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I'm thinking of doing this before summer, I'm confused with the many brands that are offered. Your input would be appreciated!!!

 

I think those personal fillers are a waste. To do it correctly, you need to totally evaporate the sytstem and then refill it with the right amount of Freon. It costs money, but thats the right way to do it.

If you want to buy come cans and try and top it off, then go ahead.

-matt

 

do not try this yourself.

you have to be sure the proper amount (and type) of oil is in the system. the only way to do that is to completely evacuate the system of all R134 and oil, and then start from scratch. you cannot do a complete evac yourself (unless you have a professional pump). and I think there's a special procedure for recovering the oil.

you also have to replace the drier/filter.

if you lost R134, you also lost oil, and so may have also damaged your compressor. I would take it off and inspect it.

 

there is a special machine that recovers all the r-134a from your system than pulls a vacuum on the system to inturn lower the boiling point of water to pull all moister out of the system and also is usualy a good leak indicator. Than recharges your system with the correct amount of r-134a and than a certified tech. would add a type of pag oil to the system for the compressor. And the only time you should need to replace the reciever/drier is if you have opened the actual A/C system and exposed it to the open air or its clogged. Also refrigerant loss over time is normal and our cars are getting into the 10 years old range.

 

As far as the system working, it does a pretty good job. I think unrealmax hit the nail on the head. Just doing preventative maintenance. I was thinking since the car is 8 years old there must be some refrigerant loss. There were a lot of good opinions out there. After reading maybe I"ll have the whole system evacuated and recharged by someone who is certified. New compressor oil, refrigerant, and a full evacuation of the old stuff. Thanks to all of you for your help.

 

how much does it cost to have to system recharged by the dealer.shop? cause mine works, but could work better.

 

I can't claim to be an AC expert as I've never messed with my own AC system, however I did help a guy at work use one of those recharger things you buy at the parts store and his AC did get significantly colder as we were adding the refrigerant. By significantly I mean it went from being non-existent to pretty darn cold as it should be. Whether or not it lasted for a while or not, I don't know.

 

This is all correct here.



It will cost you depending on the shop. Recharging a system is fairly easy.Cost ranges from $80 to $130.

The receiver should NOT be replaced. Only if the system was open to ambient air.

Yes as they recharge your system there will be a gage that will indicate if you indeed have a leak.

-- LOW SIDE 20-35PSI
-- HIGH SIDE 180 215PSI

If both are HIGH you have air in the system.

Make sure there doing it correctly. Allot of mechanics are lazy...lol

Have fun...

 

as opposed to freon that came out of the ground? man some of the thinga typed.

If you are empty, go buy the needed amount and fill it up yourself. I forget the weight but it is listed in the FSM and under your hood. make sure you start off with a can of oil. This is assuming you dont have a major leak. If you do have a leak and feel you can manage the repair yourself, pick up a can of dye from pepboys, find the leak, repair the leak and refill it yoruself.


oh, and your compressor automatically purges when there is too much in the system.