AC Issues
2017 330i, 55xxx miles currently. AC is losing pressure, or so it seems. Took it to Indy shop, they vacuumed out the system, said it held vacuum and recharged, held over the weekend, no leaks on their sniffers, ac ran fine. Picked it up, and when driving later that same day, could tell it was losing charge. Over the course of the week it totally went dead again.
First, this has to be a leak somewhere right? I’m not crazy that this isn’t solved with a new pressure sensor? I decided to recharge myself with the UV dye and check with a black light over the next few days, hopefully I can spot something. When I hooked up the charge kit, pressure was down to almost nothing. Hoping it’s not the evaporator but I presume if I can’t find a leak somewhere visible that would have to be the only remaining culprit? Would be great not to have to tear apart the entire dashboard.
Is there any way of pinpointing that it would indeed be the evaporator versus a leak somewhere else in the system? I assume not?
One other thing, even with the system charged, I notice the AC cutting out under acceleration, especially with the recirculation on (first thing i noticed was off when I picked it up from the shop) Additionally, when the system was fully drained, if I turned the temperature down (with the AC switch turned off) I’d hear the compressor kick on for some reason. Not sure if that helps narrow it down. TIA for any help on this.