I'm having a hard time following what you're saying. I never looked inside a port so I'm not familiar with the rod and ball you're referring to. I just charge the systems with the correct measured amount of refrigerant, then screw on the caps. The caps are what seals the ports. The valves just give you time to screw them on. They all leak a little which is why we never let a car go without those caps.
I get nervous when you're talking about removing a valve core because refrigerant is extremely dangerous to work with. It can cause blindness and frostbite. Mechanics wear gloves and safety glasses, and the smart ones wear a face shield.
I was confused too by your comment about a cold high-side line. The high side is where the refrigerant gets pumped into a high-pressure vapor and becomes very hot. It gets cold where a low pressure liquid turns to vapor, which is supposed to be in the evaporator in the dash. If the system is fully-charged and there is a place under the hood where a line is getting cold, that is the point of a restriction in that line.
Thursday, August 4th, 2016 AT 9:24 PM