Hot! - AC Recharge?

Jaketino

Jaketino

New member
Not hot as in motor temp, but about the freak heat wave that hit Portland today (96! :flame:).

So I get in my rig after work and turn on the AC to find that it is not getting that cold. Its moderately cold but not "put on a jacket while inside" cold. Could this be that my AC has run out of juice and needs to be recharged? Never had AC in a vehicle before so I'm in the wild here.

Should I just go get one of those self recharge kits or take it to a shop to have them do it? If I do do it myself, where is the port to attach it to the AC system?

I wanna figure this out before that big yellow thing in the sky burns me to death... :flamethrwoer2:
 
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I think it's fine. The ac can only make the temperature so cold you know. So if it's 96 outside it will probably be like 70 inside the car. Roughly

If you notice your ac click on and off a lot. You probably need the system flushed and refilled
 
I understand that I can only do so much but it was still like 85 in the car. It doesn't click on and off but the belt does squeak. Maybe that's the issue, I'll try tightening that and see if it makes any difference. I may just do the self recharge kit anyway to make sure its full, cant hurt (can it?)

Where do I attach the recharge kit to?
 
I would say that you need a refresh on your charge. I live out in 29 Palms CA (Google it lol) and my runner has been out here for 3 summers and my a/c is freezing cold once it pressurizes. Takes a bit to cool down from 110-120 but it gets pretty darn cold.
 
it helps to get the air from the outside and crack the rear window about an inch or 2 to get the blower motor to push that hot air out the back. it literally cools the truck off in a min.
once thats done roll the window up and then stitch is to recirculated air.

you might need a recharge. Dont use the cans from auto stores.
 
You recharge from the low pressure side behind the air filter box. You should check you're pressure before you do anything.

Today it was 110 here and I had to turn my ac down because I was cold
 
shootmymime said:
it helps to get the air from the outside and crack the rear window about an inch or 2 to get the blower motor to push that hot air out the back. it literally cools the truck off in a min.

once thats done roll the window up and then stitch is to recirculated air.



you might need a recharge. Dont use the cans from auto stores.
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Yep, I do this even when I don't use the AC.

How much do shops usually charge to recharge the system?
 
I'll pull out the Haynes manual and see what it says. Why shouldn't I use the cans from the auto stores [MENTION=14772]shootmymime[/MENTION]?
 
are ac gauges available at parts stores to rent for free?

If you've got that everything else is pretty easy. You should look up a chart though because you'll have different ac pressure asst different ambient air temps
 
Those cans you buy at the auto parts stores are just garbage. An actual AC service will put a vacuum on the system, get all the air, moisture, and old freon out, then fill the system to the proper amount, including some dye and seal conditioner to help identify and prevent leaks. Those cans just force more crud into the system and chances are you'll be way off on what you need.

Friend of mine just did an evac and charge for me with his AC machine at his shop, and it cost me about $20 for the pound and a half of freon he used. Huge money maker for him since all you do with his machine is hook it up, enter the year/make/model, press start and the machine handles the rest.
 
Twan said:
Those cans you buy at the auto parts stores are just garbage. An actual AC service will put a vacuum on the system, get all the air, moisture, and old freon out, then fill the system to the proper amount, including some dye and seal conditioner to help identify and prevent leaks. Those cans just force more crud into the system and chances are you'll be way off on what you need.
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Exactly. My brother works in the HVAC industry and everyone thinks just throwing more freon in will fix the problem but you still have to get all the air/moisture/etc out before you put more freon in. It's your A/C system though.
 
To be clear though I don't think there is anything wrong with the cans themselves, the problem is with the procedure that most people use.

If you evacuate the system and it holds vacuum then you can fill it with the refrigerant from parts stores. I've never had problems with them before. I wouldn't use the ones with stop leak.

And you could probably top it of anyways, at least to check if that is your problem. $10 for a can is way cheaper than $100 for a service. As long as there is more pressure in the ac system it should be impossible to suck in outside air, but the key word is should. Weird stuff happens. I would evacuate it but to each their own.
 
If I used a can to get the pressure back up and it didn't get any colder, couldn't I take it in to the shop at that point and have them suck everything out? Like you said, $10 is cheaper than $100. Could it hurt anything to do this?
 
Before you buy anything or do anything. The dryer (big black can in front of the radiator) has a sight glass - turn on the system and look at it:

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If you are low. Refill. Yourself. There is nothing wrong with the cans. You will need to buy a gauge set. Don't rely on JUST L pressure. You absolutely need to know what the H pressure is. You may have a blockage and never know if all you are monitoring is L as you refill. Also - start refilling with the engine off. You will usually hear a leak if one exists. With the car running - you're not hearing shit.

If your system has been exposed to the atmosphere you NEED to replace the dryer. It's ~$20. If you don't, you may have moisture in the system. Water reacts with the coolant and forms acid which will ruin your compressor.

Do not use the cans with oil unless you know you have ZERO oil in the system. If you overfill with oil, you'll blow your compressor. Don't use the "leak sealers" either.

The dupont 'suva' 134a cans are cheap and are just pure freon. Use those and watch your pressure. You'll be fine.
 
I paid $60 for it to be vacuumed and recharged after I replaced parts. The amount of refrigerant you would need in those cans would be around $40 if your system is empty. Call around and see what you can find.

It could just be that you are low refrigerant or you have developed a more serious problem. You could have a major leak, your clutch on your compressor stopped working, your compressor gave out, etc. Many things besides just low refrigerant can cause your a/c to not blow cold and you would need to hook up some a/c gauges to figure out what's the issue.
 
zacattack20 said:
I paid $60 for it to be vacuumed and recharged after I replaced parts. The amount of refrigerant you would need in those cans would be around $40 if your system is empty. Call around and see what you can find.

It could just be that you are low refrigerant or you have developed a more serious problem. You could have a major leak, your clutch on your compressor stopped working, your compressor gave out, etc. Many things besides just low refrigerant can cause your a/c to not blow cold and you would need to hook up some a/c gauges to figure out what's the issue.
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You need 2 cans, and will have about 1/4 left over if you do a full charge.

Cheapest can is $10. Amazon.com: Dupont Freon 134a for Mobile A/c Systems 12 Oz Can: Automotive

That's $20 for a full charge with enough left over to top off in a year or two.
 
agloukhoff said:
You need 2 cans, and will have about 1/4 left over if you do a full charge.

Cheapest can is $10. Amazon.com: Dupont Freon 134a for Mobile A/c Systems 12 Oz Can: Automotive

That's $20 for a full charge with enough left over to top off in a year or two.
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I was just going off prices from autozone, oreillys, etc. at the time I fixed mine. Also with those you posted, you would need the hose to connect to the system which would cost a little more. I don't know how much those cost. If I was the OP I would make sure there isn't another issue before going and just recharging the system and wasting money.
 
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