2005 987 aircon blowing warm, won't take re-gas - Page 1 - Boxster/Cayman - PistonHeads UK

This happened today. I'm lucky enough to live over the road from a place that could help, and they tried to re-charge the system at short notice, to no avail. So it would appear I have a leak to deal with. In order of preference, I'm thinking I'll start with looking at the condensers, pipework joints, compressor and evaporator. Any thoughts as what I might miss?

A full check over by a competent air-con specialist (not OPC way too expensive) they put a fluorescent dye in which shows any leaks under ultra violet light, I had a very good local guy come and re-gas a car for me very professional and had a wealth of knowledge. My 987 has just had a new pipe fitted where the gas is charged into the system, the valve was leaking, a new valve didn't fix it so a whole new pipe was required.

Klippie said: A full check over by a competent air-con specialist (not OPC way too expensive) they put a fluorescent dye in which shows any leaks under ultra violet light, I had a very good local guy come and re-gas a car for me very professional and had a wealth of knowledge. My 987 has just had a new pipe fitted where the gas is charged into the system, the valve was leaking, a new valve didn't fix it so a whole new pipe was required. This, will pin point the leak in seconds...

The rads gather leaves and rot out .Look for oily stains . Next up the drivers Jack pad is mm from a couple of major AC pipes . Porsche use ( available on e bay ) a tiny Jack pad to avoid pressing on this pipe .40 mm ( guess ) dia Quick fit or others use industry std 120/150mm pads .Theses will compress the under tray and the AC pipe . The condenser in the scuttle is a £25 consumables , not sure how long something like every 3 yrs . If you don’t renew it it fills with water and slightly decreases the AC efficiently, but crucially excess moisture runs down that pipe by the Jack pad and settles . Over time the water starts to rot out from the inside this pipe ( £150 from Porsche ) . With the flexing from oversized Jack pads and corrosion of the internal aluminium pipe where the excess water settles = hey presto a pin hole leak is inevitable. This is where you are right now . Fix . Bumper off 2x new rads @£50 each after market . £25 new condenser/ dryer . £150 new main pipe the high pressure one near the Jack pad and May as well do the £130 low pressure next to it inboard . Buy the O rings from Porsche . Be prepared to drill out the old pipe connector bolts as steel + AL + salt = corrosion fast / stuck / won’t move / fracture at the head . Trip to Quick fit for a £65 refresh of gas .They will vac it all out and check it hold vac ( inverse of pressure ) before refilling.

The rads gather leaves and rot out .Look for oily stains . Next up the drivers Jack pad is mm from a couple of major AC pipes . Porsche use ( available on e bay ) a tiny Jack pad to avoid pressing on this pipe .40 mm ( guess ) dia Quick fit or others use industry std 120/150mm pads .Theses will compress the under tray and the AC pipe . The condenser in the scuttle is a £25 consumables , not sure how long something like every 3 yrs . If you don’t renew it it fills with water and slightly decreases the AC efficiently, but crucially excess moisture runs down that pipe by the Jack pad and settles . Over time the water starts to rot out from the inside this pipe ( £150 from Porsche ) . With the flexing from oversized Jack pads and corrosion of the internal aluminium pipe where the excess water settles = hey presto a pin hole leak is inevitable. This is where you are right now . Fix . Bumper off 2x new rads @£50 each after market . £25 new condenser/ dryer . £150 new main pipe the high pressure one near the Jack pad and May as well do the £130 low pressure next to it inboard . Buy the O rings from Porsche . Be prepared to drill out the old pipe connector bolts as steel + AL + salt = corrosion fast / stuck / won’t move / fracture at the head . Trip to Quick fit for a £65 refresh of gas .They will vac it all out and check it hold vac ( inverse of pressure ) before refilling.

Thanks for all the replies. It appears the first place I gave it to didn't get the procedure right. I had it in to somewhere else today and it's bloody freezing again at the moment. Hopefully no further action required, although time is a great leveller.