People,

I put in some R134a in my 2001 civic a few months ago. It now does have dye in it, and wondering, as I look for the leak/dye stain, could it be in the evaporator itself? If so, I should plan on dismantling the glove box, as I understand its easy to do . But, once I do that, could I view the evap and actually see the fins/evap surface?

How common is it for my car to have the evap fail cuz of leaks/pin holes from corrosion? I heard the auto industry as a whole, son after R134a, they beefed uip the aluminum in the evaps, but not until about 2002 or so. Does my car have the older/cheap/light/corrosion prone leaky evaporator?
Thanks

 

It was Chrylser / Dodge that had the lousy evaporators. Faiure from corrosion from the outside doesn't depend on refrigerant type. I don't think the Honda ones are any worse than anything else. On a 2001 and later the evaporator is inside the heater box, and you have to take the whole dash out to R&R it. I don't know how much you can see taking the fan out. Look for dye in the drain tube and sniff there with an electronic detector. Common leaks are the relief valve on the compressor (remove heat shield from the back of the compressor to see it), the line connections under the hood, and the compressor shaft seal.

 

Thanks, MK. Youre right about the Chrysler (Plymouth) cars- I had one, and replaced an evaporator!!). And Im aware of corrosion- yes, from the air/humidity, not the refrigerant. Good point. So, I hoping its not the evap. But, according to this link, one doesnt have to remove dash(?) on a 2001 civic:

http://www.handa-accessories.com/civic/03civac.pdf

Still, I will look at the cars comp from under the car (ned to jack it up cuz its soooo low), but should I be able to see dye around the comp seal? Man, its soooo tight down there!

last resort, MK, and I know its desperate, but use stop leak?? Will I be sorry?

Thanks!

 

Just inspected the areas- no green dye stains at comp, but saw some tiny speccles of greenish on the front of the condenser (easily accesible). But, not sure if indicates leakage, as theyre soooo tiny. Wondering if its maybe copper oxide stains(?), if theres any copper in the aluminum alloy making up the condenser fins??? Anybody know?

If its no way ciopper , then it has to be dye specs, ever so tiny. I remember seeing dye in my voyager corroded evaporator- man, that was so obvious, not like this. I suspect a false positive, people, that these specs could be a false positive.