... posted by Nathan  on Tuesday, 27 February 2001, at 12:13 p.m.

                      On the subject of charging the ac and slow evaporator leaks - do any of the sealants which are added
                      via the charging kits any good?

                      Please provide brand name recommendations.

                      Do these sealants cause any damage to the internal ac parts and compresor?

                      Last Summer I had to add a pound of freon and its been good to go ever since.

                      However, I strongly sustpect a slow evaporator leak - despite the fact I had it already replaced once
                      under warranty at 24,000 miles ( now have 57,000 miles).

... posted by steve d.  on Tuesday, 27 February 2001, at 8:30 p.m. ...in response to "Any Recommendations on A/C Sealants...??" posted by Nathan.
 

                      hi, Nathan.
                      I tried the sealant that comes with the charging kit, it did not work for me. I put in a sealant by cryochem
                      at cryochem.com. This was at the end of 7/00 and its still working fine after an initial loss of freon while
                      the sealant filled the leaks presumably. Read their info no their web site for 134a stuff, the 850
                      evaporators seem like a prime canidate for this stuff. One note, its not cheap, $128 or so, but weight
                      that against the price of a new evaporator.

                      --
                      steve d. '94 850 85k

... posted by Mr. Yuk on Wednesday, 28 February 2001, at 10:47 a.m. ...in response to "Re: Any Recommendations on A/C Sealants...??" posted by steve d..
 

                      Hi Steve,

                      I tried the Walmart/K-mart-type sealant a couple of times and they didn't work.

                      Have you taken a pressure reading recently? Has it been at the same level since the initial settling?

                      I have read the website a few times and I'm very interested to try it out this summer. Mine, with or
                      without the cheap sealant, last only about 3 weeks. I think I'll vacuum the line before I put the stuff in.

                      Thanks!

... posted by Ken  on Friday, 2 March 2001, at 8:36 a.m. ...in response to "Re: Any Recommendations on A/C Sealants for Slow Leaks??" posted by steve d..

                      Steve -

                      I checked the web site for cryochem and they indicate that you need to be EPA certified to order the
                      product. Did you order direct from them or go to one of the distributor? Like they say Firestone is a
                      distributor so would one to to them and have them do it?

... posted by steve d.  on Monday, 5 March 2001, at 8:34 p.m. ...in response to "Re: AnyRecommendations on A/C Sealants...??" posted by Ken.

                      Hi Ken.

                      I am sorry for not writing sooner to your question.

                      I called cryochem to find a local distibutor, I then called (30 miles away) the local distributor and they
                      were not customer friendly, they would not sell it to me thinking epa, and their price was a 100% mark
                      up if they put it in, plus labor. I then called cryochem back and told them about it and asked them what
                      the deal is with the EPA certification, you can buy r-134a at K-mart, and is not a controlled freon like
                      r-12 is now. They (cryochem) agreed to ship it directly to me via ups.
                      I also recieved an e-mail from Rob asking about the replacement of the a/c system dryer, Cryochem
                      suggests that you replace it if it has been contaminated with moisture by having the system not working
                      because of a leak that has introduced moisture, the sealant works by hardening on contact with moisture
                      and air when it leaks out, there by sealing the leak, haveing moisture in your dryer would be bad news,
                      my system had a slow leak and I kept filling it as it would lose its effeciency, so it was never expose to
                      the atmosphere, I also pulled a vacuum on the system before putting the cryochem sealant in. From what
                      I understand from researching this while I was looking for a cure to the evaporator leak, is that when the
                      dryer is exposed to the atmosphere it will get saturated with moisture and is virtually ruined from this to
                      preform the function of drying the freon system from moisture and condensation.

                      --
                      steve d. '94 850 85k

                      Is it possible to tell if the dryer needs to be replaced? I got my 850 in November, the A/C worked then
                      (as well as you can tell in November) so maybe it never completely leaked out to the point of letting
                      moisture in, but who knows?

                      Is the vacuum pump something you can buy or rent, or is it specialized equipment that you either have or
                      you don't? It's hard to find much in the way of instructions on A/C work, other than "take it to a shop".

                      Hope to see some more evaporator success stories in here soon!

... posted by steve d.  on Wednesday, 7 March 2001, at 7:49 p.m. ...in response to "Re: Any
         Recommendations on A/C Sealants for Slow Leaks??" posted by Terry Haywood.
 

         Hi Terry.
         The vacuum pump is something most people don't have access to. One simple way to tell if your system
         has pressure in it is to take off the valve cap of the schrader valve (the a/c system fill valve and is similar
         to a bicycle tire air valve) that is located on the passenger side either by the fire wall were the a/c system
         pipes go thru, or in front of the engine compartment inboard of the widshield fluid fill cap (depending on
         year),and use a nail or real small screwdriver and push on the stem to see if there is pressure. Don't put
         your face too close when you do this. If there is any presure at all than your syetem should not have
         been in a state of being open to the atmosphere and allowing moisture in. Also if your a/c compressor is
         constantly cycling it is low or out of a charge. If you were to get your self ready to use the a/c sealant, I
         would go to a respected auto a/c place and have them evacuate the system. This will pull a vacuum on
         the system and then you could put the sealant in,wich should probably be done immediatly after,
         otherwise the leak in your system will now be allowing moisture in because of the vacuum on it.
         Your right on finding out how to work on the a/c system, but ask around, you will probably know
         someone who has knowledge of car a/c systems. One final thought, the 850's only have a fill valve on
         the low side of the a/c system. This buged the h out of people at the a/c shop I went to at the start of my
         a/c situation. Most every other car make has always had one on the high side also.

         --
         steve d. '94 850 85k

 I'm facing the problem that almost everybody else is: the AC evaporator has leaks in it and the dealer wants
 $1600 for a new one. I thought I read a few weeks back about somebody having success with an AC evaporator
 sealer. What is the status (is it still working), what is the brand and where did you get it?

 Thanks in advance.

 rob
 --
 Rob 95 854T / 96 854
                   

 I used Quest Super Seal (by efproducts--see more info on efproducts.com) because it's readily available at
 Autozone, for $20. You may want to take a look at Keep-it-Kool ($50 at acsource.com) but it was out of stock 5
 weeks ago.

 Mine leaks out in 2-3 weeks before using the Super Seal. Now, it's almost 5 weeks and the AC still runs great.
 Praise the Lord!

 Well worth a try in my opinion.

 Good luck.

 p/s Super Seal comes with a charging hose so you don't need to buy one.

 Thanks for all your info. I'm going to give it a try. Keep me posted with your results!

 Rob
 --
 Rob 95 854T / 96 854

 There have been posts in the past that indicate success sealing ac leaks with CRYOSEAL.

 website: www.cryochem.com

 I checked out the website and may be worth a look.

 Good Luck

 No don't do it. It doesn't work. I passed all the prerequisits. And installed it with a professional Volvo A/C guy. The
 worst thing is that it smells really bad. So that when it leaks out of your evaparator it makes your car smell like fish
 for almost 2 weeks. It smells so bad that you want to puck. Really. Don't buy it.

 Sandro, Thanks for the feedback on cryoseal !

 The unfortunate reality is that when you have a leaking evaporator - the best you can hope for is a postponement
 of the costly replacement.