Swage Fitting Leaking / Vintage Air / Need Help

[bigboi]

I have a vintage air system and the high side of the compressor swage fitting is leaking. I put about 3 cans of R-134 in a few months ago and the A/C temp was getting warm. I hooked up the gauges and put a can of UV and 2 cans of R-134 in there and now the low side is at 40psi with high side at 270psi.

I ran the car around today with A/C on high and I took the black light to the engine bay. I notice the swage fitting on the high side of the compressor to the hose is leaking. This is the only leak I found so far.

These swage fittings don't use o-rings do they? I have taken the compressor off a few times lately and for some odd reason I think I lost an o-ring. A friend told me swage fittings don't use o-rings, but I am not sure if he is right or not?

Thoughts? Suggestions?

Brian

[dhutton]

If you're talking about the hose connections to the compressor, yes they use an o-ring.

[bigboi]

Here is exactly where I am talking about. If you look at where the red arrow is pointing you can actually see the green dye. Does this fitting use an o-ring?

[dhutton]

I think there should be an o-ring in there.

[bigboi]

I think there should be an o-ring in there.

Yeh, I kinda thought so too. I think there was at some point but I have had the front runner kit off so many times that I think the last time I took it all apart the o-ring fell out. I think it's a #8 or #10 o-ring.

I have another issue though.... Maybe you can shed some light on it. When I first put the vintage air kit in about 3 years ago the a/c was so cold it was like a darn freezer blowing air at you. Now it seems when fully charged (low side at 40psi / high side at 260psi) I don't quite get the same temp coming out. It's cold but not like it used to be. I used to get frost on the upper part of the center vent it was so dang cold blowing out of there. Now it's just somewhat cold but nowhere like it used to be.

One of my buddies suggested getting a vacuum and evacuating everything out of the system and then recharging it. I don't have a vacuum and I prefer not to buy one unless it's really going to fix my problem.

Also... I am using off the shelf R-134 cans. If I remember correctly when it used to be ice-box cold I was using refrigerant out of my friend's tank. Not sure if that makes a difference? R-134 should be R-134 right? Or wrong?

Thoughts?

Brian

[dhutton]

I'm not an expert but since you have a leak I would get a vacuum pump and follow these charging instructions:

http://www.vintageair.com/DownloadsS...structions.pdf

The local Autozone here lends out vacuum pumps and gauges for free.

Your low side pressure sounds high. These Vintage Air systems run at different pressures than factory air systems. I think it is because they run much lower cold temperatures and rely on a thermistor to detect near freezing temperatures and then turn on the heat a little. They are also quite sensitive to the amount of R134 that you use. Use the exact amount they specify.

Maybe one of the experts will give an opinon too.

[bigboi]

I'm not an expert but since you have a leak I would get a vacuum pump and follow these charging instructions:

http://www.vintageair.com/DownloadsS...structions.pdf

The local Autozone here lends out vacuum pumps and gauges for free.

Your low side pressure sounds high. These Vintage Air systems run at different pressures than factory air systems. I think it is because they run much lower cold temperatures and rely on a thermistor to detect near freezing temperatures and then turn on the heat a little. They are also quite sensitive to the amount of R134 that you use. Use the exact amount they specify.

Maybe one of the experts will give an opinon too.

Wow... It says 6-12psi in a steady state. What does steady state mean exactly? Is that when the car is running and the A/C is on? Or is that when the A/C is not on?

Yes, it looks like I need to get a vacuum and pull out all the old and re-charge it for sure.

Brian

[dhutton]

6-12 psi when the AC is on and engine is at roughly 1500 rpm if I remember right. Fans and AC on max and windows closed.

[John Wright]

They are also quite sensitive to the amount of R134 that you use. Use the exact amount they specify.

You need some really accurate scales to set the tank on while you're charging...to get the right amount.

[ErikLS2]

The A/C system must be evacuated with a high vacuum pump to make any real cold air at all. You probably also have moisture in the system which the evacuation will remove. I'm in Phoenix where it's varying degrees of hot as hell and don't see anywhere near 40 psi on low sides. 6-12 that Vintage says seems low to me but I just started installing mine and have no experience with charging one yet. Anyway, replace the o-ring on that line, evacuate the system for AT LEAST 45 minutes, longer wont hurt a bit, and charge to the pressures Vintage suggests. Pay attention to the ambient air temperature too when charging, their specs give a temp range for that charge level. If your temp is different, use the calculations Vintage provides in their instructions. Be careful of refrigerants too, there are all kinds of substitutes or blends out there that can even be dangerous.