My A/C is working fine, but my Dad's is not. He has a 1995 Pontiac Transport. I was wondering if anyone knew where to buy a recharging kit for both of our A/C's (I have a 98 SE with manual climate control). OR...If it is possible to do it ourselves on both my car and his van. I have never done this before, or bought a kit to do it either.
Any info would be GREATLY appreciated, since he is willing to give me some money to do it for him.
Thanks..

Tony

 

Recharging kits are not available for all cars. You need to find out what type of the pontiac uses. Your max uses R134a which you can get in many parts store and even walmart!

 

I have to find out what ---- the Pontiac uses?? I do not know what the R134a stands for. Are you talking about freon maybe?? I am clueless....Thanks.

Tony

 

Yes ther freon/refrigerant it uses.

 

Thanks. I guess I will try and find out what the Pontiac uses, then get a kit from there.

 

"Freon" is actually the trademarked name for the refrigerant R-12. As you probably know, R-12 is now illegal to use in cars. Now cars come with R-134a. Hopefully your father's car is the same as yours. The hose to refill R-134a is only a few dollars and a 12oz can is about $5 or so each. If his system is leaking, you can also get an air conditioner sealer which kinda works like how those Fix-A-Flats work on your punctured tires. You may want to get an oil charge too. I think it cleans, conditions and lubricates your whole A/C system including hoses and mechanical components. You can buy all these different things a la carte at your local parts store, or get a kit with everything. I think I saw a kit at JCWhitney for about 24 bucks or so. Just one last note, make sure you refill your system on the "low side". This is the side that goes into the compressor. If you try to refill from the high side, the pressure will not let anything flow into the system.
Good luck, hope this helps.

 

Just a note on this... Italked to a dealer about my A/C compressor as it has to be replaced... He said that on Nissan's, the R134 refrigerant that they use actually has oil in the refrigerant, so you don't need to buy them seperately. However, I think this option is only available through a dealer, and was quoted $120.00 to do a recharge. ($80 labor for a 5 minute job, and freon is about $30 per lb.)

 

yeah the recharge is expensive (120-130bucks). but what can you do?
You can charge the system, but you can't evacuate it...(which you
would definitely need to do before replacing any leaking components and recharging)...any cheap ways to vacuum out an ac system?

 

That's where my problem comes in. It's cheaper to have Jiffy Lube, etc. do it than the dealer. I called to get prices on renting an AC vacuum, and it is expensive... I've been told that the system has to be recharged after evacuation, and while still attached to the vacuum to avoid air entering into the system when the Vac is disconnected...
(Say all that in one breath...)

Hope this helps...

BTW Jiffy Lube, etc generally charge a $49.99 Service fee, and $30 per lb.

 

I recharged the A/C on my 95 Maxima last weekend. I bought a recharge kit (all-in-one r134a refrigerant, oil, stop leak, dye) from the store along with a low-side gauge and did it myself. Just follow the instructions.

Also, R12 is not illegal, just VERY expensive. That's why most people convert their system because the cost of R12 refrigerant is ridiculously high!!

Bottom line is:

1) On most (all?) A/C compressors, some of the oil is actually mixed in with the refrigerant.
2) Depending on your system, you will usually lose some refrigerant, the culprit being the compressor, hoses, lines, etc. If your system does not have a major leak, you should still have pressure in your system and that will prevent air from entering.
3) You can replenish your A/C system yourself using the recharge kits sold at stores if you follow the instructions.

I recharge mine every year to always keep positive pressure and ensure my A/C system is always blowing cold. One recharge is all I need a year (I use a gauge to determine how much to put in so I don't overcharge the system - overcharging is bad because you can damage your compressor).

When you get it done professionally at the shop, they will hook up your low & high side to a machine (eg. Robinair RRR machine).
Step 0: Some shops will test your vehicle's refrigerant to prevent contamination (mixed refrigerant, etc). If it is contaminated, most shops will not do it and you're an SOL because it is expensive to dispose of contaminated refrigerant.
Step 1: Recover refrigerant (including some oil). The machine will basically recover until it hits 0 pressure. When it is done, they will check the amount of oil and refrigerant that was also recovered.
Step 2: Vacuum system. They can check for leaks by seeing how quickly they can pull a vacuum and if the vacuum will hold.
Step 3: Recharge the system (in a vacuum state) with the same amoutn of oil that was recovered.
Step 4: Recharge the system with refrigerant according to the manufacturer's specifications.
Step 5: Charge you for the service fee + the extra refrigerant they had to put in.

The machines are expensive, and they have a tendency to go out of calibration. They use a primitive weigh scale to measure the amount of refrigerant that's recovered/dispensed. Dont get me wrong, the scale works great BUT when they cart the machine around ad go over hoses, bumps, etc, it throws the scale out of whack so you could end up with more/less refrigerant than you need. The good shops will always use the pressure gauge to make sure they do it correctly and also recalibrate the scale frequently.

(I used to work as tele-support for Robinair so I know how the machines work. Dealers would call all the time with problems on the machine)

 

So do the R134 Kits you buy at Autozone Evacuate the system as well?

If so, Where can you get a pressure gauge?

Thanks

 

You cannot evacuate the system unless you have a vacuum pump with an adapter to fit the vehicle's lo & high side fitting.

The recharge kit is only a hose & adapter to hook up a pressurized can of refrigerant. If you've got an empty system or a leak or a system full of air, I'd recommend paying the $$$ and having it done properly.

Recharging will only work on a positive pressure A/C system that is a 'bit' low on refrigerant.

 

The "legal" issue is that:

- Service personnel may NOT recharge an R12 system without fully inspecting, pressure testing, and repairing ALL leaks. "Tapping off" is prohibited.

- R12 is no longer available in retail small canisters very much, only industrial quantities to those with a properly licensed service technician.

 

Yeah, and R-12 is NOT ozone friendly, that's why AC systems have been switched to R134A. Let's be nice to our planet

DW

 

How do you know if your AC needs recharging?

 

synapse is correct, you "cannot" convert R12 to R134A without a proper license.

r12 breaks down ozone gasses so we get more radiation.

r134a does not eat up the ozone layer, BUT it does contribute to greenhouse gasses. So we're slowly cooking ourselves with r134a ... I think I prefer being a slow roast than a microwaved steak.

If your A/C blows cold, you're fine. If it doesn't, you might need a recharge or you might have a problem.