1998 Grand Am A/C Problem

[soccerman]

Hi,
I have a 1998 Grand Am SE 2.4. I just finished replacing my heater core since it sprung a leak the other day. In the process of replacing the heater core I inadvertantly loosened (don't ask) one of the A/C lines going into the evaporator core. By the time I tightened the line back up the gasket had somehow gotten twisted into the thread so I could not get a proper seal. I ended up just letting the A/C leak all the way out since I couldn't do too much else. At that point I unscrewed the fitting, put a new gasket on it and tightened it up figuring that I could recharge the system with a 134a recharge kit. The problem is that when I went to recharge it today the A/C motor would not kick in no matter what I did. I checked the fuse box on the side of the dash to the left of the steering wheel and the A/C fuse was fine. I also let the car get up to operating temperature before I tried kicking the A/C on. The A/C worked perfectly before this all happened. If the A/C cycled on without pressure in the system would this damage the motor? Any other ideas? If you need more info let me know.
Thanks!
Soccerman

[doctorhrdware]

Since all the freon leaked out, you need to get a vacuum pump. This is needed to pull a vacuum on the ac system in order to remove all the moisture that has entered the system when the seal was messed up. The ac will not turn on until you have enough freon in the system. There is a low pressure switch that disables the system due to low freon pressure.

[soccerman]

Yeah...that makes sense. Thanks.