95 XJ6 AC Frustration

After storage for 3 months, I drove my 95 XJ6VP tonight. Everything awesome UNTIL I turned on the AC and no air conditioning. It was ice cold the last time I drove it. I checked the pressure on the low side which was “0” even though the compressor was on. I added 1 pound of freon, but it leaked out as fast as it entered the system. I then put another pound in with the UV dye. Long story short, I traced every line with my black light; the compressor and the condenser and cannot find any leaks. I am hoping it is not the evaporator! I have not heard of many problems with it.

Frustrated! The identical same issue is with my Bentley Turbo R. It’s going in tomorrow.

Any help is much appreciated!

Richard

use compressed air and listen for leaks

I confirmed my '94 XJ40 had an evaporator leak by putting a leak detection probe
through the dash vents.

If you could get the system to produce cold air, even for a short time, you might see your
dye coming out the evaporator drain? But if it is literally leaking out as fast as you put it in,
you should be able to hear it leak (engine off).

A not uncommon problem is the desiccant bag in the filter/drier tears open and clogs the expansion valve with desiccant beads.

On the upside, its possible to back flush the evaporator and blow the beads back out the way they came.

On the extreme upside, the '95/96 X300’s don’t have the reputation of failing evap cores like the 93/94 XJ40’s do.

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Are all of the driers built the same? I suspect I have that problem.

My AC is inconsistent. Sometimes it works well, no others it doesn’t seem to want to kick in the compressor…

Update on my 95 XJ6 AC frustration! I took the car to my local shop. They immediately said the system was overfilled by 2 pounds. This was because I had “0” reading on the low side and had added 1 pound of refrigerant with no increase in low pressure. I added an additional pound with dye thinking there was a leak. The shop evacuated all the refrigerant and recharged the system with the correct amount. Now, the ac is ice cold MOST of the time. A few times, I have had to turn it off and back on to get cold air. Each time I can hear the compressor engaged. I’m thinking the expansion valve is not right???

At least, there are no leaks in the system!

Any ideas/suggestions from the experts appreciated!!!

Richard

Might be worth cleaning the in car temp sensor. It gets clogged up with dust. It sits behind a small grill on the dashboard. Can’t remember where exactly on yours as i no longer have mine.
Regards
John

I understand changing the expansion valve in the 95, 96, 97 x300’s is located ON the evaporator . So…