Hello all my name is Ian
I have a 1996 mitsubishi 3000gt base model
Went to the dealer today to have freon put in and it was blowing ice cold air for most of the day though i can feel it starting to get warmer and warmer. They mentioned if it was a big leak then it would be under the dash. My question is, is dash removal necessary to fix anything related to the ac. They said if there is a big leak then it would be under the dash.
Did they put the dye in with the re-charge so that you can see where the leak is? I am baffled as to why they would re-gas the AC without confirming the status of the system first. Removal of the dashboard is quite a lot of work and there is a video for it. I am pretty sure that you don’t need to remove the dash to get to the AC radiator behind. Most leaks are at the joins in the hoses and in the radiator at the front of the car behind the main engine radiator. The UV dye will quickly show where the leak is. I am 99.9% sure that your leak will not be behind the dash. Don’t forget to update us.
Basically I told the dealer the car no longer blows out cold air and I suspected a leak. They did the A/C DYE and something called “stop leak”, at least thats what it says on the paper. They added FREON R134A one pound of it and the dye. They told me to bring it back if it starts blowing out hot air. What Im confused of is, if they added the dye, isnt the dye to check for leaks? They told me to bring it back if it starts blowing out cool air and they will find the leak. They also said its possible the leaker could be coming from under the dash. I assume under the glove box? The evaporator I believe its called?
Where did you find these monkeys?
Any quick search on google or youtube will show that they are not a professional business.
All they had to do was pull a vacuum on the system and watch the gauge for leaks. Then pressurise the system with a special gas (not R134) and use a device that smells where the leak is coming from. The stop leak additive is for DIY temporary repairs. It causes leaking O rings to swell and seal the leak. I don’t know why they would think it is the evaporator. A full set of new O rings will cost you about 5 bucks from autozone and will do the job properly if an O ring is the problem. I would suggest that you find a more professional business to carry out your repairs.
Very interesting, It was the mitsubishi dealer near my house. Been going to them for over 10 years and never had any problems. They said if it starts blowing out cool air within a day then its most likely a “big leak from under the dash” at least thats what they said. Tomorrow its suppose to be 80 degrees here in New Jersey where I live so ill see how the ac is running tomorrow. Ill keep you updated on what happens.
I am shocked that a mitsubishi dealership would do it this way.
Here is a picture of the unit under the dash. It looks like you can remove it without full dash removal.
Well thats good to know. Is that behind the glove box? Ran my car today for about an hour and there was no cold air blowing out. Also that ticking sound I hear when there is freon in no longer clicks on. I read that it wont click on unless there is freon on there. So it seems it took about a day for all the freon to leak out. I assume there might be a couple leaks or one big leak.
Yes, it is behind the glove box and yes, the pump will not engage if the pressure gets too low. You should be able to look around all the joints for a florescent green/yellow dye that is seeping out where the leak is.
I still maintain that the problem will not be at the evaporator unit.
Great thanks ill try that.
Ended up going to another place and they said they found dye all over the back of my battery and on the o ring and the hose that leads right into the hole into the dashboard.
Yep. The O ring is on the engine bay side right? No need to touch the inside of the car.
Yeah thats where it is. Gonna bring it back in a few days because the guy said he wants to remove the battery to get a better view and then replace the O ring.
I wish I had a bet on this one. I hope you will be having words with the mitsubishi dealership, a simple presure test would have saved all of this trouble and cost. Make sure that the new dealer replaces all of the O rings at the same time as they will all be failing with age. It takes about and hour to do the lot but saves a fortune in re-gassing and time over the years to come. The O rings on the condenser which is behind your main radiator are a particular problem.
Does anyone know how many o rings there are? I will do mine very soon.
Regards Ray
Im not sure how many there are in total but Im sure joe will know.
So I brought the car to a local shop and they replaced the O ring thats right on the firewall behind the battery. Looks like that did that trick. They recommended I replace the hoses as well as all the O rings because it all looks worn. Told me if I got the parts then they could replace it all for me. Do you know where I can look to find each hose and O ring? I have no clue what any of the hoses are called. The guy couldnt find anything online so I told him id look around.
Those of you that watch my videos or know me personally, will know that I am a big American fan but I am speechless over the jaw dropping incompetence when it comes to your AC people.
Firstly, why would they re-gas the system and tell you after that the hoses need replacing?
Second, why only replace one O ring?
Finally, what is wrong with the hoses?
There are about 10 O rings on the car and they cost about 5 cents each. They come in boxes of around 100 assorted O rings from autozone, O Rieleys or similar car parts store. Wouldn’t it make more sense to do them all at once given that the they are perishing with age, rather than do one at a time and re-gas the system 10 times.
I have never even seen early signs of hose aging. That’s not to say it doesn’t happen but I would ask another shop for a second opinion, The hoses are custom made so you will have to get them direct from mitsubishi. Different years have different hoses because they used different compressors over the years and each one has different connectors. Take your vin number to mitsubishi so they can look up the correct ones for your year.
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Great thanks. Yeah its a struggle here haha. The local shop said he couldnt find an O ring to fit on that spot on the firewall but he managed to make it work. He also said the hose going from the compressor to the evaporator I believe is what he said needs to be replaced but he couldnt find it anywhere online.
Well turns out I guess there is still a leak because 1 day later and it no longer blows out cold air after replacing that O ring. Not really sure where to go from here tbh. Already spent a couple hundred dollars and no luck.
If they didn’t do the job properly, ask for your money back. This is not rocket science. Just go onto ebay and search for air conditioning O rings. There is thousands of companies supplying sets of 270 assorted pieces for less than 10 bucks.
They should have replaced the whole set at the same time and then pressure tested the system before the re-gas.
They are idiots so ask for your money back and go to a professional who knows what they are doing.
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