This 2003 Chevrolet Silverado had come in about a month earlier, on a Friday afternoon and the customer wanted the system cold for a trip he was going on. The system had a low refrigerant charge. I added dye and oil, vacuumed it down and recharged the system. I advised the customer to come back after his trip and he did a month later:) Anyway it was very easy to see where the leak was at. I had suspected the area due to oil and dirt build up, but he did not have time to fix it the first time around. You can clearly see the dye in the picture below.
It was a simple matter of recovering the system. Removing the attaching nut. Cleaning up the dirt and oil residue.
Pulling the connector apart and removing the sealing washer.
I grabbed a new sealing washer from my o-ring kit.
Installed the new washer.
Reconnected the fitting.
The high side service valve had also been leaking. The cap hissed when I removed it and there was dye in the hole and weeping down the inside edge of the cap.
The valve assembly unscrews from the line. There is a hex on the line fitting to hold with a wrench, while turning the fitting with the appropriate tool. I use smooth jaw, slip joint pliers.
I vacuumed the system down and recharged it and all was good again. I did clean the debris from the condenser fins and radiator with shop air, while the system was vacuuming.