Hello,
I am pulling out my 1983 Pinin air conditioning unit. THe underdash unit is coming out slowly but surely-- now left with the two refrigerant hoses coming out of the firewall into the underdash unit to disconnect. I started backing off the lower one at the underdash unit connection and green oily fluid started dripping out. It looks like thick anti-freeze but doesn't smell like that. WASSS ATTT??

I was naively expecting a little hiss, after which I would be feeling bad about releasing 1CF of R-12 into the air.

I'm stumped...

I am figuring I am missing one important fact about refrigeration theory , and I don't want to ask my brother who is an HVAC engineer, because he'll give me grief for not knowing what I am looking at.

--Peter

Potentially a heavy refrigerant oil charge settled in the dash unit possibly mixed with some kind of stop leak product that is supposed to swell seals an plug minor leaks along with the green dye used to make locating leaks easier. Is the green almost a DayGlow Fluorescent Green?

Yes-- was green like anti-freeze ( but not antifreeze ).
It turns out that only a tiny bit came out-- probably half a cup at most. I got nervous thinking that the refrigerant lines would have been plugged with this stuff, but thankfully not the case.
I looked around on Google and it may be some kind of treatment added with the refrigerant. I think it was a little bit foamy when it came out
--Peter

1983Pinin wrote:Yes-- was green like anti-freeze ( but not antifreeze ).
It turns out that only a tiny bit came out-- probably half a cup at most. I got nervous thinking that the refrigerant lines would have been plugged with this stuff, but thankfully not the case.
I looked around on Google and it may be some kind of treatment added with the refrigerant. I think it was a little bit foamy when it came out
--Peter

Stop Leak with dye added to show the problem areas. Are there any stains from the dye leaking out elsewhere in the system?

Thanks DieselSpider.
So far I have only removed the underdash unit and without tearing into that unit I see no tell-tale signs of leaks.
I still need to pull the compressor and the radiator unit . Maybe I will see something there.
--Peter