Checking air conditioning circuit for leaky points

Workshop equipment

P83.30-0814-01

1 Air conditioning leak detector

Checking for leakage with air conditioning charged

1 Start vehicle engine and switch on air conditioning

2 Check entire air conditioning circuit with probe on leak detector

3 In areas where leaky points are suspected stay a while



Since refrigerant is heavier than air and flows downward, always hold the leak detector probe below the suspected leaky point.
Line connections, pipe joints, condenser and evaporator are the most frequent cause for refrigerant loss.

P83.30-0850-01

Leakage test with air conditioning discharged



On vehicles with empty air conditioning on which no obvious leakage can be detected by evacuation, check as follows:
1. Evacuate air conditioning.

2. Charge air conditioning with approx. 200 g of R134a refrigerant

3. Allow engine to idle, air conditioning ON
 If the A/C compressor does not switch on, activate with hand-held tester and allow to run for approx. 2 minutes.

4. Engine OFF

5. Charge air conditioning with additional quantity of nitrogen to a system pressure of approx. 20 bar

6. Find leakage with leak detector

 Caution! Do not evacuate nitrogen with recycling unit

1 Nitrogen bottle

2 Pressure reducer

3 Filling hose

A High pressure charging connection