bright green fluid leak
07-11-2001, 10:46 PM
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bright green fluid leak
hi,
I've got a bright green fluid leak from the area of the A/C compressor. The fluid is oily, and a luminescent green color. It's sprayed the bottom of that part of the engine quite green, as well as leaving a green puddle in my driveway. Is this a refrigerant leak? I didn't think refrigerant would be viscous and oily somehow, but since it's not the sort of stuff you service yourself, I really don't know.
What's the diagnosis/prognosis? Anyone have any ideas?
-Mark 86 944 NA
I've got a bright green fluid leak from the area of the A/C compressor. The fluid is oily, and a luminescent green color. It's sprayed the bottom of that part of the engine quite green, as well as leaving a green puddle in my driveway. Is this a refrigerant leak? I didn't think refrigerant would be viscous and oily somehow, but since it's not the sort of stuff you service yourself, I really don't know.
What's the diagnosis/prognosis? Anyone have any ideas?
-Mark 86 944 NA
07-11-2001, 11:30 PM
#2
Nordschleife Master
Sounds like a coolant leak if you are using the green stuff for antifreeze. You losing coolant? If you are brave you can do a small taste test and it will strike you as sweet.
Be carefull if you are losing it that fast to form a puddle big enough that you can see it as green from an offhand look. You could overheat the engine and warp things pretty quick. That will be a real expensive mess.
Be carefull if you are losing it that fast to form a puddle big enough that you can see it as green from an offhand look. You could overheat the engine and warp things pretty quick. That will be a real expensive mess.
07-12-2001, 01:15 AM
#4
Nordschleife Master
LOL!
As far as ingestion, I guess I must have made an assumption he was not a moron and he would only dip a finger in the pool and just touch it to his tongue, not get down on all fours and lap it up like a dog.
Though that is a problem with antifreeze spills. Animals like the sweet taste and will lap it up and get poisoned if you let them get at too much of it.
As far as ingestion, I guess I must have made an assumption he was not a moron and he would only dip a finger in the pool and just touch it to his tongue, not get down on all fours and lap it up like a dog.
Though that is a problem with antifreeze spills. Animals like the sweet taste and will lap it up and get poisoned if you let them get at too much of it.
07-12-2001, 11:17 PM
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The fluid sounds like the oil from the A/C system. Is your A/C working? If not, you have a major freon leak. Usually the oil that is combined with the freon doesn't leak unless all the freon is gone. Just an alternative suggestion.
07-13-2001, 01:42 AM
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No, my A/C has just stopped working as well. This doesn't sound good, does it? I've read that with R134a an esther-based lubricant is mixed with the Freon. Does anyone know if this is/can be bright green in color?
BTW, it is very close to being the same color as the green antifreeze in my car, which has made me look hard for a radiator leak, or leaking hoses. I haven't found a "smoking gun." The only thing is that this felt stuff too viscous to be antifreeze (not that I imbibe that often to know very well what antifreeze feels/tastes like ;-). Also, when I hosed it off the driveway , I noticed an stain remained where the oily puddle had been once the water had dried -- this stuff isn't as water soluable as I'd expect antifreeze to be.
The day before I noticed the puddle I scraped the bottom of the front valance going over the curb while parking... I'm sure every 944 knows the experience. Looking closely under the front of the car, I'm wondering if I might have bumped the bottom of the AC compressor where it joins the drivebelt adjuster (the interested can refer to the Haynes manual, p28.) This bolt looks like it sticks down very low, and to my eye it looks like it could catch the curb and get hit if the curb was just the right (wrong) height.
Anyone else ever done something like this? Is this a known Achilles heel by any chance?
-Mark 86 944 NA (NA being for "no airconditiong" in this case)
BTW, it is very close to being the same color as the green antifreeze in my car, which has made me look hard for a radiator leak, or leaking hoses. I haven't found a "smoking gun." The only thing is that this felt stuff too viscous to be antifreeze (not that I imbibe that often to know very well what antifreeze feels/tastes like ;-). Also, when I hosed it off the driveway , I noticed an stain remained where the oily puddle had been once the water had dried -- this stuff isn't as water soluable as I'd expect antifreeze to be.
