o7silverturbo

So two weeks ago I was out all day with the ac on no problems was blowing ice cold.

I went to my shop to do some paper work. When im ready to leave I start the car let it idle ac on still cold, go to drop off a friends tool I was using, left the car running outside I come out no more than 5 minutes later

When I walked up to my car I could smell freon. I get in the car and it was even stronger so Im thinking great the evaporator just took a s**t. No more air just blowing warm

Next day I get in the car turn the defroster on and smell freon again...now im really thinking its the evaporator.

I hook up my ac machine and since the leak happened so fast I knew it would be easy to find. I start to charge the car with only a half a pound of freon and hear it pissing out.

Come to find out not the evaporator at all. Ended up being the pressure sensor by the cabin air filter just blew out. It didnt blow off of the threads just was leaking out of the connector.

This is a picture of the sensor im talking about and just posting to maybe help someone in the future

Bskyoon

Off topic, but could you direct me to the evaporator? I've been getting that funky smell every once in awhile and think it's time to clean it up with some kool-it.

o7silverturbo

The evaporator is inline with the cabin filter but behind the dash board you cant see it. They make cleaners that you can spray up the ac drain (which I think do not really work) I would check your cabin filter, if you open your trunk under the plastic cover on the right (passenger side) there is a little foam flap and the cabin filter is right there. Its prob dirty or got wet and is a little moldy. I would start with that

Ruskiy

Good catch, thanks for posting this.

Bskyoon

Thanks. I agree, I tried to go through the drain in my truck and it did nothing. At the same time I went through the center vent and found there was a layer of foam before the evaporator, possibly a second filter. Accessing the evaporator directly was the only thing that worked. I don't want to go through the center vent here because I don't know what's behind it and it's probably just a waste of time again. My cabin filter appears to be ok, no funky smells from there. Is it a ton of work to remove things to physically see/access the evaporator?

o7silverturbo

The only way to really see it is if you remove the heater box and the means pulling the dash apart to get the heater box.

If you follow the lines to where they go into the firewall you might be able to spray some stuff pass the foam by the thermal expansion valve or pull the blower motor and see if you can it

TypeRx

I've used nextzett Klima‑Cleaner Professional on other cars with reasonable success, but have never tried it on the 997. You spray it through the intake vent that leads to the evaporator, but perhaps it won't work great in this application per the info a couple posts up.

http://www.1z-usa.com/klima-cleaner-.../#.Wbwjgsh95PY

Bskyoon

Yea Klima cleaner and kool-it are pretty much the same thing, it's just a matter of getting them to the evaporator directly..

BigBen97

Yeah I had that happen to mine. Was driving when it started smoking. Was minimal loss of refrigerant. I swapped the part myself and paid for the recharge. I think I saved about 2/3 the cost by doing the part swap by myself.

pfbz

Your luckier than me... My AC woes a few months ago were a seized compressor. I ended up replacing almost every component in the AC circuit except the pressure sensor to ensure no debris! (compressor, both condensers, dryer, expansion valve, every o-ring, and remove/flush every line)

Maybe I should have replaced the pressure sensor too..