Hello Everyone! I have an issue with my 2006 Monte Carlo that occurred today. I was driving down the interstate and decided I needed gas. When I got on the off ramp and came to a stop sign, I heard a loud sound as if air was leaking out of my front left tire. It stated to quite down as I was stopped but once I started going again, it got loud. I pulled into the gas station and saw that no tires were leaking but right next to the left front tire underneath my car I could see air (or freon) blowing out. After a couple min it stopped and I got gas and when I stated the car again there was no noise and my radiator gauge went from being a little over the middle mark to back to normal and i had no more issues. When I got home I tried turning on the A/C and the light just flashed and quit. Did my compressor go out or did something like a seal break and leak everything? If so do you know if this would be a simple fix if I took it somewhere? Any help would be great.

 

Freon is an odorless and colorless gas. You can't see it. It is possible that you do have a leak in your system. The best way to check is to put a set of A/C gauges on the car and see what the pressures are. If you have no pressure then you have a leak and lost all the refrigerant (freon). In this case you need to pressurize the system with nitrogen and find the leak and then repair it. My guess is that a rock or something hit the condenser coil and created a leak. A/C work isn't overly complicated but it does require the proper knowledge (which can be acquired from books) and the proper specialized tools. If you are planning to do a lot of A/C work then I would say go buy a few books, get the tools, and acquire your EPA 609 certification. If your goal is just to get your car fixed then take it to a professional. As a side note the equipment to do residential / commercial A/C work is similar but different for automotive A/C work. If you are not going to do much of it then it isn't worth the investment of time and money.

Welcome to the MCF.

 

It does sound like you had a Freon leak. Like Gregg said I would suggest taking it to a pro to see what's wrong. Some shops will have a special on ac checks at this time of year. Good Luck.