Recharge A/C yourself?

[mhallack]

Well one of the things I've discovered about Green Monster is that it will need the A/C recharged. I've seen a few recharge kits at Auto Zone and was wondering is it easy to get one of these kits and do it yourself? And if so, is there a link here on how to do it? I figured it would cost less to do it this way than having a shop charge me $100 to do it.

 

[johnvosh]

Well I've bought a similar kit from Canadian Tire. They cost around $70 to over $100 depending on which kit you get. The nice thing about them is they come with all the instructions! You can get a kit with a gauge or without. You can also kit a leak fix and oil as well. Me and my dad have done it two of our vehicles and it seems to work good. It does say to evacuate the old out of the system, but we didn't and never had a problem. I would say well worth the money. Plus if it stops working you can buy just the cans of charge. It works for both R12 and R134A systems.

http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/4/Auto/AirConditioning/AirConditioningRefrigerant.jsp

 

[beauboy]

Get the one that johnvosh mentioned. It's the bomb! But I recommend that you spend the extra and get the one with the hose and gauge. It comes in very handy next time you have to recharge because you can buy just the can of refrigerant just about anywhere for cheap.

 

[burning_soul07]

I've done 3 cars I've owned with great results each time. I just got the 1st can with the gauge and just bought refill cans that fit that gauge each time. I usually just get the ones from autozone for 25$ or so. If its not empty, follow the gauge. If its empty, check to see how much freon the system holds and dont buy more then you need. I had one car go from 60*F a/c to 50*F a/c and also got 2 other cars working from no cooling to pretty cold just by using the do it yourself cans.

Never had any luck with the leak fix stuff though. I need to replace the hoses that hook up to the compressor, lookin to do it myself.

 

[huntman58]

are we talking a slight add in or a full recharge?
really matters not as both should be done the right way and that is this way.

To do the job right you need a vacuum pump and a real set of gauges that read both low and high pressures. When recharging a system if you do not vacuum it down fully you will never get the full cooling effect nor will you get out any of the moisture that may be in the system. Moister get in it threw leaks and also when a system is opened or has been left discharged for a time and were talking hours to days not weeks and months here.
Also some oils are not compatible when mixed so you have to make sure that any oil in the system now is compatible with what you’re adding. now add to this that ambient air temps change the pressures big time along with what the discharge air is when fully charged no simple on the can low pressure read only will tell you any thing about how high the pressures are on the high side and that is were if to high because of a blockage you can blow a compressor or other parts up. you also need the high side pressures to know how well the system is working if it is freezing up because of moister in the system or an air bubble that will not let it gas off or condense down as the refrigerant needs to or has and restrictions in it or blockage.

No I am not an AC tec at all I learned all of this by doing my own work and after blowing up a compressor ( a new one in fact) because of a blockage that a low on the can gauge did not let me know about. Also do not I repeat do not vent to the air and if you do get busted for doing it all I will tell you is you better have some very deep pockets. So learn a bout it first and learn the right way and use the right tools and do the job right or take it in and let them do it and have a warranted job done right and a peace of mind knowing it’s with in safe pressures.

 

[burning_soul07]

I do agree with huntman^^^^

The R-12 Systems are ILLEGAL to discharge into the enviroment. Also, in US they do not sell R-12 recharge kits.

Its always going to be best to spend the money on the service guys to do it, especially if there is leaks, they can tell you.

The R-134a systems can be discharged into the air, there enviromentally friendly ( atleast in the US that I know of.)

If your looking for a cheap fix, try the R134a refill into a R134a system. I tried in my X and it was damn cold, but the next day it had ran dry.

DO NOT MIX R-12 and R-134a!!!!! There not the same and the oils are different and you will cause permament damage!!!

 

[FL.Cracker]

If you have very little to no freon left in the system you will need to either have it evacuated or do it yourself if you want to achieve full a/c cooling performance.

I figured out a little trick years ago for evacuating the system yourself. All you need is a standard twin gauge manifold (bought one @ autozone and returned it when I was done) and some duct tape and electrical tape.

WARNING: I would only do this if your a/c system has very little to no refrigerant left in the system. Check the low and high sides with a gauge first to verify the refrigerant level.

1. First, with engine OFF, disconnect the vacuum hose for the break booster where it connects at the break booster.
2. The yellow hose that comes with the gauge manifold should have a valve in one end and be open straight through in the other. Connect the valved end to the center, lower position of the gauge manifold and the other end will connect to the vacuum hose you just pulled off the bb. Use the duct tape and/or a larger diameter vacuum hose to connect the two lines and use the electrical tape to create the seal by pulling it very tight as you wrap it.
3. Make sure both valves on the manifold are closed. Remove the cap for the a/c system low and high sides and depress the needle valves with a small flat head screw driver to allow any small amount of refrigerant remaining to escape. Connect the low side gauge hose to the vehicle's a/c low side (indicated by the blue cap) and the high (red hose) to the vehicle high side (black or red cap).
4. Turn on the vehicle. Inspect the makeshift vacuum connection for leaks and fix them before moving on. The vehicle should idle normally, if not you likely have a leak.
5. Slowly open the valves on the low and high sides of the gauge. Watch the vacuum increase to between 20 and 30lbs. Allow the vehicle to run like this for at least 15 min. (I did mine for 20).
6. Now slowly close the valves. The a/c system should hold the vacuum constant, if it does not there is likely a leak in the a/c system (pin hole or bad seal).
7. Shut the vehicle OFF. Disconnect the brake booster vacuum hose from the gauge hose and reconnect the brake booster.
8. System evacuation is now complete you may connect a can of r134a to the yellow hose and and start the vehicle up and begin filling the system.

 

[skderen]

It is really easy to do. If your Green Monster is like my Green Monster, though, the reason the AC doesn't work is because there's a (huge!) leak in the system. They do sell the kits that have the dye in them so that you can see where you have leaks. I would definitely suggest getting this one, so that you're not wasting your hard earned bucks on Freon that you're just going to illegally dump into the atmosphere anyways.

If you have no leaks though, you're good to go. The gauge is easy to use, the port is easy to find, and it doesn't take very long.

 

[huntman58]

The R-134a systems can be discharged into the air, there enviromentally friendly ( atleast in the US that I know of.)

Sorry but venting any Freon to the air is illegal period.

This is why they are now selling cans that are self sealing only so they will not leak and can not be left open. It is also why some states are now only selling to certify AC tecs and others are now looking at or working on such laws. It will not be to much longer and no one but a certified AC tec will is able to get Freon.

there are books out there that tell you how much Freon to use what the pressures should be both high and low according to ambient air temps this is something the gauge on can dose not do and why many give false info that leads you into over charging your system as there based on a set air temp and nothing lower or higher is compensated for.
AC work is not hard to understand but trying to do it with out the right tools is like trying to oil change with the motor running at high RPMS . There are some things that you may get away with but you just should not do any time and working on an AC system with out the right tools and the full understanding of it is one of them. This argument has been played out before but no tec would do it the sway may here suggest and that alone should make you wonder why.