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-   -   Baleno AC Gas Leak (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/technical-stuff/57533-baleno-ac-gas-leak.html)

My Baleno has now done 73000km and lately, is being used for say 200-300 km drive in a month. It has been parked since past 2 weeks in sun while i was away and today i decided to take it for a drive. To my surprise, the AC was not working at all. The AC is engaging but the gas pressure seems too low. Any idea what could have gone wrong as no visible leakages are there anywhere. Is it normal once in a while for the gas to release like this ? This is a 2004 model Baleno and the Gas has never been filled previously and till 2 weeks back, it was cooling better than my Accord ! So iam not sure what exactly went wrong during this parking time !

The AC guy at MASS suggested to get the AC Services (Cooling coil etc.) removed and cleaned and refilling of the Gas (Total 1800Rs.) . Iam going to get it done in a day or two unless anyone here has a different opinion about this issue ? Thanks & God Bless !

go for the AC service. 73000 on the odo says the same. :)
leakages if any also can be captured in the ac servicing.
1800 for the same is a very low quote for the same. in pune i got a quote of 2500 for alto

Go ahead and service your A/c. Your cooling coil could be choked. And you should service your A/c a bit too often to avoid any issues.

Service ofcourse would be done but the thing is, how and where did the gas go while the car was parked ? Infact, i've taken it all the way to interiors in Rajasthan and with the heat there , nothing like this ever happened. Thats what iam trying to figure out !

Whatever it is, make sure that you get the AC serviced at a decent MASS and get the whole AC system checked for any leaks, etc. There can be a few reasons for gas leakage:

1. Either the cold or the hot coil of the ac system might have developed a leak. Pretty possible if the outside coil gets hit by something during a drive and you would normally not notice any loss of AC function if this happens towards the end of a drive. Not a very common case, but still a possibility.

2. There is some leak in one of the joints in the pipes that connect the compressor to the various other components of the AC unit. This can be verified very easily with the help of soap water and a pressure test of the AC system.

3. There is some leakage inside the compressor. Typically this is not going to be a sudden failure, but then again this is still a possibility. I have seen this happen on my dad's esteem which was 7-8 years old when this problem got detected. But in that case, mostly the gas would leak away slowly (would take a week or two to happen after a refill) The way ac mechanics detected this problem was to do a leak test with soap water and when no leaks were found after the gas was refilled a few times, they concluded that the compressor had a leak somewhere inside it. To fix this the compressor had to be changed.

4. There is a leakage in one of the valves of the AC unit - This was again a problem that was there on my dad's esteem previously. Was easily detected using soap water.

5. There is some leakage in one of the pipes of the AC system. But then this is something that I have never seen, and consider it more of a remote possibility.

To see if the AC unit is low on gas, you can see the bottle type unit that has a small glass window on the top. When you switch on the AC, you should see some bubbles thru the window and on a system with full gas, the bubbles should disappear and the window should have a clear or slightly cloudy look a min after the ac has been switched on.

-- no1lives4ever
PS: Heat does nt seem to do much to the AC units of Maruti cars..

Got the car serviced today for A/C for 1800/- and it seems, nothing was wrong ! No leaks etc. The MASS attributed this to the fact that the car was parked in sun for 2 weeks . Not sure how or what happened but A/C is running fine as always now !

How long did you try out the AC for? Likely that it just needed more time to come up to full performance.

There was no Gas in it as their pressure equipment indicated and i did drive it for good 40 km before going to the MASS after 2-3 days since i discovered there was no gas in it. Funny but all's well that ends well so its ok if the car asked for a refill after good 5 years :) . Its just that i dont get where the hell did the gas go ? :D

Guys ! need help again ! The gas is gone again after 3 months and again there's no leak ! :o ! Not sure what is happening with my so much reliable baleno :(

Check if there are any minor leaks in the AC radiator grill, dash condensor, compressor and the pipes. A pressure test would help. These aluminum grills are notorious for pin hole leaks popping up as they age, and are slightly expensive to replace.

In my view the specialists do a much better job that the A$$. Holds for both the AC and alignment. So go to an AC specialist. He now has to check for the leak only!!

I second this, but ensure he really is a specialist with right tools and parts. Maybe you can check with other bhpians in your location for recommendation. Forgot to add, compressor leakage also has to be checked and not just the pipe and joints.

The pressure test was done last time as well but there were no leaks and last time too the gas leaked like this ! I would like to tell you guys that this car was parked in sun for 10 days or so. Could that be the reason for this leak ?

I doubt it. I will go with the suggestion that the shaft seal in the compressor is the most likely culprit. Will never show up until the compressor is run!

Thank you for your Input ! Im going tommorow to the MASS where i got the AC serviced and will update on forum once i get to hear from them about the cause . Thank you all !