Hi everyone. I have been having an A/C leak for almost 3.5 years (all the time I had this car), but since it was slow enough and it holds the refrigerant for months without having any problems, I never bothered to do anything about it. Tonight after the hurricane, I went out to look under the hood to make sure nothing electrical got wet. I looked between the A/C compressor and the power steering pump and noticed the wet sludge that has been there for a long time. But then I look closer with my new bright flashlight and notice a little lime green under the compressor and between the compressor pulley and the power steering pulley. It looked too light to be antifreeze (both that and the power steering fluid are fine. I saw a single drop of something at the water pump weep hole and thought I was leaking antifreeze, but because of the hurricane and because I never saw anything there before, I assumed it is because of the hurricane.) and I remembered that I put a couple cans of refrigerant with stop leak in it to see if that worked and it contained a dye. Same as a couple cans of oil that I put in over the last couple years when I charge the system for the summer in the spring (it drains during the winter). Normally I have to add a can or two sometime at the end of the summer to keep it from toggling on and off while driving and I am going to do that tonight .

Ok, so now I know where the leak is coming from and it looks like it is coming from the bottom of the A/C compressor. How do it fix it short of replacing the compressor? Is there a professional grade stop leak product that would take care of it? It isn't making any strange noises while it is on and turning, meaning there is more than enough oil in it and the bearings are probably still good (I also tried to wobble the pulley a few months ago when I replaced the serpentine belt and there was no play if that matters), but sometimes it feels like the transmission is making extra shifts when it goes on and off and it robs a little bit of power like it always has. I have an extra can of PAG oil here. Should I put some in?

 

If it is the center seal on the compressor housing, you don't fix it without replacing the compressor.

 

It might be the center seal. It looks like the front part of the compressor where it was assembled to the rear part of the compressor is where the sludge is coming from. It looks more like oil or power steering fluid, but since the only oil leak that I know of is the pan gasket and I do not notice a decrease in power steering fluid level, it can't be from those.

Looks like a compressor replacement is in order then in the spring. Not going to worry about it right now with the upcoming semester (no time to take the car to the shop and I don't have the cash for a new compressor right now) and the winter.

I just checked the freon pressure at 75F and it was around 30PSI (appropriate for <60-65F). It was fluctuating last night as if it was low, so I was assuming that it would behave the same at the time. I added a can of high mileage freon (freon + 1oz oil + lubricant enhancer + "system safe leak sealer" (aka useless leak sealer)) and it didn't increase at all once the can was empty. It held right at 30PSI with the compressor running quietly (in fact, all I hear is the "click" when it locks on and a faint pumping noise). I added another can in Walmart's parking lot and it still didn't increase. I checked it again a few miles later and it was a bit higher (around 35-37), so it is holding pressure well. Before this, I haven't added freon in about 3 months (I don't know if I did 2 months ago, but the pressure was acting the same).