FINDING LEAKS VIA VACUUM TEST USING A/C Service Station OR WITH PRESSURE TEST
All Vehicles
Danger of frostbite due to refrigerant coming out under pressure.
Frostbite on the skin and other parts of the body is possible.
- Wear safety gloves.
- Wear protective eyewear.
- Extract refrigerant and open the refrigerant circuit immediately.
- If more than 10 minutes have elapsed since evacuating the refrigerant and the refrigerant circuit was not opened, evacuate the refrigerant again. Evaporation can cause pressure to develop in the refrigerant circuit.
-- Switch off the ignition.
- Finding leaks via vacuum test using A/C Service Station or with pressure test. Refer to REFRIGERANT CIRCUIT, EVACUATING .
Small leaks (less than 100 g (3.5 oz) of refrigerant loss per year) are not often detected with the vacuum test or with the pressure test. The incoming air or the amount of nitrogen flowing out is too small to be able to locate the faulty location based on noise.
Leaks on the refrigerant circuit that are greater than 100 g (3.5 oz) of refrigerant loss each year are also not always detectable with the vacuum test or with the pressure test, depending on the ambient conditions (ambient noise, leak location etc.). The incoming air and/or the amount of nitrogen flowing out may be too small to generate any noise that would indicate a faulty location.
Depending on the ambient conditions, larger refrigerant circuit leaks (such as stone impact to the condenser with a refrigerant loss greater than 100 g (3.5 oz) per day) can be detected, for example, by noises that are produced during the vacuum test or the pressure test at the faulty location. Refer to REFRIGERANT CIRCUIT, EVACUATING .
-- Perform the vacuum or pressure test. Refer to Additional procedure, if a leak is detected when evacuating: .