The day before I noticed the puddle I scraped the bottom of the front valance going over the curb while parking... I'm sure every 944 knows the experience. Looking closely under the front of the car, I'm wondering if I might have bumped the bottom of the AC compressor where it joins the drivebelt adjuster (the interested can refer to the Haynes manual, p28.) This bolt looks like it sticks down very low, and to my eye it looks like it could catch the curb and get hit if the curb was just the right (wrong) height.
Anyone else ever done something like this? Is this a known Achilles heel by any chance?
-Mark 86 944 NA (NA being for "no airconditiong" in this case)
07-13-2001, 05:27 PM
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Mark,
there is a coolant tank drain hose that runs right near the compressor. Check the tank to see if there is any oil in the water. If so stop driving because there could be water in the oil. (Check by looking at the dipstick. if the oil is choclatey brown then there is water in the oil.) this is an "oil cooler seals failure". then again it could be that there is oil on the engine that came off with the water from the hose. I do know that the oil in the AC is not green. pretty clear actually. How is the temp? what is the oil pressure like? all normal? I hope this helps. Let me know if you need any help.
-andrew
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there is a coolant tank drain hose that runs right near the compressor. Check the tank to see if there is any oil in the water. If so stop driving because there could be water in the oil. (Check by looking at the dipstick. if the oil is choclatey brown then there is water in the oil.) this is an "oil cooler seals failure". then again it could be that there is oil on the engine that came off with the water from the hose. I do know that the oil in the AC is not green. pretty clear actually. How is the temp? what is the oil pressure like? all normal? I hope this helps. Let me know if you need any help.
-andrew
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07-13-2001, 09:25 PM
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I'm still betting that it's a freon leak somewhere in the compressor vicinity. I know the green stuff because my S2 had a leak near the condensor that was dripping the same green oil. If the A/C quit working at about the same time.....You've located the source of the green stuff.
Good Luck!
Good Luck!
07-19-2001, 12:18 AM
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Thanks guys for all the advice. It turns out it was an A/C refrigerant leak from the fittings on top of the compressor. So I guess db944 gets the prize on this one However, Andrew is also right; the lubricant itself is fairly colorless. The green color is due to a dye added to the system by the A/C techs to find leaks. The dye is actually fluorescent under UV light; I've got a sticker under the hood of the car explaining what dye's been added, and so on.
BTW, the repair cost about $700 all up parts and labor (the parts were new seals for the compressor). I took the car to European Auto Works in Mountain View; they seem quite OK. They charged for 4.75 hours labor; their labor rate is $95/hour. Is this rate comparable to other Porsche shops in the South SF Bay Area?
-Mark 86 944 NA
However, Andrew is also right; the lubricant itself is fairly colorless. The green color is due to a dye added to the system by the A/C techs to find leaks. The dye is actually fluorescent under UV light; I've got a sticker under the hood of the car explaining what dye's been added, and so on.BTW, the repair cost about $700 all up parts and labor (the parts were new seals for the compressor). I took the car to European Auto Works in Mountain View; they seem quite OK. They charged for 4.75 hours labor; their labor rate is $95/hour. Is this rate comparable to other Porsche shops in the South SF Bay Area?
-Mark 86 944 NA
07-19-2001, 12:44 AM
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hey mark.. what's been your experience with ralf and european autowerks? I've taken my machine to this place only 3 times and twice I just happened to be in the neighborhood when I got into some troubles (and yes, once i pushed the car from the 237-el camino/grant rd. intersection to the shop on evelyn - whew!). the reason that i've been going there is because the p1-p2-p3-owners took it there and they have all the records on computer since 1997. I actually came in one afternoon on a friday (they were closed) and had a super-long chat with ralf and had a rather informing talk about a lot of issues and stuff that I didn't know about earlier. nonetheless, i think he's a cool dude and i will try in the future to get further work done there, even though I live in SF. he also said that if one wants aftermarket parts (i.e., koni, weltmeister, etc.) he said that he would match the prices from the resellers. This is cool, one doesn't have to hunt stuff down off of the i-net and beyond. have you heard the dyno across the way, going off - !? intense!
