Air Con pipe leak

[chana100red]

Hi Guys,

After many attempta to re-gas my Air con unit it was only holding the gas for 4-5 days and then back to warm air.  The air con is not holding up.  I took it to a reasonable good garage and discovered that under a Uv light googles I noticed several spots where the leak was escaping.  It seems the pipe work is leaking or damaged.

I am shocked to see this happen to a reliable brand and totally surprised.  

On the other hand was wondering if I could get the whole pipe work and replace the damaged one by a professional engineer.  Not sure what to do as I have no plan to part exchange the car for another year or two.

Any advice or anyone who knows a good place to take my car and have it looked.  i am based in Croydon, Surrey.

[Auris James]

Leaking could be a new O ring needed where the pipe joins to another pipe or AC part. If pipe damaged then a used one from a breaker or dealer.

Really need to find out if pipe damaged or just a leaking O ring. A picture would help.

James.

[Stivino]

As there is more than one pipe, a picture of the leaking pipe(s) would be helpful. 

[Derek.w]

I am suprised it was not picked up via a pressure test not holding before refilling?.

[chana100red]

One garage didn’t test it and simply regassed it and took my money.  I went to ATS chap who did my brakes decided to perform a pressure test and that is where I found the problem.

[Hybrid21]

I would imagine that after 18 years some of the seals could be not doing their job properly.

[Cyker]

I swear most AC places don't bother testing or the machine will only pick up a leak if there is a literal hole somewhere - When I was trying to sort out the AC on my Mk2, every place vacuum tested it and said it was fine and regassed it, only for the whole thing to be not working again within a few months later.

I don't know how common it is, but on my Mk2 the aluminium pipes were riddled with micro/pinhole leaks, not at the seals but randomly all over the pipe - My theory is the previous owner never used the AC at all and, over time, moisture got in, mixed with the gas and became acidic and slowly ate away at the pipe from the inside.

The lack of use does seem common as I saw soooo many people today driving with all their windows open, even when waiting in traffic . I was locked up tight with the AC on maximum