i can smell refrigerant from a/c.. bad?

[after oil]

hi
i just recharged my a/c system, and had it evacuated first. it held a vacuum indicating no leaks.. however when its running i can smell the REdTek.. is that normal?

[Rising Sun Auto Import]

hi
i just recharged my a/c system, and had it evacuated first. it held a vacuum indicating no leaks.. however when its running i can smell the REdTek.. is that normal?

If you smell coolant when you turn on a/c, probably you have a leaky heater core as you may need to replace it and reflush coolant as well.
My 2 cents.

Steven

[after oil]

its not coolant i smell, its refrigerant. redtek

[Rising Sun Auto Import]

its not coolant i smell, its refrigerant. redtek

Sorry.
No leaks, no smell basically.
Very interesting to hear "no leaks" from you.
I would retest to make it sure.

[jacklance]

hi
i just recharged my a/c system, and had it evacuated first. it held a vacuum indicating no leaks.. however when its running i can smell the REdTek.. is that normal?

Do NOT use Redtek. It is horrible junk that will harm your A/C system, and mechanics will not want to touch your car as soon as they smell Redtek in it.look into Duracool. It is the best alternative to actual R-134a.

(I have kept this post only because it has been answered and I want to keep the continuity of this thread.
Jacklance is actually a spammer out of Karachi, Pakistan.

Falco.)

[legionnair]

same stuff different label. When you tested the system for vacuum did he pull 30 inches of hg for 30 mins then hold it for 15 min. If that is the case then there was no leaks but when it was recharged you could have a leaky valve from installing or if your AC system has been empty for awhile the has developed a leak from the recharge.
I find AC system go unused then work like made in the summer they fail way sooner. Newer systems if you put it on defrost runs the AC that way it is in almost constant use and has no down time.

Solution. If you are worried you need a hot day to Max your pressures, put your throttle stop at 1000 rpm and everything on Max AC then crawl around with a flashlight and spray bottle. In the spray bottle you want one litre of water, one table spoon of dish soap and one table spoon of corn syrup( makes the bubbles stronger and more visible). Start spraying and look for bubbles. Spray around crimped fittings, rubber hoses, oring fittings. You get the idea.
OR
Just drive it and keep an eye on how cold it gets.

Hope this help

Dustin

[after oil]

interesting this thread was revived one year to the day, in the same hour, as the last post that was made. also intersting is that last week i had my compressor replaced because of a leak, but the system was holding pressure. it cools again, but i smell refrigerant again

[legionnair]

Haha, did not notice the age of the thread.
After Oil do you ever frequent the mill bay/Duncan area, if so and you ever want to meet and have a bullshyte and coffee let me know

Dustin

[after oil]

yeah it all leaked out. thats okay, last week on I5 in CA, with the windows open i think the temp in the van was only 45F, compared with outside temps of 42F... no biggie, thats what sweat is for i guess

[mararmeisto]

I didn't think 45F was all that hot...

The temperature readout on the dash is in Celcius - not Fahrenheit.

[FalcoColumbarius]

I didn't think 45F was all that hot...

The temperature readout on the dash is in Celcius - not Fahrenheit.

Yeah, I put on a long sleeve shirt when I read that... grins.

So Ari, this Redtek that you used ~ is this that propane stuff that is supposed to better replace the R12 that the R134a? Could the propane have had an adverse effect on your seals? I'm wondering if the different product could cause issues, say like veggie oil on the original fuel hoses or how some coolants will eat the head gasket, &c..

Falco.

P.S.: Sorry if I'm sounding like a noob, just starting to learn about the A/C system.

[403delica]

Just a tip about checking for small leaks in an AC system.... the best way is to pressurize the system with nitrogen (have to make a fitting) the reason being is when the system is in vacume it servs two purposes. 1 is to remove moisture and 2 is to check for leaks. The problem with checking for leaks under vacuum is that it will pull the two sides of the split or hole together and cause a temporary seal... and it will hold vacume still becasue there is no agitation to break the hose apart.

So long story short if you can test the system with nitrogen its the best way. Vacume works too but then make a point to shake and wiggle hoses to avoid false conclusions

[403delica]

And yes red tek is a proapne base and was used because of the size of the molecule so it would not leak, it was also used for its compatibility with both systems r 12 and hfc134a

[FalcoColumbarius]

So... isn't propane a volatile gas? What happens if there is a leak and a spark? Could that not lead to an explosion? How does Red Tek get around this?

When you say "it was also used for its compatibility with both systems r 12 and hfc134a" ~ does the description of "systems" also includes the make-up of the seals?

Falco.

[nxski]

Typically when you recharge a system don't you get a recharge kit which includes the seals? After all if there weren't any leaks you wouldn't need to recharge it correct!?