Anybody ever have any luck with products like these?

Red Angel A/C Sealant

My old Merc has a leak on the condenser and it's not financially feasible to do the repair. If I could get a summer out of a charge, it'd be worth it.

None of that stuff works. The same way coolant "stop-leak" clogs radiators and heater cores, refrigerant stop-leak clogs up expansion valves/orifice tubes, condensers and evaporators, all without even stopping the leak as well as getting sucked into recovery equipment. Fix the leak.

Screws everything up, just ask a parts store if their A/C compressor is covered under warranty if sealant is found in the failed replacement. Funny though, they sell the stuff in the same store...

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
Fix the leak.

Not an option. Live with no AC is the alternative, and it sounds like it may be the better one.

Then don't waste any further time or money on it.

How bad a leak? Keep adding refrigerant til the summer is over?

Yes, I love the environment.

I've soldered a couple that had rock damage.

There is probably a couple radiator shops in your area that could do it.
You may end up a row or two short depending on the damage but it should still shed enough heat to keep the compressor from kicking off every 2 minutes.

They said it was 17 hours labor to get to. They have to tear the dash apart. $4700 quote on a car that was maybe worth $5k with a working AC.

Yes, for some leaks, the chemical helps. If your car uses r134a try a can. It worked on my 1995 F150.

Yup, three cans of R 134A got m old 79 Chevy pickup AC running like new.

The A/C techs at the shop I worked at cussed the stuff on a regular basis.
Yes, it worked 50% of the time,
But the side effects proved problematic overall.

People selling used cars in AZ use it a lot to get cars sold,
But the buyers , well they don't like it at all.

quote:

Originally posted by r0gue:
They said it was 17 hours labor to get to. They have to tear the dash apart. $4700 quote on a car that was maybe worth $5k with a working AC.

The condenser is mounted directly in front of the radiator; it should have nothing to do with the evaporator which is mounted in the dash. Let's suppose you misspoke and you meant evaporator...$4700 is a lot. Presuming shop rate of $120/hr, that's on the order of 40 hours worth of repair. Rather than just live with it, I'd get another estimate.

quote:

Originally posted by 4MUL8R:
Yes, for some leaks, the chemical helps. If your car uses r134a try a can. It worked on my 1995 F150.

It very well may stop the leak, but it raises hell with everything inside the system. Quote from link:

5) The use of any refrigerant other than the OE Recommended R-12, R-134A or R-1234yf or the use of any system sealer, will void all warranties on any NAPA TEMP compressor or other products.

https://media.napaonline.com/i...any/3685498pdf?$PDF$

That product is made in Guanzo China, we know that, the Chinese know we know, everybody knows....

I used AC Pro on my F150, got it at the local parts store, O,Reilly's sells it, about $60 a can.

Link

Worked great at recharging the system on the 20 year old truck, like you, I'm not dropping $5K in AC work on it and two years later, still blows cold air.

Based on your cars age and the cost to vehicle value, and the fact its summer, I'd give it a go better to have cool air it might work just fine and get you through the season.