I tried to find a mopar/chrysler forum for this and didn't find much, so I'm back to the general forum that answers specific questions better than specific forums.
My friend has a 2000 Concorde and it won't take any R134A from one of those recharge kits, even after I ran an a/c vacuum pump on the system for like 15 mins.
It also seems to have a leak as it won't hold that vacuum for more than 30 sec. or so.
Any ideas?
TIA,
Joe
I would start with this: Advance Auto Parts link
You will need a UV light for it, too, though. If you don't have a small blacklight from your hippy partying days, I think they sell a small flashlight one for ridiculous money (~$20 I think?)
As for why it won't take, I can't help you there... Maybe the fitting is messed up and needs a new insert?
The seals on the A/C compressor are probably shot. If the system isn't used often, the seals dry up and fail. Typically people turn them off during the winter (even though they run by default when defrosting) so in the summer time they are empty because the seals are shot.
Buy an O-ring kit, replace them and try again. Worst case, you'll need to replace some hoses, etc, but then again maybe after a couple dollars in parts and some elbow grease, you'll be swimming in cold air.
Does the interior smell funky? LH cars have a habit of eating evaporators. You have to pull the whole dash to get it out. Not fun.
'Won't take R134' sounds to me like a bad fitting. (I assume you mean the can is still full after trying to charge.)
Not holding vacuum for more than 30 seconds says 'big leak' and as noted Concordes are bad on evaporators.
Whatever you do, do not put anything with sealant in it. For big leaks, the easiest is to charge with R134 and let an electronic refrigerant sniffer detect where it is coming out from. I vote for a busted condenser. It is constantly getting impacted and will corrode itself a hole in time.
A shop can do this easily or you can invest in the tools to do so.
Update:
It was the low side service port, basically the valve core was corroded to the point that it wouldn't open, but never really closed right either, hence the appearance of no R-134A going into the system and a nice leak as well.
Some tremendous automotive genius lost the cap for the service port and so the port and the valve core were seized. I broke the hell out of the line trying to fix it so a $15 trip to the U-Pull-It later and all is well.
Thanks to everyone, this is truly the greatest forum that ever lived.
