Green spray from a/c line

akaNYr

5 Year Member
Jun 13, 2017
55
7
18
Washington state
Hi guys. Something sprayed the side of my engine green and I can’t get it off. It looks like it came from the low pressure valve if my a/c line but the cap was on tight and when I took off the cap it wasn’t green inside nor was the valve. I’m attaching some pix. If anyone knows what this green stuff is and where it came from I’d appreciate the info. Thanx. I have a 1995 GT 5.0
 

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The alien blood.. It came from the high side AC hose that is all green. That is UV dye added to the freon. Replace the hose or the manifold assembly and evacuate and recharge the system. I would maybe add an ounce or two of PAG oil with dye when recharging it. Some pag oil for sure blew out when the hose went. Brakleen cleans the oil with dye off pretty easy.
 
The alien blood.. It came from the high side AC hose that is all green. That is UV dye added to the freon. Replace the hose or the manifold assembly and evacuate and recharge the system. I would maybe add an ounce or two of PAG oil with dye when recharging it. Some pag oil for sure blew out when the hose went. Brakleen cleans the oil with dye off pretty easy.
It’s Vulcan blood, or at least copper based blood.
You win the race for the tight and best, but not right answers. The UV dye is better than the red leak detector that was in a can of R-12 when I was a kid. My dad was topping off the system in a white interior Winnebago on a trip. Something went seriously wrong with the can tap. After we saw it was not blood all over the seats, I remember going for a long walk in the town we stopped in.
 
Manicmechanic007, those r pix of the a/c valve on the driver's side, isn't that the low pressure side? I had the car in a repair shop 2 weeks ago to have the a/c charged and they wouldn't do it. They said the valve on the high pressure side had come loose and was a pressed in style so I needed a whole new line on that side. He showed me the line on the passenger side of the engine and said it was the high pressure side. In the pix attached, the green circle is where the green spray is on my engine. The red circle is the high pressure valve. The mechanic said I needed a whole new line on that side. The other pic, is that hose setup I need for the green sprayed hose? Thanks for your help.
 

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asaNYr, Yes, The Low side goes rearward towards the firewall. I could not tell from that first picture which line it was. That is why I said manifold assembly. The high side goes forward to the condenser and the low side goes rearward to the evaporator. Either way replace the hose. Whole new line should be cheap on ebay. Go to CheckerPepZone and see if there is someone like me in your area. I have AC machines plural registered with the EPA at my house and do that kind of thing cheap. Just did a Tacoma last week and the hose cost the guy 35 and I charged him 60 to replace it and he bought the new R134a. It gets ugly expensive if you have the new R1234YF ebay # 363311367532 should be your maniform for 73.21 free shipping from Chicago Check Ford because sometimes my jobber price is cheaper
 
I assume it has no R134 left so you can go ahead and replace the lines plural manifold. Spray brakleen into the sprig loc connector first to clean out any dirt. Then hit the spring with some rust penetrant. Then slide in the special tool and pull the connection apart. It will release easy. Replace every O-rig you can get to easily and replace the orifice tube while you are in there or inspect it at least. The high side o rings at the condenser is a common leak point. Replace them too. I have 3 shops I work at so I just bought another vacuum pump on ebay for 60. Vac your system out with rental gauges or buy some. I can walk you thru recharging it
 
Google the viscosity of the pag oil your system takes. Might be 100, might be 46 or just go to ford and buy a 7oz can. lube the new o rings with it before reseating the connectors. Put a bit on the orifice and re insert it into the line. Use hemostats to het the bistard out and be carefull re installing it. sometimes you can push it too far and it ends up in the evaporator. Don't fret.. Then you have to install another. Here tell of evaps with three inside. Never done it myself. Some cars like Taurus are idiot proof and the orifice is part of the line and does not come out. You just replace the line. Your orifice should be clean so reinstall it. If it has any metal filings on the screen, then replace it
 
Manicmechanic007, those r pix of the a/c valve on the driver's side, isn't that the low pressure side? I had the car in a repair shop 2 weeks ago to have the a/c charged and they wouldn't do it. They said the valve on the high pressure side had come loose and was a pressed in style so I needed a whole new line on that side. He showed me the line on the passenger side of the engine and said it was the high pressure side. In the pix attached, the green circle is where the green spray is on my engine. The red circle is the high pressure valve. The mechanic said I needed a whole new line on that side. The other pic, is that hose setup I need for the green sprayed hose? Thanks for your help.

That's not actually accurate. The valves aren't the shraeder style you can replace. However, you can unscrew the whole valve and put new one on the hose. I have bought them at the dealership before.

Kurt
 
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ManicMechanic007, Ok so I’m going to replace the hi and low a/c hose lines. I found that I take PAG 46 oil. I have no idea where I put PAG oil. You said in your first reply about evacuating the system, how do I do it? Is it the same as vacuuming the system? Where is the orifice tube? Where can I get the full description of the TSB’s?
There’s a few TSB a/c service tips I want to check out.
 
