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2012 Panamera 4 is hissing now that I've recharged A/C...
Took the Panamera out for a drive, and realized the A/C wasn't blowing very cold. Popped the hood and the compressor was spinning (even with the A/C off), and decided to recharge it myself. As I was adding the refrigerant, the A/C started blowing nice and cold. Figured the job was done. About an hour later, I am back in the garage getting the lawn mower out, and I hear a "hisssss". Popped the hood on the Panamera and it wasn't obvious where it was hissing. But then looked into the front "grill" under the license plate, and its seems to be coming from there. Do those condensers usually go bad? We've got 60k miles on this, and never a problem. Any help would be appreciated before we have to drop it off at our local p-car dealership. Thanks!!
Condensers in general are reliable but due to the location, an impact can damage. One way to pin point is with a dye test but if you can hear hissing the shop can wand it to pin point. Replacement is the usual next step.
Just went back out there, and its the radiator itself that is leaking from a tiny "smushed" area right in front, where obviously a tiny (TINY!) rock must've hit it. But not sure why its also letting the refrigerant escape...!?! Just a tiny pinhole, but enough to have the AC not work. I am used to working on older 911's, so this is new to me. Should've stuck with air cooled I guess... lol
Will make an appointment with my local dealership, but just CAN'T believe my radiator leaking is also making my AC drain out...?!?
Thanks guys!
Last edited by levdeb; 07-23-2018 at 08:35 PM.
Reason: Adding photo
Just went back out there, and its the radiator itself that is leaking from a tiny "smushed" area right in front, where obviously a tiny (TINY!) rock must've hit it. But not sure why its also letting the refrigerant escape...!?! Just a tiny pinhole, but enough to have the AC not work. I am used to working on older 911's, so this is new to me. Should've stuck with air cooled I guess... lol
Will make an appointment with my local dealership, but just CAN'T believe my radiator leaking is also making my AC drain out...?!?
You have a fauna collection in there, for which Charles Darwin may be really proud. That, or its a collection of every character in the 'Bee Movie'.
Jokes aside, what was the reasoning behind putting in more refrigerant into the system? The fact that ac was not blowing anymore?
I would be very careful doing that. Many Porsches, including Panamera, have motor actuators which open and close, changing flow of air, mixing of cold/hot temp, etc.
These motors go bad and need to get swapped to fix issues. Not to say that this is your problem, since I did not diagnose your car, but it is one of big problems for these cars.
If this is the case, you would be putting fluid into the system, and greatly over pressurizing it, which itself can cause damage to the system.
In addition, when the fluid is diagnosed to put added, it has to be added based on ambient temperature, and while monitoring max low temp of the ac system inside the car.
Now that you audibly can hear a leak in the system, I would recommend having a shop look and diagnose the system fully (especially if 4 zone).
Then you will have a full remedy for the ac issue. One more thing to keep in mind (and I am not positive about it), is that the ac compressor is intended to be running all the time (as long as the car is started).
So if you have a leak, the refrigerant will come out, and when you start your car, the compressor will get ruined and will have to be replaced ($$$). And since system is now unsealed, the dryer will be replaced too.
Update us on your diagnosis so that we can see what the fix was to the whole thing. Thanks for the topic, - ac is one of those things that most folks do not tackle.
Correct, we didn't have any cold air coming out. Saw the compressor spinning even when ac was off, and was concerned. When I added some refrigerant to the system, the electric fan spun up, and suddenly we had very cold air... Then it was gone...
Will get it to our dealer asap.
The only good news I guess is that we JUST returned from a 2000 mile road trip, from Denver to AZ and back. Mostly 90-100 degree days while driving for about 7 hours each day. Got pretty lucky I suppose! And thats one of the reasons we have a huge collection of bugs to sort thru... lol
Will update when we get her back from the dealership. And thanks!
Running out of AC in AZ is NJ for sure.
How did you like your Pana long driving?
I bought mine in San Diego, drove back home in one shot non stop. Was enjoying it so much, did not feel need to stop overnight. Was real fun. Drove perfect, and in total comfort I must say too.
Love traveling in it. Had a 2003 C4 Cabrio that my son finally outgrew the back, so traded it in toward this. There is so much room, and all the creature comforts. He (11yo) loves the heated rear seats too. Not as much of a head turner as the 996 was, but still get thumbs up here and there. Just from an older crowd now. Lol. I'm 6'4", so I dont mind the extra room either. And 26mpg didn't hurt!
My big reason to get mine - lots of rear space. Can fit 6'2 person in back without problem.
Was looking at Maserati granturismo, but interior was sub par outdated, and little rear space. ????Therefore I now drive my PTT. Awesome car.
07-21-2018, 07:24 PM
2012 Panamera 4 is hissing now that I've recharged A/C...
