Hey guys, so my AC has never worked since buying it used, but after a long drive from Washington to Southern California I decided I need to get this working. After some searches and checking I have come to find out the compressor clutch is not engaging at any air setting. I decided to buy those AC Refill bottles with a gauge after reading a thread about it here. Plugging up the gauge it reads completely zero, needle does not move whatsoever. So far I am assuming there is absolutely no refrigerant at all so the clutch does not engage. While holding down the trigger I hear a hissing sound not coming from the gauge/bottle or the low pressure port but somewhere else down the line going towards the dash. Also when I let go of the trigger the needle goes back down to zero. Holding down the trigger longer than before I saw the compressor clutch thing move about less than a quarter of a turn.
So far my conclusions are that there is a leak, I'm still crossing my fingers and hoping my compressor is not bad.
Inspecting the hose more down the line going towards the dash, I see this. All my previous vehicles the AC has always worked so I never had to inspect this line, but to me this doesn't look good. I don't know how it is supposed to look, I assume the previous owner doesn't have it screwed in all the way or is there some kind of gasket/grommet supposed to be there? I do not know what that grease is around what looks like threads, is it dye or some kind of sealant? Also those two rings before the threads are just sitting there hanging out, is it supposed to be holding something in? I'm going to assume that's where the leak is.
EDIT: What the picture shows is actually the hose is disconnected a little and off the grommet, I pushed it back in and made sure it was relatively tight, tried the refrigerant again and this time the compressor clutch would engage and actually spin for a longer period of time, rushed back into the car but still no cold air (my AC light only turns on at 1, sometimes at 2, not 3 and fan actually stops at 4) but the gauge showed pressure slowly going back down; a lot slower than before, but still goes back down to zero. When the compressor is spinning the gauge goes completely zero, is that normal? I still don't know if that part I pushed in is the culprit, there's no leak whatsoever on the compressor unless you can't actually see it? Where else can it leak?
So far my conclusions are that there is a leak, I'm still crossing my fingers and hoping my compressor is not bad.
Inspecting the hose more down the line going towards the dash, I see this. All my previous vehicles the AC has always worked so I never had to inspect this line, but to me this doesn't look good. I don't know how it is supposed to look, I assume the previous owner doesn't have it screwed in all the way or is there some kind of gasket/grommet supposed to be there? I do not know what that grease is around what looks like threads, is it dye or some kind of sealant? Also those two rings before the threads are just sitting there hanging out, is it supposed to be holding something in? I'm going to assume that's where the leak is.
EDIT: What the picture shows is actually the hose is disconnected a little and off the grommet, I pushed it back in and made sure it was relatively tight, tried the refrigerant again and this time the compressor clutch would engage and actually spin for a longer period of time, rushed back into the car but still no cold air (my AC light only turns on at 1, sometimes at 2, not 3 and fan actually stops at 4) but the gauge showed pressure slowly going back down; a lot slower than before, but still goes back down to zero. When the compressor is spinning the gauge goes completely zero, is that normal? I still don't know if that part I pushed in is the culprit, there's no leak whatsoever on the compressor unless you can't actually see it? Where else can it leak?
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