Hello all. i have an 03 350z touring model. no problems with the ac since ive had it for the last five years. then out of no where, i turn it on and it blows out hot air. I figured even though i never really use it, its possible by now that its just all dried up. no problem, i go out and buy some r134a, pump that mother full of refrigerant and everything was fine.

after about two weeks, all the refrigerant was gone and my baby girl was once again, blowing out hot air. ive replaced the low side stem, i used leak detector and a UV light and i cant seem to find it anywhere. i checked the condenser with the UV light, ive checked the compressor and i didnt see anything. i would think that at the rate its been leaking somewhere that u would see a pretty good blast of the leak detector under the UV but i cant see it. ive followed the lines high side and low side to and from compressor and condenser - nothing.

my only fear at this point is its leaking where the lines go into the dash where the blower is. im not sure how difficult it would be to get access to check for leaks there, but now im here seeking some help from everyone on the forums.

Seems like as usual, right after i pay it off, is when all type of **** starts to happen!

 

Did you look at the compressor shaft seal, thats the usual culprit? Also check the hoses for a hole. Since you did put some gas in the system and it did hold pressure long enough to work a few days I'd say it's probably the shaft seal or an oring at the end of one of the hoses. I don't trust electronic leak detectors, just mix some dish soap and water in a adjustable spray bottle, adjust it to a solid stream, dump some gas in the system or some dry nitrogen in and start spraying all the connections, you'll find the leak.

 

I look all around the compressor. I didnt see any dye. i spent about 15 minutes in the dark outside with the UV light, its a pretty powerful light. Even when i took off the dye from the low side port, it lit up like the fourth of july, so i would have seen florescent green somewhere if there was a leak, but i didnt see anything.

i didnt look underneath the car, but i dont know if there is any hose leading off the compressor that runs underneath/behind the engine.

 

If you check everything that you can see and don't see a leak, I would guess its an evaporator. I don't know a lot about these cars yet, but I have replaced 6 evaporators in the '11 f350's. If you charge the system with more freon, sit inside and see if you smell anything funny coming from the vents. If so, then it's the evaporator.