How do you find a leak in the ac in a 96 Honda Accord?

Answer 1

Someone will probably tell you to spray it with soap and water and look for bubbles - unless you're going to pressurize the entire system, that is an extremely bad idea, since a leak on the low pressure side could draw the soap and water into the AC system.

If I were you, I'd see if there was any place which rented out an R134a halogen sniffer. Trace the probe over the entire AC system and insert it into the vent on the far right side of the dash. If it detects a leak, an alarm will sound.

Either that, or you can get a manifold gauge set and a bottle of nitrogen, have the refrigerant recovered (you can do it at your community college if they have such vocational programs), then connect the manifold gauges, connect the nitrogen bottle to the manifold gauge set, charge the system (it should charge the entire system - both high and low - to about 250 psig), then you can spray it with soap and water and look for bubbles (in this instance, the whole system has positive pressure, so it doesn't run the risk of sucking the soap and water into the AC system).