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I have this ongoing issue w/ leaking AC refrigerant in my '05 camry. Cools great but the charge only lasts a couple of weeks. The system has dye in it - no leaks anywhere except at the schrader valves, confirmed by the use of a refrigerant sniffer. I've replaced the schrader valves with two different manufacturer's valves, snugged them up, etc... if you put water or ac oil in the service port you don't get bubbles so it's a slow leak at best and the system holds vacuum. When removing the service port caps you can hear a little hiss after a couple of days. My next step is to replace the caps and valves w/ OEM even though it seams a little ridiculous to do so. When removing the schrader valves I also cleaned up the threads in case there was some grit or something preventing a good seal.Anyone have any advice? Kind of at my wits end. I've read somewhere that the caps themselves are the actual seal and that all schrader valves leak - If that's true maybe the problem is just my aftermarket caps which is why I was thinking of going OEM.
The cap mey be last line of defense against leaks, but that is not an excuse for leaky valves.
If the charge is depleted over the course of a couple of weeks, then the leak is not that small. If you cannot see bubbles when putting soapy water on the valves with a full system charge, then I strongly believe that the leak you need to find is somewhere else.
