Finding AC Leaks in Empty System – No Freon, No Problem

hey guys and welcome back to another video in the super Kai guy Channel today I will show you how to find a leak in your air conditioning system without having to use any fancy tools or specialty tools or anything like that I purchased this set of gauges on Amazon for about 20 bucks and then I got one of these reusable gauge and hose uh Freon cans for another 25 at the local auto store and I'll show you how I adapted this to work with my Sharp air in the garage to find the leaks and only after that we'll be able to put in the R134a into the system once we know it's leak free so the idea here is to take your yellow line which is going to be the input which would normally connect to like a freon machine or whatever I don't even know and it doesn't matter for what we're doing here and then I have adapted just one of these uh male connectors that will then just Connect into my air hose and that's it so we can close it or open it from here so we have control when the air is going into the system and just to be clear you only want to do this if you're 100 sure that there is no freon in your system and you have a big leak so how do we find out if we have any air in the system well it's as simple as plugging one of these into your low pressure line so this goes well for me it's going to be over there there's a plug you put this on top and then it just shows that you are at zero PSI all I was trying to do really is recharge my system because I was getting no cold air but yeah once it showed me that there's zero pressure in the system now I want to find out where that leak is replace the parts that need to be replaced re-test it using the same tools and then put the actual freon in and of course we're going to use the other two ends to connect with the car they only go in one way so the low pressure goes in low pressure and the high pressure goes in high pressure they will not clip on any other connectors on your car so pretty foolproof right there all right so here is my high pressure line it's going to be on this car just on the left in the front here so we're going to open it up this just unscrews it's literally just a cap and then we're gonna push it down while pulling it back there it is as you can see there is no pressure like I mentioned now we're gonna find the low pressure line and do the same thing now this side is going to be a little bit trickier because it's way behind the air box over here but I do have the aftermarket air box so it might be just a little bit easier if you have the standard one but same thing go on the back there we go it clipped in this is still closed I just set my air compressor to maximum pressure of 30 PSI obviously this can handle much more than that but I do not want to do that I'm just going to set it to 35 it's going to be plenty for what we need to do all right so with everything connected I'm going to open up the valve and let some of the air into the system and with some compressed air in the system we can now see the pressure is in the system so we have well like I said 35 or almost 40 PSI on the low side and about the same on the high pressure side but what we're doing now is actually listening for leaks so I'm gonna get really quiet and just go in the air and see where the air is coming from because I can actually hear it all the way from here all right so I can definitely hear a leak somewhere in here but I don't know where it is exactly so what I'm going to do is going to grab my microphone and I'm going to put it in here so you can hear what I'm hearing all right so it definitely sounds like it's coming from that area over there I got some soapy water and I'm just gonna spray it and see if I see any bubbles all right guys so I have a definitive answer now I can stop it with my finger I need to replace this entire um condenser for the air conditioner now let's go over the process one more time to make sure it's clear to everyone I'm using a set of very cheap gauges with an air compressor to put some pressure into the system in order to find a leak the air compressor provides constant air pressure giving you plenty of time to look for that leak now that I have found the leak and the condenser it's time to get it replaced this isn't a how-to on how to remove the condenser as I'm not doing it by the book once again to be very clear do not disconnect any part of the AC system if there's any Freon left anyway here's how I remove the condenser from the car like I said I really don't want to drain the coolant is this easier no is this a lot less messed 100 percent is it possible to remove one yes would I recommend it probably not well guys I think I know why it's leaking as you can see this is not original BMW condenser so this is some aftermarket Cheapo one and that's why I was leaking here all right guys so two days and fifty dollars later I have a used but in good condition condenser for my BMW 335 let's get it installed check for leaks and if there's no leaks well basically we're done after filling it with some Freon let's do it I have also cleaned the mating surfaces and replaced the O-rings on both of the hoses or whatever they are they go to the condenser I'm just gonna clean these up a little bit as well and put it back in the same way I took it out foreign the right spot because it's not you have to not forget this clip almost forgot we have to install these little retaining uh pins I removed them because it was easier to get this whole thing you know behind the radiator without the clips being in the way all right guys so that's kind of as close as I can get you to show you but yeah this Line's already kind of attached so I just need to put the bolt in and tighten it I'm gonna do one at a time okay we're ready for a test all right so I held my compressor set to about 40 PSI maybe 45 something like that I'm listening for any leaks I don't hear any so that's good so far I'm gonna close the valve on my input so close this completely and make sure this is tight disconnect my line so we're no longer providing any pressure and I'm gonna leave it for I don't know for five ten minutes and make sure it does not go down stays at the same pressure level that will tell me that there's no leaks and of course at the same time I'm gonna go ahead and search for any leaks and what I'm going to use for that is this silly tool so basically it's like whatever the doctors use you put it on your in your ears and then you listen for any leaks around the engine bay all right so I don't hear any leaks and especially in this area where I just did the connection and was replacing the parts so that's a good sign I'm gonna leave it for a little bit more and then we'll get back to reassembling everything all right with that test done I feel confident enough to reassemble this whole ordeal and put some freon in the car now this next part is very important I do not recommend putting freon into the system without removing the moisture and air out of that set system I'm doing this as an extra test and to show you that the fix has worked I have since taken the car to a professional to have it fully evacuated and and recharged failure to do so will result in air and moisture stuck in the system reducing the heat transfer capabilities of the refrigerant and may cause corrosion in other parts of the AC system such as the evaporator compressor and control valves in the future and there you have it guys we have a result the air coming out of the vents started out at around 75 degrees and now it's around 55 and going down as the freon is circulating through the system and you can definitely feel the cold air coming through now anyway I hope this helped you troubleshoot your own AC leak without any specialty tools if your system has some Freon left you can take it to get it evacuated and then fix the leak yourself before getting it recharged this should still save you some money at the end and now that you're done watching this video why not check out the video where I installed Wireless carplay on this 10 year old BMW

Channel: SimpleCarGuy

Views: 90,971

Keywords: bmw 335 ac leak, ac leak, how to find ac leak, empty system, no freon, ac leak repair, replace compressor on bmw 335i, bmw condenser replacement, bmw e90 condenser, bmw e92 condenser, bmw e92 ac leak, recharge, r134a, freon leak, ac fix, no cold air, warm air, bmw not blowing cold air, auto repair, how to, air conditioning, refrigerant leak, air conditioning repair, no special tools

Id: FFXH_Q20MlI

Length: 8min 47sec (527 seconds)

Published: Thu Sep 29 2022