baracus

Is there any guides out there that describe how to charge up your air condition?? Or is it simple enough that a guide is not needed?? I assume the 95+ uses R-134a instead of freon??

nadir_s

i'm interestd to know too .. 10 years later, my A/C seems to be pretty weak with the chilled air

baracus

I just bought this

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=7979942109

I can't legally buy the stuff in my state and ebay seemed to be the cheapest alternative....hopefully it will work?

Bobo

I had to have my AC charged up almost 2 years ago on a road trip. For the frequency of when this needs to be done, I would be inclined to go to a shop that specializes in AC systems and get them to do it as well as check for leaks in the system. Just my $0.02

Frank Fontaine

Wow, Wisconsin stands alone. Guess it's the catch-22 thing, in a normal system, you don't need to recharge. You need to recharge a leaky system. So WI bans the recharging of a leaky system, i.e. no R134a for you!

"Several states, including California, Florida and Wisconsin, have passed laws prohibiting professional installers from recharging A/C systems that are known to be leaking. But only Wisconsin's law still remains in effect. The others have been rescinded."

Bobo

I was told that the R134a ions are so small that they will escape the system over time. Is that BS? I can't see never having to recharge the system. Like I said, my system was recharged 2 years ago and, to my knowledge, I had no leaks and the AC works fine.

PAREDLINE

You can buy imitation R-12 and Real R-134 at any auto store. They sell guages too that can show you if you need to add refrigerant that cost like $10. It shouldnt be a big deal at all

JwaxMax99

iTrader: (14)

Ya, anywhere but Wisconsin. We have to go across the Illinois border to buy the recharge kit.......

Super96Max

Make sure you get a pressure guage, buy a kit, plug into Low pressure port, oven valve w/ can upside down, close when gauge says full

Frank Fontaine

My HVAC friend told me needing refrigerant is due to a leak in the system. But here's something I found on the web:

"The AC system is, to all intents, a sealed system. If you lose the refrigerant charge then you have a leak and that leak must be found and repaired before the system is recharged. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise."

http://www.motronics.co.uk/air_conditioner.htm

Wheelie King

iTrader: (19)

Just recharged my system and not a minute too soon. We're having a heat wave in Mass and boy does that cold AC feel good!

I took a chance and bought a couple large bottles of 134a at Autozone. They were about $14.00 each. That seems high but it was already getting hot out and I was desperate. I also bought the little tube with nozle that you use to get the freon from the bottle to the tube. The tube/nozzle was under $10. I didn't bother with the gauge. If you can get a nozzle/tube that also has the gauge then I'd go that route.

The recharge was easy. Hooked the tube to the bottle and popped the top of the bottle by twisting the nozzle. Then I hooked the tube to the "low" plug in the system, with the tube nozzle closed to avoid loss of pressure from the AC system. The cap on the plug has a big "L" on it. Its just above the passenger wheel well in the engine bay. You can't miss it. It is the "low" plug, even though it sits higher than the plug near the radiator. "Low" must be for low pressure, not low height. Then I had my cousin start the car and run the AC at max (AC on and fan on high I guess since there is no max setting on the Max) I then released the freon from the bottle into the AC system by opening the nozzle on the tube. Hold the bottle upside down. The bottle got cold on the top (facing down) as the freon left the bottle. My AC lines also got cool. I did the same with the second bottle and now I'm in p-h-a-t city! Total cost was $40. I lucked out though because I don't have any big leaks. I could have drained at least one bottle only to lose it to a fast leak.

Best $40 I ever spent. Good luck!

Bobo

So that suggests that everyone who is posting that they are recharging their system, in fact have a leak or leaks and aren't checking for leaks and are just adding more R134a and in due course will have to add more. Is that correct?

Super96Max

Oh yea i forgot you needthe car running on max a/c

Black Maxima

How cold is the AC usually, because mine never seems cool enough?

talisman311

Isn't holding the can upside down a bad thing to recharge the system? Logically thinking from what I do know of A/C systems, the low pressure line goes straight to the compressor, well at this point it's in a gaseous state. In contrast, when refilling the system with r134a using the upside down can method you're putting it into the system in a liquid form. The compressor is piston driven much like our engines, and we all know what happens when water gets in our engine and the pistons try to compress that... So my thoughts are, if liquid r134a reaches the compressor, could that potentially blow the compressor? I've read in other places that you have to charge in a gas form.

And btw, the low pressure side gauge has no indication how much refrigerant is in your system and shouldn't be used to determine the current charge level.

njmaxseltd

iTrader: (19)

A proper recharge of R-134 is done by evacuating the system and pumping in the exact weight specified by the vehicles A/C system ID tag.

Charging with a gauge is OK, but be sure that's done on a day when the ambient temperature is around 75 degrees. Thats when the A/C pressures on the gauges are most accurate according to weight of refrigerant. Charging the system by measuring the pressure when it's cold outside will yield you with a system that might be over charged when it's 90+ degrees which will make the system blow warm air. (The system pressure will be too high) On the other hand, charging the system by measuring pressures on a very hot day will yield you an under charged system which will not function correctly on cooler days. (System pressures are to low)

R-134a system pressures change as the ambient temperature changes, especially the high side which you don't see with the consumer recharge kits. Even if the gauge on the low side shows you a correct charge, you can be off quite a bit by not seeing what the high side pressure is at a specified temperature.

I just went through this hastle with my 330, which lost it's refrigerant over last winter. We charged it with manifold gauges on a cool day. The system worked great until the first 90 degree day when it blew hot air until the sun went down. I finally took it in for service and had the system evacuated and the correct measured quantity pumped into the system. The differance in performance from the A/C was night and day. It went from blowing cold air to blowing ICE COLD air even when it's 90+ degrees outside.

Bottom line, it's totally worth having a professional charge your A/C system correctly the first time. The system will run at peak performance and keep you cooler while using less energy.
Gas is expensive these days!