Air Conditioning maintenance

[MyTaurus8AChevy]

2004 Taurus with auto climate control. We were wondering how hard it is in these cars to add air conditioning refrigerant? I know in the old models you just had to buy a kit, hook up the hose to the car and refill the R12, but they changed all of that didn't they?

[MyTaurus8AChevy]

I wonder if this is all we need. As far as I know the system has no leaks.

[way2old]

If the system has no leaks, you should not have to recharge the system. What are the symptoms you have? Possibly cleaning the condensor may help some. Be careful of the recharge kits as some of them have chlorine as an ingredient and it will trash the system. But to answer the question, yes the kit is all you need to "top off" a system.

[Willyum]

In addition to what way2old says - the smartest thing to do for the R-134a systems is to use a machine that evacuates, draws down a vacuum, then recharges with the exact amount of refrigerant as per the tag on the body in the engine compartment. This will give you the best efficiency.

[MyTaurus8AChevy]

Originally Posted by way2old

If the system has no leaks, you should not have to recharge the system.

So the freon just lasts forever? I always thought that over time it gets used up and it needs to be replaced.

Ours gets cold but not really very. On a scale of 1-10, 10 being ice cold, 1 being hot, ours gets around a 5 or 6. Other cars we have would be around a 8 or 9. So we natually thought that it was time for a recharge. Is there a way to test the system with a thermometer to see if it's reaching the proper coolness? We're looking at this as more of a maintenance issue. We don't want to wait until the last moment to fix anything that might need looking after.

[Millermagic]

It may need recharging eventually, but after a few years it should not. As long as it blows cold air everything is fine.

[way2old]

Stick a pocket thermometer in the center vent. Run A/C on max air-high blower. You should se a temperature reading around 48 to 50 degrees. Place blower on low and the temperature should drop to 40 or below.(not much below) Use the thermometer to check to see if A/C is cooled while driving down the road. If it cools more while moving, look to see if condensor is partially clogged with road debris. If it is fairly clean, check to see if the cooling fans are coming on when the A/C is selected.

[jjh1976]

if you can keep the freon sealed in a sytem it will never wearout. if you inspect the system and look for the refrigerant oil coating the parts that is generally were the leak is. if you open the system to replace a part it is bst to fix all leaks then use a vacumn pump to clear the lines. when there is a vacumn in the system the moisture boils off and is evacuated. it makes it a lot eaiser to charge the system as well. look at the cans in the kit. just use the stuff that has freon only in the cans. there are cans of oil and cans of sealer. the kit will have the blue hose wich fits the low side line. the low side line is found by picking the larger of the two lines. 134a systems use two different size valves fior the low side and the high side . hope that helps

[Cowtowntaurus]

Make sure BOTH cooling fans are turning. These motors last damn well but thier brushes can stick (easy fix) also check the wire connections and remember the fan relay too.

My experience in Texas heat is that the air in these cars does NOT get as cold as say, a Town Car. And the air in these Tauri does not get frigid (on a sweltering day) until the car is rolling at speed.

Put your thermometer in the air conditioner vent. Normal temperature drop (difference between outside temp and vent temp) should be 20 to 30 degrees. A 25 degree drop is more likely with these cars.

DO NOT top off your system if you are not familar and comfortable with the process. The valves inside the compressor are made of plastic after all.

Fifty dollars, or so, for a pro to top off the system could be so much cheaper than the 1200.00 (Or more) a blown compressor costs.

Hope this helps!

P

[MyTaurus8AChevy]

Originally Posted by Cowtowntaurus

Normal temperature drop (difference between outside temp and vent temp) should be 20 to 30 degrees. A 25 degree drop is more likely with these cars.

Thanks Cowtowntaurus. This is what we needed to do some diagnosis work. I don't think we have two fans, but I'll check that today too. Thanks for all the pointers

[retrohwam]

I would try to discourage you from using the kit from the link.
"Kit includes dispenser with built-in pressure gauge - good, 26 oz. of R-134a refrigerant - good, oil - not so good, freon will gradually, over a long time leak through the rubber hoses but the oil won't, the correct amount of oil is as important as the correct amount of freon, light - haven't a clue what this means, dye - If you are not going to try to diagnosis a leak (with a UV light) then you don't need the dye, and system-safe leak sealer - bad, for any sealer to say "system-safe" is like the proverbial used car salesman telling you to "trust me". A/C sealers = big dollar repairs - period.
If you feel like adding freon - get an adapter with a guage and straight freon from your local auto store and add it. But as several other have stated the best check would be by someone who works on a/c systems.