Air conditioning

[PAUL R]

We have a 270 cdi ml,and tonight i noticed a small puddle of oil (like power steering fluid,blue/green in colour )around the front of the ml on the "near side" bellow the radiator
Puddle size is around the size of a house brick 9"x3" about 2mm deep

After taking the belly pan off and having a closer look,i found a oil leak around a sealed can, that is at the side of the main radiator(nearside).It is silver in colour 3" in diameter and 6" long.with two steel pipes coming from it.

This container is between the main radiator, and the washer bottle.

The hoses that are connected to it, go, (1) to the lower part of a radiator and (2) through the front bulk head.
So i presume that it is to do with the air con system.

1st Question what does this little can do. (could it be an accumilator can) if it is, what does it do ?

2nd Will i damage anything, if it is to do with the air con,if i do not switch it on.(the air con that is)Is it still drivable, untill i can get it in the dealerships.(late next week).

3rd Has anyone had a problem with oil loss from the air con system

4th If it is a seal that has gone,(which it looks like) is it worth changing it myself and getting the system recharged at the dealers or just letting them do the job from start to finish, as the seal appears to be pennies.

 

[Andy Wr]

Item 15 on the diagram shows the receiver drier, this is part of a pressurised system so not advisable to work on it yourself unless the system is first decommissioned. If you undo the pipes to release the gas, apart from the environmental impact you will loose quite a bit of oil.

Wash off the affected area then mix some washing up liquid with a small amount of water and apply to area, if it does not show up straight away start the engine and run the system to identify the leaking area, for it to loose so much the system performance must be affected, the compressor operation is controlled via a pressure sensor in the pipe between the compressor discharge pipe and the condenser and the compressor will not operate if the refrigerant level is low.

Just make sure it is not fluid from elsewhere as we have other small rads on the ML not sure what for but could be power steering / oil / transmission coolers, possibly one of those leaked.

 

[PAUL R]

Thank you for your reply Andy Wr,

I will take the ML into Draytons at Stafford next week and explain with the aid of your diagam so that things can be put right,at what cost i dread to think.

I have checked the P/Steering level and the water level and all seems to be OK.
As i say the area that is wet is around the reciver drier bottle,so closer looking will be needed by the dealers