Automotive Air Conditioning Information Forum

Cusser, that makes sense what you said.
After pondering this, I have to wonder if the TXV is stuck open, thus allowing the evap to see high side pressure

I have also seen fans that had gotten tired....spinning, but with little force....you have to check everything...

The magic repair in a can is evil stuff, and will clog your system, avoid at all costs

I feel as though a blockage would be unusual.
It seems as though your couplers are not making correct contact with the ports. This is common with the offshore manifolds.
You ALWAYS pull vacuum from both hi and low ports

Evaps are famous for leaks. It leaks when the comp is running because of the increased pressure.

The valve on the left uses an O-ring to seal the valve itself into the valve body.

It is not clear to me how the valve on the right accomplishes that task. I would try to get the correct valve

The low side gauge indicates to me at least that you are somewhat low on refrigerant.

While you are at it measure the clutch gap, it s/b no more than .020

IMO the amount of oil will not change. I would strongly consider getting a new (never rebuilt) comp from Tim the owner of this website. His prices for a quality comp cannot be beat

By far and away, IMO, the best way to detect leaks is by charging with a partial can of refrigerant, and then using a sniffer to find the leak. Most of the other methods are antiquated IMO. That is what we do in our shop. Areas to be suspect of are the evap (20 yrs old) and its O-rings. Evaps are ...

Agree.