woody Posted July 29, 2008 Report Share Posted July 29, 2008 Hello All, Nevera dull moment. Just had my mechanic replace the radiator, bad leak on the passenger side bottom in the seam. He extracted the R134 with a machine (very cool) because there was no room to remove the radiator with the trans cooler unit. The triple o-ring lines on the drivers side along with computer box was taking up to much of the space. Got her all back together put the coolant back in and off I go. Two days later (today) driving home the AC seems not very cold and when I stop at a light it got warmer. The AC pump was changed last year and it was cycling. I drove further and the AC shut off and the error on the dash read "very low coolant AC pump off" Great it's 91 outside and traffic is crawling. Need a little help here. Called my mechanic and left message. Thought I would ping the forum too. Woody Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BodybyFisher Posted July 29, 2008 Report Share Posted July 29, 2008 First off, it is NOT necessary to remove the condenser or break any AC joints, for him to remove the radiator. By the way, the TRANS cooler is located INSIDE the radiator, so I am not sure what this means "no room to remove the radiator with the trans cooler unit". If he broke apart an AC connection, he should have replaced the AC o-ring at that location, given the age of your car, ask him if he lubricated those o-rings before he rejoined that connection. No AC problem before the radiator right? This is a shame, messing with the AC was not required. Pre-1995 - DTC codes OBD1 >> 1996 and newer - DTC codes OBD2 >> https://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes/gm/obd_codes.htm How to check for codes Caddyinfo How To Technical Archive >> http://www.caddyinfo.com/wordpress/cadillac-how-to-faq/ Cadillac History & Specifications Year by Year http://www.motorera.com/cadillac/index.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody Posted July 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 29, 2008 First off, it is NOT necessary to remove the condenser or break any AC joints, for him to remove the radiator. By the way, the TRANS cooler is located INSIDE the radiator, so I am not sure what this means "no room to remove the radiator with the trans cooler unit". If he broke apart an AC connection, he should have replaced the AC o-ring at that location, given the age of your car, ask him if he lubricated those o-rings before he rejoined that connection. No AC problem before the radiator right? This is a shame, messing with the AC was not required. Mike, I stand corrected it was the condenser. The o-rings were not replace or lubricated. I supose now I have to get the car leak tested, evac and recharged? Woody (Dave) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navion Posted July 29, 2008 Report Share Posted July 29, 2008 I second BBF's opinion on the A/C. I pulled the radiator and the engine on my 1994 SLS with out messing with the A/C! Unless the 1997 is radically different, I fail to see just what your mechanic was attempting to do. Possibly just trying to run up the bill? If he won't take care of this for no charge, including the lost freon, then it is past time to find a different mechanic! Good Luck, Britt Britt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BodybyFisher Posted July 29, 2008 Report Share Posted July 29, 2008 First off, it is NOT necessary to remove the condenser or break any AC joints, for him to remove the radiator. By the way, the TRANS cooler is located INSIDE the radiator, so I am not sure what this means "no room to remove the radiator with the trans cooler unit". If he broke apart an AC connection, he should have replaced the AC o-ring at that location, given the age of your car, ask him if he lubricated those o-rings before he rejoined that connection. No AC problem before the radiator right? This is a shame, messing with the AC was not required. Mike, I stand corrected it was the condenser. The o-rings were not replace or lubricated. I supose now I have to get the car leak tested, evac and recharged? Woody (Dave) Dave, did you have any AC problems before this? It is definately NOT necessary to remove the condenser to get the radiator out at least I have never heard of anyone removing the condenser, its tricky but its not necessary. He needs to fix that joint, I am sure its leaking from that joint, you might inspect where the condenser connects to the system to see if you find any evidence of oil. My guess is its that joint (two orings I think) or he damaged that condenser (hopefully not)... This is a shame because you are going to pay a lot for the recharge because it all leaked out... good luck with this, Mike Pre-1995 - DTC codes OBD1 >> 1996 and newer - DTC codes OBD2 >> https://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes/gm/obd_codes.htm How to check for codes Caddyinfo How To Technical Archive >> http://www.caddyinfo.com/wordpress/cadillac-how-to-faq/ Cadillac History & Specifications Year by Year http://www.motorera.com/cadillac/index.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody Posted July 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 29, 2008 I had good AC before.I will checkthe area around the joint I need to talk to my mechanic we almost left the connections on and I wish we would have. The condenser is undamaged. I know he knows his engines, he replaced my head gasket and it's been running like a top.Keep you all posted. Thanks. Woody Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cadillac Jim Posted July 30, 2008 Report Share Posted July 30, 2008 A lot of people don't know what the extra small cooler is in front of the condenser because no other production daily-driver car that I know of has one: it's a power steering cooler. The mechanic may have thought that this was a transmission cooler. -- Click Here for CaddyInfo page on "How To" Read Your OBD Codes-- Click Here for my personal page to download my OBD code list as an Excel file, plus other Cadillac data -- See my CaddyInfo car blogs: 2011 CTS-V, 1997 ETC Yes, I was Jims_97_ETC before I changed cars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody Posted July 30, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2008 Well good news my mechanic called back and he is going to check it out. No cost. I was informed he did in fact lube the o-rings before assemble. I will post more when it is running cold again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KHE Posted July 30, 2008 Report Share Posted July 30, 2008 Whenever an A/C line is disconnected, the o-ring(s) MUST be replaced. There is no exception. The o-rings must be lubricated with 525 viscosity refrigerant oil or Nylog. PAG-150 oil must not be used to lube o-rings as it attracts moisture which can corrode joints. Kevin '93 Fleetwood Brougham '05 Deville '04 Deville 2013 Silverado Z71 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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