rev up your engines, today I'm gonna answer the question do a ac leak sealers
actually work, now it's with all my videos this isn't a sponsored video I've
been working on cars for 51 years and over the years I've tried various
sealers and a/c systems, because as the saying goes the proof is in the pudding
if you don't try it out see if it works or not in various situations you never
gonna know the truth, now of course if you can find a leak in an a/c system it's
obvious you can hear it hissing or Dye comes out, my advice says first attempt to fix
it mechanically, the other day I had a Ford in here and it needed an evaporator,
it was gonna be over $2,000 to replace that
evaporator, so the customer said, gee is there something else we can do it's
hot and humid here in houston, then I said well there's sealers out there and
I found one there works as best than any I could ever try out, but I also
explained it's not gonna fix any big leaks only tiny ones, so I said well for
like about 30 bucks we can try this stuff it's called AC pro super seal, the
company is honest look what it says on the can, for use in car AC systems that
can hold a charge for at least two weeks and have a working compressor, and from
my years of trying different sealers on people's cars, this is the only one that
I'll try anymore because they're being honest, a lot of
them sa,y Oh we'll fix any leak in your system blah blah, well of course if
you put it in and it hisses right out that hole is too big it isn't gonna fix it,
to give an example of another leaking system one has less pressure, let's say
you get a hole in your tire some people use that fix-a-flat,now if you at a
nail or a tiny hole the stuff actually can seal the leak, sealers can work for
small leaks not big ones, now my advice is before you use any of the sealers
make sure the compressor is working and isn't making horrible noises, if you turn
it on and its going clanking clanking clanking the compressor is shot and
you're gonna have to replace it, then start up the car
turn the a/c on full blast then go under the hood make sure that the cooling fans
are working, this is one here and one here they're blowing perfectly fine,
look at the compressor this one's quiet it's not making any
weird noises.
now in the case of this acura it's leaking it out after a
month month and a half, so it's a small leak and when I checked it for leaks
with my sniffer.
lo and behold it was leaking inside the dash. and I know a lot
of mechanics are gonna say.
oh don't ever use that stuff it'll clog your system, but
look they give true directions here, it says will not clog up AC system
or service port when used as directed, so you do exactly as they say, this isn't a
miracle and a can it's going to fix other problems, it will only fix small
leaks, and to give it the best chance of working, here's what I do if, you don't
have the equipment pay a mechanic to do it for you, because you really have to do
it this way if you want it to have the best chance of sealing any small leak in
your AC, first you have to hook up a set of gauges, put it on the low side, then
you have to evacuate the system to get anything out, and in most places by law
you have to have a recycling machine if there is refrigerant left in the system,
you got to hook this up to a recycling machine, so you don't send a refrigerant
into the atmosphere, but of course if it's completely empty then you can just
hook this up to a vacuum pump and just suck it out to get everything out so
there's a complete vacuum in the system now this is a really important step in
putting in any sealer, I know a lot of times guys just think, oh I'll just put
some of the sealer in and drive it around, no to do it correctly you got an
empty the system out, then you put the sealer in, which is easy enough the can has
got a little clip that goes right on, you
just take this line off, and put this on, then you just turn the can upside down
and spray it in pushing the button, and of course you do this with the engine
running and the a/c on, and once the can is empty, and you can tell that by listening
put your ear on the can and when it starts making a sucking sound then
you know it's hollow and dry inside, and then once the can is in, you fill it
up with a full load of refrigerant, and it's very important that as soon as the
cans empty, you fill up with refrigerant, you want it flowing through the system
then my advice is let it sit and idle with all the fans running for about half
an hour, that way it flows through the system and has the best chance of
sealing it, now I know a lot of mechanics are gonna go berserk and say, oh don't
ever use that stuff it'll destroy this or that, well if you follow the
directions like I just showed you, it doesn't create any problems, the system
has to have a slow leak, it does have to leak out in two weeks or longer, if you
got to fill it up every hour or after a day or two, the stuff's not gonna work the
leak would be too big we're talking about a small leak here, and as I said
it's not a miracle in a can, it's not gonna fix a broken AC system that's got
some other problem, like a expansion valve, or a compressor, or the fans aren't
working right, it's only gonna fix small leaks, now over the years I've tried
lots of different ones, and unfortunately luckily they were old junky cars that
the customer said, well we'll give it a try cuz we're not gonna put much money
into the car, some of the other ones actually did clog up systems and the
compressors locked up, but this ac pro one it's the only one that I will try
anymore, but you do have to go through all these steps that I've shown, you
can't just think, I'll just shoot this stuff in and drive around and see if it
helps, and as I said if your system makes horrible noises when it's running, don't
even try this stuff, that means that at a minimum the compressor is starting to wear
out, you need some serious work and this little $29 can is not gonna fix your
problem, and since this is mechanic Monday I'm giving away some of this a/c
super seal, to have a chance to win place a clean non offensive comment on the youtube
to comments below, and the winner will be chosen randomly by computer to get some
a/c leak sealer, so if you never want to miss another one
of my new car repair videos, remember to ring that Bell