our ac systems loose refrigerant at very minimal rates. It looses refrigerant nonetheless. Any experience here on how much their system leaks over 2 years? 100g ...150g ....200g? Just getting ideas and experiences. Maybe we can get a general consensus on this maintenance item..

 

I had two 997.1 and one 997.2, and never had to add any refrigerant to any of the AC systems. Yours must have a leak.

 

+1

Porsche, Toyota, Nissan, etc....... A/C should not lose anything except when there's a leak.

 

Good working system shouldn't have any leakage.

 

Actually they do. Good systems still let some refrigerant out through hoses and fittings. Sae allowable rates for fittings is around 1/4 ounce per year. Not a lot but considering there are about 8 fittings in a system, that is around 2 ounces a year. 911's with their inherent difference having the condensers in front and the compressor at the back suffers from this phenomenon more.

 

My limited experience, with one car, was the only time its A/C lost refrigerant the system had a leak. After a reseal it was fine. I knew, or suspected, it had a leak because the A/C blew warm air at times.

Since then none of my cars have had to have any A/C refrigerant top up. Not even the 2002 Boxster with 288K miles.

My info if the system needs recharging there's a leak.

I note you mention the 8 joints, connections. While there may be that many -- I have bothered to try to count them -- not all I believe on the high pressure side of the system.

The procedure when servicing an A/C system is to put a big vacuum on the system to evacuate the refrigerant and any moisture in the system. One might get some compressor oil out of the system, too. Then leave system under a strong vacuum for used to be 30 minutes but now I think the requirement is one hour with no signs of a leak. Then recharge the system with dry refrigerant and *enough new compressor oil* to replace that which came out with the old refrigerant then "road test" the A/C system.

If the system has been compromised, open to atmosphere for some time, the drier might need to be replaced.

If there is a leak often times it is marked by a stain of compressor oil.

 

Slow day?

 

OK Rick - sounds like you have a leak...something new to worry yourself about

 

Let's hope not. I just added 200 g of refrigerant and all is back to normal. If it looses this 200g quickly then there is a leak. Otherwise, it's another good learning for me. No visible oil marks macster. Reason I refuse to believe a leak is the car is so new, 5 years, and I have not heard the porshce ac system as a weak link. Let's wait and see.

 

For curiosity sake here is a link for all. http://autotechac.com/ac-facts-and-myths/

 

I very much agree with you brother. The article does not say all systems will loose this much, it merely states that engineers who designed the fittings in our cars have an acceptable tolerance and that small leaks are possible and could be considered normal...I guess it's like oil consumption there is a normal range
However, if the other fact is considered that low refrigerant causes oil starvation that could damage a compressor, might be wise to be aware of the signs and the facts, more to prevent costly repairs.
I might be the one consuming a quart of oil every 1000miles, if you get what I mean.

 

My 997 was serviced with bad o-rings. A/c just died due to the leak but was under warranty.

I am sure I am not the first to have leaky a/c

 

Who wrote the article? How up-to-date is the author? Is he an engineer? I have so many questions about your article.

I bet if this is still true, the EPA would shutdown the fittings company which allows for leakage.

Again, I have had many cars most I kept for over 8 yrs. In those 8 yrs, I never charged any of them. N

 

While my Porsche A/C experience has been just fine with no problems (thank goodness) the one car that developed an A/C leak did so in under 5 years. I can't recall now if the car was still under warranty or not but it didn't happen too far out of warranty which for that car was 3 years, 36K miles. I bought the car new in 1989 and traded it in in 1996 and at that time it had under 80K miles on it.

Most often if an A/C is going to leak it is more likely to do so early. If the system makes it out of infancy with no issues then there should be a long trouble free middle age. At some point middle age turns into old age at which point then problems, leaks at any rate, can start to appear.

Hopefully this trouble free middle age lasts a long long while.

Be sure you keep the radiator ducts free of trash. If this trash is allowed to collect and build up and remain this can lead to corrosion of the A/C condensers and radiators which can result in a premature leak in either of these components.

 

Lastly, back in the 80's, they recommend that you turn on the A/c at least once a week to keep seals, lines, etc lubricated. I think this is more applicable to cold areas as they may not use the ac in the winter time. I'm in Cal and I have mine on almost all the time.