recharging air conditioning

[97 silverbullet]

ok I need to know how to recharge the air in my car, how many cans of stuff should i use and where do I recharge it at? just give me some easy to follow directions. would like to have it tonight if possible

[mjgjr72]

your best bet is to have a garage do it. you need to check pressures to properly fill and they can add some dye to help find any leaks.

[97 silverbullet]

i dont let other ppl work on my car.

[dmorlow]

Just go to napa or pep boys (or what ever you have in your area) and get the freon and the hoses and connectors. The freon is $4 a bottle and the hose with connectors is like $20 or so. The car should hold 4 bottles or so if it is completely empty. The first hose I bought had a gauge on it but the connectors were plastic and it worked terrible. So I returned it and got the one with metal ends on it but it doesn't have a guage. The conclusion that I came up to was that the small cans probably don't have enough pressure in it to actually ruin the system by getting too much freon pressure in it. So I just keep on dumping bottles in until it stops accepting any. It has been working good for about 2 years now. (I had to fill it up again this summer but the air has been working great since I filled it up last. And I figure $16 a year for air conditioning isn't that big of a deal. It isn't worth trying to figure out why it looses all of it within a year's time.)

[mjgjr72]

nor do i, but i fixem for a liven, if your not properly equiped you can do more harm than good, just try to use the right shit r12, or r 134 keep adding intill ac pump cycles 1-2 times a minute , good luck

[ugsrich]

I agree with the earlier post. If you don't have the proper high/low pressure manifold gauges for R-134a and lack the experience of ever working on a refrigerant system you should probably take it to a service specialist.

Like you, I "don't let anyone work on my car" unless I don't have the proper tools or skills. Fortunately I have the skills and experience I sometimes lack the tools for heavy duty work like engine removal.

In any case, not only do you risk compromising the refrigerant "balance" in your A/C system you also risk personal injury. You note in your post that you are not aware of where or how to "charge" the system. This tells me that you are risking both your equipment and yourself.

While R-134a is available over the counter (btw: Freon is a registered trade mark/name of the DuPont company) and has been deemed ok for the environment it can still be harmful to humans. Also, R-12 is NOT available to you and me. Federal Law mandates that only licensed refrigerant service people can purchase R-12 (since it allegedly causes global warming btw: R-12 would sell for under $1 back in the day - adjusted for inflation it might be as high as $1.50 today - thanks greenies)....DO NOT USE R-12 in YOUR Aurora's OEM A/C system!

If you have no experience working on refrigerant systems and if you do not have the high/low pressure manifold gauges I urge you to take your vehicle to a A/C specialist for charging. When I do this work, and I'm a hobbyist-mechanic, I wear clean leather gloves, long sleeve shirt, goggles or even a full face mask, to protect myself. The high-pressure side of the system is at greater that 200 psi and should I break something I would risk both the consequences of high-pressure gas as well as the potential for burns from the extremely low temperature of the expanding R-134a - freezer burn.

[bustedratchet]

The system takes 2 lbs R134A. I think the cans are 12oz (I only ever used 30 lb tanks.) On the passenger side you will see the line has 2 fittings on it you will fill in the smaller one (Can upside down). If the clutch is cycling add a little at a time until it gets cold.

[meatpimp]

Upside down = good way to blow the seals of the compressor. Using the cans inverted allows the refrigerant to enter the system in liquid form. If a slug of liquid makes it to the compressor, bye-bye seals.

Never add refrigerant in liquid form to the AC system.

[bustedratchet]

I guess I should turn my 30 pounder right side up. I've been doing it wrong for 10 years! What's a "slug" of liquid?

[mjgjr72]

slug of liquid = fluid in shot glass cosumed before performing auto repair

if your using proper gauges or machine and know what your doing ,don't worry about i'v been doing it wrong for 15.

[Davez69gto]

Well i'm working on the same system. I just changed the compressor and now i want to charge it. The compressor doesn't turn on when the ac is turned on inside. My guess is that The pressure sensors say there is little pressure in the system so it doesn't apply voltage to the compressor clutch. I thecked the clutch and it turns on when i apply direct voltage. ummm so i Turned on the car and put on the ac and manually engauged the clutch. Then i filled it, was empty and took like 2 cans and the pressure was about 30 psi. When i shut off the car i checked the pressure again and it was like 60psi. It also never got cold when i filled it. Has anyone filled one of these before. Because When you say fill with the small connector on the ps of the car if you look this is the high side of the system. I can't find the fill nipple for the low side of the system which should be the larger of the two hoses. Is it under the dash. Please tell me what you think

[mjgjr72]

Originally Posted by Davez69gto

Well i'm working on the same system. I just changed the compressor and now i want to charge it. The compressor doesn't turn on when the ac is turned on inside. My guess is that The pressure sensors say there is little pressure in the system so it doesn't apply voltage to the compressor clutch. I thecked the clutch and it turns on when i apply direct voltage. ummm so i Turned on the car and put on the ac and manually engauged the clutch. Then i filled it, was empty and took like 2 cans and the pressure was about 30 psi. When i shut off the car i checked the pressure again and it was like 60psi. It also never got cold when i filled it. Has anyone filled one of these before. Because When you say fill with the small connector on the ps of the car if you look this is the high side of the system. I can't find the fill nipple for the low side of the system which should be the larger of the two hoses. Is it under the dash. Please tell me what you think

if you changed the compressor you need to add some a/c oil, check directions that came with new pump.

if you opened the system you need to use a vacum pump and suck the system down to 30 pounds of vacum before you refill it.

the low side fitting should be on the larger diameter tube, or on accumilator, follow lines, sometimes they are hidden in lousy hard to reach places.

do not manually jump a/c pump, just turn on a/c and start adding freon, pump will kick on when there is enough freon to start operating, slowly adding intill lowest pressure reading is about 30 psi with engine just off idle, about 1500 rmp.

[SteVB]

just get a halfway mechanically responsible person to add it for you, adding slowly WHILE YOU SIT IN THE CAR with the a/c on & only add till it gets nice & cold, then STOP ADDING. having someone with guages isn`t really necessary just for a top-off as long as you stop adding 134 when its cold in the car, but it IS necessary to have someone who has a basic knowlege of how the a/c system works.


as for the "liquid freon will blow a compressor" thing, thanks for the GUFFAW! umm, oil in your system just happens to be in liquid form throughout the system.

[Indy8]

This entire thread is comedy!