R33 A/c Problem

[gtsttrk]

Morning fellas,

As the titles states I seem to be having a major issue with the A/C in my ECR33. It seems to be leaking refrigerant in the passenger footwell and as its evaporating (through the vents for the demister), fogging up on the windscreen as it goes. There's no overheating problems with the engine at all, as temps are normal throughout.

^Where the leak in the cabin is occurring.

Now basically this needs to be fixed ASAP, but will the leak/evaporation continue to occur if the car is driven without the cooling system used at all, and has anyone ever had a similar issue at all?

[89CAL]

is there any refrigerant left?

If this is the case, disable the A/C immediatly or you may destroy the compressor if you turn it on.

Are you sure that its the refrigerant causing the window to fog up? Or just because there is no A/C action to demist the window?

[Ben C34]

ac systems have a pressure sensor, so if there is no gas in the system it won't engage the compressor and damage it. Are you sure it's refrigerant, it might just be condensation due to the drain being blocked. The refrigerant is a gas that dissipates, the lube oil is what would drip out, so is that liquid oily or watery?

[Ben C34]

Also it could still be a coolant leak. a few drops makes a barely noticeable difference to the rad level, but is heaps obvious when dropping into the car that something is leaking.

[StevenCJR31]

Thats water from the ac pipe that should be exiting into the engine bay

[jdncomz]

My r33 leaks in the same place, I believe it's the heater core but I could be wrong.

[SargeRX8]

That could definitely be the heater core. I had the same in one of my cars. Wet passenger footwell and foggy windows.

Get a white paper towel and press it onto the wet area. Check its colour. Smell it and feel it. You'll know if its coolant if it is. It could be your ac drain but I doubt you've used your ac enough for that.

Edited September 16, 2013 by SargeRX8

[gtsttrk]

Thanks for the replies fellas. Okay I could be wrong, but the window definitely isn't just fogging up because of the A/C demister not working, the fluid leaking is 100% causing the fog up. Also ill double check coolant levels when I get home, but the smell coming into te cabin has a very distinct collant sorta smell too it.

[Ben C34]

So it is a coolant leak! Only a few drops stinks out the car but you won't notice the level drop for a long time.

[gtsttrk]

Yeah looks like it mate, thanks for all the replies fellas!

[SargeRX8]

Coolant smells really strange, you just know its coolant. It also feels oily to touch. There are two methods to fix, the hard method is to replace the heater core. The easy method is to bypass heater core then use an air compressor into the core to shoot the rest of the water out.

Also to clean up the coolant do what I do, go to the local 24hr carwash and throw two bucks into the vacuum machine.

[gtsttrk]

Yep ended up bypassing it, will it cause my long term damage if I don't want to repair the heater core at all?

[Ben C34]

No damage to worry about. I know in sa they check you have a working heater blowing hot air on the windscreen if your car gets defected.

[KiwiRS4T]

There is a "how to" in this site on changing the heater core without pulling the dash out (via the glovebox etc). Due to try it myself shortly.

[gtsttrk]

There is a "how to" in this site on changing the heater core without pulling the dash out (via the glovebox etc). Due to try it myself shortly.

Cheers mate ill be sure to check it out, that's the main thing that had been putting me off replacing the core itself. The sheer effort of the dash removal lol.

Edited September 19, 2013 by gtsttrk

[KiwiRS4T]

gtsttrk, on 19 Sept 2013 - 22:55, said:

Cheers mate ill be sure to check it out, that's the main thing that had been putting me off replacing the core itself. The sheer effort of the dash removal lol.

Here ya go:

http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/topic/280174-removal-replacement-of-heater-core-skyline-the-right-way-without-removing-the-dash-at-all/