at this point. Has been the same ac performance for 2 years. If it was leaking it would not be working anymore…..

 

Ok…..

so picked up the car…..

they tell me,
you are lucky, they guy had already repaired the hose before we told him you said no. So now you should only need a recharge.
so magically he repaired it and they didn’t charge me?
$1000 of work for free…..
bulshit.

but now….
i have no ac…..
they emptied the gas to test the system and never filled it up…..

so they tried to **** me on a repair.
then got caught out and magically the car will now only beed a recharge.

no way they repaired it
it was never broken

 

Wha
What is this little hole? Is this normal?

the little black spot on the hose fitting

 

With your finger on the high pressure hose while compressor running does it get hot indicating it is compressing freon

The compressor may disengage by the freon too low switch or freon too high 4 wire pressure switch

If the freon is too high it will engage and pump for a bit until it reaches the too high value

other then that a pressure gauge or crack a line

You are working with missing information and using assumptions although valid of the work done

I see the black dot

The A / C control panel has a freon too low code and how it is determained ..................

The 4 wire freon pressure switch on the 2 - 27 bar contacts m 2 being too low and 27 being too high

Blue / Black wire on the 4 wire connector wire seeing a ground or not , you can knick the insulation

According to the breakout sheet in front of the wiring guide schematic .......................................

Active = ground or no volts Inactive = B+

The A / C ECU on socket CC31 - 17 provides a feeler voltage that is ground seeking

The 13 bar 2 wire pressure switch does not effect compressor engagement but only radiator cooling fan low mode effected by the TSB if done

The 20 bar contact in the 4 wire pressur switch only effects radiator cooling fan high mode

 

All i do know for sure at this point is that i took my car in,
the ac worked, it was just slow to cool down.
so i wanted it to be regassed,
now, when i picked the car up, it does not work at all.
so it needs regassing but not sure what else

 

If you are sure it has no gas in it, the first step would be to try to pull a vacuum on the system. This would tell whether there is a leak or not.
if there is, the next step is to introduce some fluorescent dye into the system, which highlights where the leak is.
I am conscious that all of these steps imply having some of the necessary equipment. If you don’t, then it is probably a case of fighting it out with your current garage, who sound rather dodgy, or find someone else.
In the UK I use Kwik fit for aircon top ups. They have a fixed charge regardless of how much gas is needed, and always do the vacuum test first. If your car doesn’t hold a vacuum you will be sent away without a charge ( of cash or gas!)

 

Getting back to your A / C under performance before the shop tinkered with it and lost it

There is a cabin temp sensor that can be clogged with lint and effect your earlier performance and not come up as a system control panel bite code

A clogged sensor will bias the temp signal and not be a failure seen as a bite test

Pics coming

This is under the steering column panel as the small square vent

Clean with air blast only and no solvent ( fan bearing grease ) after removal as you have to get to it from backside and not the front vent

 

ok, so....

the "WAS" no problem....
took it to a mechanic I found who does after hours cash jobs off the books for better price.

he gassed it up.....
put the dye in the system....
all good...
running well...
got very cold very quick....
then as he was packing up his tools....
before he had put the caps on the valves...

POP!!!!

bamn, the seal in the highpressure fill valve must have given way and it began leaking out of the fill point of the valve....
damn....
he has no replacement there.

anyway, screwed the cap on, it stopped the leak.
got home, wrapped some silicone tape around the valve and lid and put a few cable ties on to help hold the lid securely in place incase the pressure decides to make it blast off.

going to order some replacement valves so I have them handy for when it starts to leak from the fill valve

 

The Schroeder valve screws in to the valve body, and it is possible it has simply come loose. Long nosed pliers should enable it to be tightened, although hard to see how you can do this without losing a lot of gas. It is possible they have already tried this and stripped the threads in the soft aluminium valve body, which takes you to the expensive new hose solution.

 

Nope. Definitely not loosse. Was with the tech when it happened. Was Definatinitely coming out of the valve itself. We heard it pop and then begin hissing. Stick finger over top and plug it up. Tried using a pick tool to reseat the valve stopper but could not.

Will buy new valves and fit them if/when it leaks and needs regassing. For now, all good.

 

Danger in sticking finger on it

If you have a cut it will blow your hand up like a ballon .

 

If the A/C valves on your car are original (unlikely) they may not be schrader valves. In the usual Jaguar fashion, they are different and are in fact a GM design using a special rubber ball valve. The GM part number is 52458184 or AC Delco 15-5438. The valves are readily available and were in fact fitted to some Holden models.
Unfortunately the valve body does employ an 8 sided hexagon which requires a special socket to enable removal. These sockets are available.
A substitute valve using a schrader valve is available.
I have attached a photo showing the relevant valves (original type) and the required socket.

John Herbert
1996 XJR

 

they may well be the gm design.
they have what appears to be a ball type valve.
and definately do look like them.

and the AC guy did say that they "appear to be just like the valves used on the commodores" (for those over the pond Holden is the Aussie GM company, commodore is their car. some of which were in the states as chevy omega.)

also not to be pedantic, but an 8 sided socket would be an octagon not and 8 sided hexagon.... hehe.....

thanks for the part numbers. that will be helpful.

 

ok so my temp fix has lasted even less than i thought.
gas all leaked out.

so now jagdaim have the high pressure valve here, for $15 plus postage coming to $27.
which is actually cheaper than i can find the GM version. which i find very odd.

but what i can't find is a low pressure valve.
i was thinking if i replace one i may aswell replace the other
but can't find a low pressure valve or the part number for the GM equivilent.

 

John you say a substitute valve using a schrader valve is available do you know the part numbers i would be looking for or how to find the part numbers?

 

The part numbers I have for the low side are -
AF5833 which seems readily available
59945 (Four seasons Brand) also should be available.
MHD7372BA, the OEM part shown on my previous photo.
You will note that those first two numbers quoted, the valves are identical to the OEM valve in the photo.
Touch short on time at the moment, so unable to further research, however those couple of numbers should give you a start, there is possibly an AC Delco equivalent.
Dorman 800-955 is the HP valve using a normal schrader valve, that may assist in hunting down their LP valve.
Happy Googling -

John Herbert
1996 XJR

 

thanks for that.
straight way see the HP valve schrader on amazon. so will hunt around for the low one.
just when looking at my car now i saw a 3rd valve right up near the firewall.
what is this one?
is it a discharge valve or something?
it has a schrader valve in it as opposed to the other two.

*edit*

found them both here for a very good price.
thanks for the help.
low pressure
https://automotivesuperstore.com.au/jayair-af5833
high pressure
https://automotivesuperstore.com.au/jayair-af0002