Thanks to all thehelp here, I have succesfully charged my sytem to the point where the compressor stopped short cycling. About 30 on the guage. New problem though, it was running great and I was continuing to fill when the compressor started to quietly whine then proceeded to scream. With my minimal knowledge it sounds like bearings. If i turn it off at the dash for a minute or two, and then back on, it goes away, but comes back with a vegeance after a few seconds. I don't think its because its still low. My guess is the bearings need to be lubed but the question is how. Any ideas??

Just when I thought I was free, it sucked me back in :fire: :fire:

You said you continued to fill it? I'd be inclined to release some of the charge and see about getting some oil into it. AC is not something where more is better. The optimal charge is reached at a point and MORE is bad. Let out some of your charge... you may be slugging the compressor with refrigerant.... making it try to compress a liquid!

how many lbs and ozs did you put in it

-Drew

I only put in about a can and a half. I had to keep adding because first it did nothing, then it short cylced and then slowly the cycles lasted longer and longer until it finally stayed on. The guage was reading slightly below 30 lbs still. the cans supposedly do have oil in them too. It seemed like it was running good for a couple minutes and then all of a sudden....

What was the outside air temp when you put it in? The clutch SHOULD cycle some. I think you have an overfill in the system and are slugging the compressor with liquid refrigerant.

So should I release a bit out. The guage was only reading about 30. The outside temp was about 70. And I had to keep adding to get the clutch to stay engaged. What is the correct cycling time? On for how long off for how long. Also, I was just running at idle in the driveway at normal operating temp.

At 70 degrees ambient it should cycle 1-2 times a minute. A completely empty system should not need more than around 24-26 OZ. of refrigerant. YOU clearly were not empty.

ps. the gauges on those kits are pretty rotten, ill suited to the application, and their use poorly explained. Can you tell I am not a fan ?

Unfortunately it seemd to be seizing up. Its harder to spin by hand now. On to plan B I guess.