New guy here. I need some help with my A/C. It's leaking, and when I add freon it'll blow cold for a night (and the compressor turn over fine) and then it's gone. Added the UV dye, can't find a leak at all. Perhaps it's somewhere under the dash? Anybody have any ideas? I hate to rip the dash out for nothing. Btw, it's a 1997 cavalier z24. Thanks.

If its not visible on any of the lines in the engine bay its probably under the dash. UV dye needs to run in the system a while to come out though. And when it does its gonna light up like no other, with the correct light of course.


Have a nice day.

The dye has been in there for over a week. I'm using a kit I borrowed, it has, a large light that connects to the car battery and some funky yellow glasses.

I think I'll pull the dash Sunday, see what I find. I just wanted to make sure it could even leak under the dash before I pulled it. First time working on ac outside of replacing a compressor.

That UV dye is junk. The actually sniffers work ALOT better.

I'd bet the farm that your leak is NOT under the dash. I can tell you from experience as a 96 Z24 owner that your leak is in the compressor. I have found dye to be useless, it usually just gets blown all over the engine bay.

You can pick a remanufactured compressor on eBay for about $70 including shipping. The install is easy and I'm on year 3 with my eBay reman pump.

Not sure why dye doesn't work for you guys but it works for me. The dye will at the very least show the general direction of the leak.


Have a nice day.

I just removed an AC system from a car 2 weeks ago and poured dye out of the canister for hours... what a mess that crap is. Took quite a bit to get it cleaned out so I could polish the parts.

I too would suspect the compressor... but I'd def pull the dash since you have the dye in there now just to be sure.

-Chris-



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