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1998 chevy astro a/c leak
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biomorphist
New User
Jun 20, 2011, 8:17 AM
Post #1 of 5
(6166 views)
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1998 chevy astro a/c leak
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hello... new to the forum. i have had a 1998 chevy astro van, 262K miles, for about a year. the a/c was excellent at the time of purchase and several months later started to decline in quality (the air blowing a little less cold) i have recharged it myself a couple of times since then with the refrigerant that has the uv dye in it but have been unable to visually locate any dye or leaks. we don't even use the a/c now because it only blows out warm air. the last time i recharged it, the cold air only lasted for about an hour's drive. we live in florida and have three small children...even a five minute drive leaves us all sweaty. oh, and the passenger window only rolls down halfway, and the driver side not at all. i partially opened the plastic housing of the major a/c system components a coupe of days ago(which seems to be dry rotting...the plastic cracks and breaks off when you touch it), and while i couldn't see completely inside, i could see something had duct tape across it. i figure this must be where the leak is...but i'm not sure how safe it is to completely open/remove that housing is..plus it will probably be unusable again due to the dry rotting issue. a while ago i was told by an a/c tech at a repair shop that that style of van had a 'dogbox' behind the center console that i could open to gain acess to some of the a/c components. i removed the console and it was welded together, no entry. not sure what to try next...we don't have a lot of money to buy specialty tools, so if there's anything basic i haven't tried, i'm more interested in that first. thanks in advance for any help you can give!
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Tom Greenleaf
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Jun 20, 2011, 8:42 AM
Post #2 of 5
(6162 views)
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Re: 1998 chevy astro a/c leak
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Look for your dye or plain oily spots at compressor's shaft seal, condenser and anywhere refrigerant travels. The evaporator will usually have a rubber neck at firewall underhood where the water drains and should not have oil there or dye.
If you can get a static pressure much like taking tire pressure to see if anything is still in system.
A/C's biggest problem is leaks and depending what and where can get nasty expensive. If compressor gave out as in burned out it could have made a mess downstream and you'll need help I think and know it's hot in FL and if a must you need a quote and decide to fix or change out for another vehicle as you have plenty of miles on this one and things just happen.
For windows: Need to take panel off the one that only goes part way down and look at why. One that doesn't work at all you need to see if power and ground get to the motor.
Not sure how they are designed but might use a motor with a whole regulator assembly and some aren't so expensive,
T
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biomorphist
New User
Jun 26, 2011, 8:31 AM
Post #3 of 5
(6128 views)
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Re: 1998 chevy astro a/c leak
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i'm going to try to get around to working on the van again today...the main point i wanted to ask about in the first post was if it was safe to remove the plastic housing and considering it's deteriorating condition it may not be reusable. does it need the housing to function properly?
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Tom Greenleaf
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Jun 26, 2011, 10:06 AM
Post #4 of 5
(6123 views)
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Re: 1998 chevy astro a/c leak
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Seems like you expect it to be junk from just removing it now so have a replacement in advance,
T
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Jun 26, 2011, 11:18 AM
Post #5 of 5
(6119 views)
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Re: 1998 chevy astro a/c leak
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That's just an insulating barum that rots away. You can just throw it away and you'll be fine. There is a full plastic housing under it.
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