2006 f250 ccsb that had poor a/c performance last summer. Added freon and was still short cycling. Pulled the orifice tube and it was partially plugged with some metal shavings and crap (see pic). New orifice tube and drier /reciever. Some leak dye and ran fine all summer (hp and lp pressures were all in line with the service manual). Fast forward to a few weeks ago and short cycling again. Figured the compressor was shedding crap and replugged the orifice tube. Bought new motorcraft compressor, drier, condensor, etc. pulled orifice tube and almost spotless (a few short strands of cloth probably from the new dissicant bag in the drier). Checked at night with UV light all parts and connectors in the system (even pulled the fan to look at the evaporator to see if any telltale leak and couldnt see anything.

also To be sure there wasn’t some obstruction from a failed compressor some where else I, removed condensor and reciever/drier and backflushed condensor, evaporator, and lines. They were spotless and flowed well. Reassembled everything (without installing the new compressor, drier, and condensor) with new o-rings, orifice tube, and recharged system after evacuating. Runs fine now but stumped as to what might be the source of freon leak. No telltale around the compressor front seal which is a common leak point. Or anywhere on the compressor I can see. Other than pulling the evaporator to fully inspect it, for the life of me I’m stumped as to what might be the source of the leak. Any ideas would be appreciated. Bty, I pulled 30” of vacuum on system and let it sit one hour and no loss of vacuum before I recharged it again.

Looks like it was just low on freon. Checked all