AC oil leak

[robinjoe]

My air conditioner failed on Tuesday ('03 GT, 30,000 miles). Dealer finaly was able to see the car today (Friday). At about the same time the AC failed, I noticed some oil drips on the driveway under the car. The oil covered an area about the size of a donut both at home and at the office.

However, the leak seems to have stopped.

The dealer says that the oil is comming from the AC compressor. I was surprised to hear that there would be a significant amount of oil in the compressor.

Does that sound possible?

The car had a bad oil leak which the dealer fixed by replacing the oil filter housing (adapter?) abouut 1 month ago, and I'm concerned that the engine oil leak may be back. The engine oil level was low on Wednesday, so I added some, and it seems to have stabilized.

Also, and possibly unrelated, when I use the autostick and let the engine rev to 3,000 RPM while driving I hear what sounds like pinging. I know that with my old Saturn, the dealer said this could be caused by low oil pressure which alowed the timing chain to get loose, but the oil in the PT Cruiser isn't low now (and it doesn't have a timing chain does it?). I use 93 octane gas.

Any insight in to these problems would be apreciated.

Joe

PS, I'm going to have the transmission flushed on Tuesday.

[umaxman]

Can't help you much other than I know the AC does have oil in the pump.... But the pinging you hear, I have the same noise sort of sounds like a very mild spark knock[:I] I switched to a better grade of gas and it seems to be a Little better but it is still there[:I] hopefully it is not a major problem..........

[purple04]

The A/C system has a small, separate oil supply. It is a special oil that lubricates the system. If the oil is leaking, the opening is big enough for the refrigerant to leak out. They will need to fix the leak and recharge the oil and refrigerant.

[gtobey]

I have a 2001 Limited PT, and only 16,500 miles on it. I drove it last Friday night and the A/C worked fine. Yesterday, 9/15, I left work and it was 92 degrees, so I turned on the A/C and no compressor came on! What gives? I checked the fuses and they were OK, I opened the hood and looked at the connector to provide electricity to the compressor clutch and it was undisturbed, and when I looked back at the firewall, I saw oil on it above the receiver/dryer. I could trace it to the switch on the top of the receiver where the oil was leaking, and figured that the freon pressure was gone such that the compressor would not come on since I had a leak. I took it to the dealer this morning, they replaced a bad seal and completely recharged the system under my extended warranty. Works fine now!

[quicksilverdon]

quote:Originally posted by gtobey

I have a 2001 Limited PT, and only 16,500 miles on it. I drove it last Friday night and the A/C worked fine. Yesterday, 9/15, I left work and it was 92 degrees, so I turned on the A/C and no compressor came on! What gives? I checked the fuses and they were OK, I opened the hood and looked at the connector to provide electricity to the compressor clutch and it was undisturbed, and when I looked back at the firewall, I saw oil on it above the receiver/dryer. I could trace it to the switch on the top of the receiver where the oil was leaking, and figured that the freon pressure was gone such that the compressor would not come on since I had a leak. I took it to the dealer this morning, they replaced a bad seal and completely recharged the system under my extended warranty. Works fine now!

Keep that dealer! Done right, first try, as it ought to be.[?]