QuestionHello and thank you for taking the time to read my situation. My van started blowing warm air, so I bought the hose with the gauge on it at the auto part store. I started the van and hooked up the gauge and it read "add", so I added till it read in the filled range. After several minutes, it still blew warm air. I checked the pressure again and it was down. I went back inside the van and turned off the system and heard the hissing sound from under the passenger side dash. I did not smell anything foriegn, so I am confused as to what it might be. Obviously there is a leak, but I do not know where to start. Again, thank you for your time and hope to hear from you soon. Tim
AnswerTim,
The hissing sound you heard may have been a leak in your evaporator, but it also may have just been the pressure equalizing inside the lines. Try this...
As you are putting the refrigerant into the system, have someone else in the vehicle, if they hear the hissing as you are charging it, it is definately a leak. If they do not, then I will help you through the rest of the process. Refrigerant in general does not have a distinctive smell to it. It smells, but it is faint and dissipates quickly.
If it is a leak, it is coming from your evaporator under the dashboard, and I highly recommend you take it somewhere to have the replacement done. This being a minivan, everything is packed very tightly into every compartment, and most owners do not want to take on the headache of trying to replace it. If you are not like other owners and want to tackle it yourself, I will do what I can to assist through here, but know that it is going to involve the removal of your instrument panel and a large portion of your dashboard, so the car will be "out of commission" until you complete the replacement.
Thank you for the question, I hope I was of some assistance. If so, please remember to rate this answer. If I can do anything further during this process or in the future, do not hesitate to ask. Thank you again and good luck in everything.