ManicMechanic007, Ok so I’m going to replace the hi and low a/c hose lines. I found that I take PAG 46 oil. I have no idea where I put PAG oil. You said in your first reply about evacuating the system, how do I do it? Is it the same as vacuuming the system? Where is the orifice tube? Where can I get the full description of the TSB’s?
There’s a few TSB a/c service tips I want to check out.

The orifice tube is in the high line. Pretty sure it's near impossible to snake it out, but if you get a new line, then it will come with a new orifice tube. You'll see a little crimp on the line where the orifice tube is. It goes from round to like a square shape. When you vacuum down the system, it can evaporate some of the oil, but not much of it. You can buy a small can of it that gets sucked in through the low side. In order to vacuum they system and refill it you will need a vacuum pump, and a set of gauges. Technically you can do it with those stupid little 12oz cans, but it's not worth the hassle. Just get a 30lb bottle of R134a. Some places rent the vacuum pump.

Kurt
 
akaNYr, You need a vacuum pump and a set of gauges to evacuate the system of excess air. This puts the system in a vacuum. That allows you to suck the oil into the system thru the gauge set. So you add oil that way usually. You can also pour it into a hose somewhere. Some compressors come full. You need to do the dump and calculate. Meaning dump the oil out of the old compressor and measure = guess Spock type guess how much came out. The orifice tube is just a plastic plug with a screen and an orifice to let freon into the evaporator. They come out fairly easy with some hemostats. Always check the orifice anytime the system is apart. You can access some TSB's from any local library for free on sites like AllData or Mitchell on demand. Ford Oasis system is how the dealer technicians look them up.
 
akaNYr, Do not install the new orifice backwards. You can reinstall the old one if it is clean and you do not damage the screen removing it. They come different colors and orifice sizes for different car markets. My buddy in SLC who came from LA insisted on putting red ones in. Claimed they blew a few degrees colder. I always just used the same color I pulled out and had no issues. You should need very little oil from what I saw in the pictures. !-3 ounces. You can add that much to the hose just by pouring it in. It is funner to suck it in thru the gauge set and use the graduations on the bottle to measure. Then you shoot the cans of freon into it and away you go. Pros like me let the machine do it while I have a beer
 
I always try to use the underhood sticker for ac capacity information. Google says a 95 GT holds 2.2 lbs which is about three cans. 2.2 lbs is 35 ounces. Three 12 ounce cans is 36 ounces. Pros like me add 4 ounces for the gauge set and also purge the hoses to not shoot any air into the system. so you will need 4 cans and will have 3/4 of a can left over. Real hard to measure correctly without a machine when using a 30 pound cylinder. They make scales, I have machines so they are my scale. For DIYers it is better to deal with cans so you do not get the system overfilled
 
Back in the 70's and 80's when ac systems were bigger and there was no such thing as a ac freon recover / recycle machine. When using a 30 lb cylinder, we just used system pressure to measure and otherwise get the system full. You still can do that but it is real easy to overfill the system and then it will blow warm air. There are pressure charts in the service manual that reference compressor on time with system pressure and the graphs will get you close. Roughly 30 psi (at idle) on the low side is what you want, and if the compressor works the high side will be 150-200
 
Buy cans of R134a at Walmart (only about 5 bucks each) and stay away from the big cans of shot stuff. The big cans of shot or artic air stuff have a bunch of o ring conditioner and sealer and other crap in the can instead of just freon. I want just freon and oil in mine with a little dye maybe. So I use oil with dye every time and then add freon only. Good luck the job is technical but not hard. AC work is lucrative for guys like me. Counting my winnings from last summer now, It was hot hot hot here.
 
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I have not worked on a new Mustang lately (thank god) but the fixed orifice was always pushed into its slot in the evaporator inlet. Pull the high side line off at the evaporator, the orifice is inside the evaporator inlet tube. look in there with a flashlight and pull it out with needle nose pliers or better yet some good hemostats. If it is good = clean put it right back in there and save the 10 bucks
 
Taurus was the only ford I was aware of that had an orifice tube built into the high side line, If your Mustang is serviced as a line assembly just buy one. Good insurance in case it is plugged. If yours is plugged and you refill the system. You will have high low side pressure and low high side pressure = warm air out the vents. akaNYer, you should not need to mess with your orifice tube if all you are doing is replacing the leaking ac manifold and recharging the system. Compressor failure is when the orifice needs to be checked and possibly replaced
 
I can’t find just the low side ac hose so I was going to buy a new set, both high&low. Doing that I don’t need to clean the orifice tube…right? A new orifice tube will be in the high line. Does the 2 oz of PAG 46 oil go in the compressor once I empty the old oil out of it? My car is 25yrs old, how do I know if the compressor is still good? When I turn on the ac it feels cool at first then warm or hot air comes out. As for the under hood spec sticker…there is none. The previous owner had the car painted, purple with silver ghost flames, and never put the panel with the sticker on it back.