After resurrecting my beautiful XK8 following several years of storage, the A/C required a recharge and worked for a few days but now is no longer blowing cold. I was hoping that once the seals were freshly lubed with the recharge and the A/C was "exercised" it would be OK. We injected UV dye, but the only place I can see any sign of it is right at the fill port where it was unavoidably splattered. Is there a typical leak point for these units or could it be anywhere ? What should be my next step ?

 

Is it losing the a/c gas? Or instead just not cooling?

When (meant to be) operating, what are the pressures at the hi & lo ports?

 

On the S-Type, the typical refrigerant leak begins to occur at the compressor ports just before the compressor begins to fade away. We've seen this on numerous S-Type members' cars, but that particular failure is not reported very often here in the XK8/XKR section. Still, I would jack up your car and have a good look at the area. If you see and feel greenish-colored slimy residue around the compressor ports and its hose connections, then bingo....

 

Mine was leaking at the pressure switch, just behind the radiator. It was a bugger to change though. The aluminum tube likes to mate with the metal switch......Good Luck....Mike

 

Compressor clutch is not engaging, however it worked fine when first recharged. I'll get the front end up and inspect other areas suggested and also check pressure later today.

 

There were posts a few months back about someone working one of the ports as it was leaking. It is here. So the leak might be at the port itself.

Good luck, keep us posted.

 

So I can't see any signs of leaking around the compressor, but there are some spatters around this receiver/dryer hose fitting. It is not very well defined, so it could be from the adjacent fitting which I think is part of the condensor.

 

Yep, that was it, the shop that flushed and filled the system checked it out today and isolated it to the schrader valve at the fill port. No charge to check the system and replace the valve as they said they should have just done that anyway the first time. I love honest small town shops.


The other speckles I saw were just random particles, aluminum oxide, and other material that fluoresced slightly under UV.