I had the guys disconnect the AC and the power steering so I wouldn't have to deal with it (I live in the City and don't need AC).
cheers-
I had the guys disconnect the AC and the power steering so I wouldn't have to deal with it (I live in the City and don't need AC).
cheers-
07-19-2001, 08:23 PM
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hi Deni,
I was in European Auto earlier today, and I mentioned you to Ralph and Cliff -- they certainly remembered you pushing the car from el camino. They said you deserved some kind of award for the superhuman effort, they just couldn't figure out what the appropriate category is.
Anyway, this A/C job was first visit there, so you've got more experience with them than I have, but as I said above, they seemed quite OK -- knowledgeable, professional etc. I was interested in finding out how their hourly labor rate of $95/hour compared to other shops in the area -- I appreciate that running a business of any kind in this part of the world makes for steep overheads.
What I plan to do to try to contain my running costs to some extent is to divide the jobs to be done on the car into 3 classes -- stuff I can do, stuff that should be doable by any reasonable mechanic, and the stuff that should really only be done by a 944 expert. At $95/hour, I only see myself giving these guys future work in the "expert" class. I think I know some good general mechs ($60/$70 hour) from previous cars I've owned, and I'm keen to learn as much about working on the car as I can ($0/hour, but lots of hours
).
So how much are the other experts charging out there?
-Mark
BTW, the one thing I did find mildly irritating was that when I got the car home, I found they'd replaced my old licence plate frames with "European Auto Works Mountain View" frames. I guess it was flattering that they thought my car was a nice enough example to effectively promote their business, but I'd prefer to be asked, particularly since I _liked_ my old license plate frames. I was doubly peeved when I found they had left me without some of the mounting screws and bolts when I came to reverse the "upgrade". That's actually why I was in there again today, to pick up my missing bits and pieces. Not a big deal perhaps, but I figure it's a bit much to pay $95/hour _and_ be expected to provide free advertising. I always think the best advertising by far is word of mouth recommendation anyway. In this respect, I think doing these sorts of things isn't really all that clever -- one (even mildly) irritated customer can outweigh a lot of licence plate frame advertising space!
I was in European Auto earlier today, and I mentioned you to Ralph and Cliff -- they certainly remembered you pushing the car from el camino. They said you deserved some kind of award for the superhuman effort, they just couldn't figure out what the appropriate category is.
Anyway, this A/C job was first visit there, so you've got more experience with them than I have, but as I said above, they seemed quite OK -- knowledgeable, professional etc. I was interested in finding out how their hourly labor rate of $95/hour compared to other shops in the area -- I appreciate that running a business of any kind in this part of the world makes for steep overheads.
What I plan to do to try to contain my running costs to some extent is to divide the jobs to be done on the car into 3 classes -- stuff I can do, stuff that should be doable by any reasonable mechanic, and the stuff that should really only be done by a 944 expert. At $95/hour, I only see myself giving these guys future work in the "expert" class. I think I know some good general mechs ($60/$70 hour) from previous cars I've owned, and I'm keen to learn as much about working on the car as I can ($0/hour, but lots of hours
).So how much are the other experts charging out there?
-Mark
BTW, the one thing I did find mildly irritating was that when I got the car home, I found they'd replaced my old licence plate frames with "European Auto Works Mountain View" frames. I guess it was flattering that they thought my car was a nice enough example to effectively promote their business, but I'd prefer to be asked, particularly since I _liked_ my old license plate frames. I was doubly peeved when I found they had left me without some of the mounting screws and bolts when I came to reverse the "upgrade". That's actually why I was in there again today, to pick up my missing bits and pieces. Not a big deal perhaps, but I figure it's a bit much to pay $95/hour _and_ be expected to provide free advertising. I always think the best advertising by far is word of mouth recommendation anyway. In this respect, I think doing these sorts of things isn't really all that clever -- one (even mildly) irritated customer can outweigh a lot of licence plate frame advertising space!
