Air conditioner advice needed

[lesgarten]

My AC, after 23 years quit cooling.

I checked pressures and it was low. I put R134a in it till it was about 50/180 and it was blowing ice cold.

Didn't drive it for about 2 weeks and went to go somewhere and it's not colling again. I suspect a leak. I have not checked the pressures and am just taking it in for a service/fix.

Should I just have compressor, dryer and expansion valve replaced now as well as any leaking parts, or would you just fly with the original compressor. I live in S. FL, so AC is a year round thing here.

If Replacement, where would you source the parts?

 

[GTV]

Find the leak, replace the part.

 

[Marshmallow]

Expect to find that the lines to the rear air conditioning unit are your leak source, they route under the vehicle and get dirt and grit grinding holes in them. We gave up and had the rear lines capped under the hood as they are pretty expensive to replace.

 

[excessive]

most leaks occur in the condenser, 2nd most common is the evaporator. if you replace the evaporator, might as well replace the expansion valve too. The job can be done without taking out the dash (i've done it)

 

[lesgarten]

should I just block off the rear unit? I never use it.

 

[vipergrhd]

I would add some dye and give it a small amount of charge so it will circulate in the system. Common places would be front of condenser, compressor manifold and lines under vehicle.

 

[HokieCruiser]

I need to troubleshoot my A/C this spring before temps get warm. I did rear block off, didn't fix the issue. This thread tells me I need to check some other spots with some dye...

 

[nissanh]

Get an AC sniffer and check for leaks.