2008 base
cayman
, manual.
Turned on the car, pungent smoke filled the cabin through the vents. Turned it off and followed a loud hissing to the comportment
next
to the battery on the passenger side to see a new pool of (presumably) PAG oil and listened to the system dump all it's refrigerant in 2-3 minutes.
What is this plastic line and where does it go? The oil seemed to have come up out of where it goes down through the metal. Taking a peak in the passenger wheel well I see this fresh oil has run down that area but I don't know how to even get to it.
New owner and new to diagnosing and repairing anything A/C. I don't even know where to begin chasing down where the failure was and could use suggestions.
The location of the oil and your description of the failure would make me think the evaporator coil on your car has opened up for some reason. This used to happen fairly frequently on cars since the cooling coil creates condensate which would absorb any dust/pollen in the air passing through, that would then accumulate in the heater box as sort of an always wet mud, and eventually corrode through the evaporator aluminum.
That used to happen, but is much rarer now since cabin filter were added really mostly to address that exact issue.
Dunno what that hose is - it's not a pressure line for the HVAC. Those are the solid aluminum lines behind it.
AFAIK - the AC evaporator coil can be replaced without having to open up the HVAC box - it mounts into the HVAC box from the shelf below the windshield in the frunk, and can be replaced that way.
Interesting. Looking at it again, it seems as likely the oil came from that pressure switch under the plastic hose thats actually connected to the aluminum AC line. Now I'm wondering if its just the valve there failed independently and I can just replace it, or if something else like the evaporator you mentioned failed and caused over pressure making that valve fail?
I had my A/C go out all of a sudden on my 2008 CS. Pungent smoke filled the cabbin, too. Mine was a slower leak, so we first smelled things, then finally saw a whisp of smoke through the air vent. Opened the windows and pulled over when safe. Waited 15 minutes until the smoke stopped. Then resumed journey with windows down. I noticed the A/C was not working, so felt comfortable driving and knowing the main systems of the car were still fine.
I have an independent shop that fixed the problem quickly and easily. Shop said a few pieces fail occassionally and with the results we have a seen. Another failure point is a stone flying into the radiator and breaking it there! My incident was 2 years ago and the A/C is better than ever — I guess good to re-fill the system every decade or so. When I stick a instant-read meat thermometer into the vent when running the A/C fan at moderate speed it reads a cool 42 degrees.
P.S.: You might not have to go to a
Porsche
specialist for this, as long as the shop has a lift.
SOLVED
Thanks for the input those that replied. For anyone that has the same issue and might find this thread: it was just the pressure sensor switch that failed. Super easy to replace myself with a $30 part and 17mm wrench. I happen to have a friend that has a vacuum pump and a/c gauge manifold and once the switch was replaced we pulled a vacuum on it, made sure it held, then recharged the system with 850g of refrigerant and added an ounce of oil to cover what was lost. A/C is great and holding now.
@shastaking
- thanks for getting back to us with the solution. That's what makes a thread of value. Symptoms, questions, diagnosis, fixed. Anyone looking for the same symptoms will get directed to a thread that explains how to fix it.
