my enegine got swapped and they had to take the compresor out to do so and i lost all my cool from my a/c, it just blows regular air now, i wanna know if i buy the r134 bottle from walmart, i think they call it free-on, and just hook it up to the line and follow the instructions, will it work?
does anyone know anything about this?
is there a write-up anywhere for this? i looked but i coulnt find

i would really love to get some help on this, thanx

 

Did they fill it before giving you the car back? if so then adding more R-134 will only leak out again. you should get it checked for leaks if they did infact fill it. if they just did not fill it, then you really should have the system vacuumed out so get rid of the moisture that is probably in it. moisture in they system will eventually hurt the compressor.

Or you can just add some r-134 into the system and let it ride. Its pretty simple to do yourself. I advise you to get a gauge so you don't over fill the system or underfill it. They sell the gauges at the parts stores, pretty inexpensive.

Under your hood you should see a label which will give you the specs of how much r-134 you should have in your system to work properly.

 

You'll have to evacuate the system by a shop. Just filling it doesn't work. Best is to keep the system closed even without freon. There is a dryer (the silver can) in the system and it will pickup moisture if you leave the system open. Then you will have to change that too.

Normally you would keep the hose intact while pulling an engine. Since they opened up the system, you will have to evacuate and recharge it now.

The dryer is basically a can of desiccant. You throw it away after it is saturated with water. It keeps a closed system free of moisture.

 

can i evacuate it myself? and the silver can u are talking about, where is it located?

thanx guys, i really didnt know anything about moisture in the system.

 

No, it takes a vacumn pump to evacuate air from the system once you have closed up everything.

Will cost about $120-$150 to do feon included.

 

do not refill it at home.... you need to get it dont you need a shop to do it..

 

You need to go to a shop. They have to vacuum out all the air and water from the lines. Your also supposed to change the dryer when you open up the system. The tools you need are too expensive to do it yourself. Just buying a can and hooking it up will not work (or at least not very well).

 

Isn't it also illegal to change your a/c? Or are only certified people are allowed to do it in Texas.

 

I think it was only illegal with the older fluoro-carbon refrigerants. I don't think that applies to 134.

 

its not illegal to do it. I'm certified to do it. I got me a little paper card from the EPA saying i am. But yea, i would recommend going to the shop. Most shops run you about 1 hour of labor. $100 or so, give or take. It takes about 20 minutes to do with the proper vacuum and everything. There is no way you can do it yourself. If you try to do it yourself you might end up blowing the system due to overfilling it. the system only holds about 1.3lbs of liquid. Not sure how much is in a max tho.

 

The R12 refrigerant used in older cars (before 1993) is very expensive to recharge now. R134a is much cheaper.

There is no need to change the dryer if you only opened it a few hours or the humidity in the air is low. It is just a bag of desiccant inside. I have never done it in the can but you can heat it and get rid of the moisture also. The crystals are white and turn blue when they absorbed water.

 

so what about if i go to the shop and have them vacuum the system out and i refill it myself. its not that hard to refill it.

 

They have the pressure gauges and stuff to do it right. It will be quite a few can to fill the whole system and may not be cheaper than letting the shop do it.

 

If you go out and have a shop vacuum it out. Why would you want to refill it yourself. The machine that hooks up to you car. Suck it out. Checks for leaks and refills your system on a actually scale. So it would be rather pointless. You not saving yourself any money in doing this. Nor are you going to gain any experience trying to do it yourself. This is one of those things where you should just pay someone to do. Most likely you dont need to recharge the system yearly. Hell my dad bought his car in 96 and never recharged his untill last year when i offered to do it for him. There was no point in doing it because it ran just as cold.

 

well i can get the gauge but see that the machine that hooks up to the a/c does it all i guess i'll just let a shop do it for me.

 

yes sir. the machine does it all. Normally within 30-45 mins. It depends on how long the person wants to leave the vacuum on to suck up all the left over.

 

they told me that it cost around $120 but disafternoon, my starter went bad (i think) so i think the a/c gonna have to wait, when i turn the key all i get is a 'click, click'