Hey guys i was curious if any of you have tried to recharge your air conditioning yourselfs with those kits you can buy at any local auto parts store. If you have used the kit was it easy and did it work well? Anything will help thanks.

 

A/C work is actually very simple once you understand a few basic concepts. Recharging is pretty simple. You want to make sure that you put in the right stuff. The older vehicles, usually early 90's and on back use R-12 refrigerant, unless they have been converted over to the new 134-A which is in later 90's to the present. Not sure what year your car is, but it'll say under the hood on one of the stickers, which refrigerant was used. All you have to do with the kit is hook it upto the A/C line, turn the caron with the A/C on high. If the compressordoesn't run, you willneedtotake the wire off the compressor and place a jumper wire in the connectorto bypass the low coolant shutoff built into the compressor. If it cools any at all, the compressor should run and you shouldn't haveto do this. Once you got the A/c on high and your line hooked up, (the 134-A lines just pop on like an air hose on an air compressor) all you have to do is screw the other end on the top of the can and scew in the T handle thing which will puncture the top of the can and allow the coolant to flow into the line.</P>


I wouldn't add over a couple of cans of refrigerant. If two don't help then it may be another problem. Or if the two help for a while then it starts to not cool well again there's probably a leak in the system. I just bought my '91 mustang and theprevious ownercharged it back up with R-12. He said it leaks down in about a year. I found on one of the A/C lines some oily reidue. I'm gonna have to depressurize the system and replace the line, which is made into the dryer. I'll probably vac it down after replacement the rechage it with 134-A since it's much cheaper. I think the EPA is trying to make R-12 obsolete so it's very expensive.</P>


I hope this helps. There really isn't much to it. I'm sure the kit comes with instructions if you get stumped. If not I'll try to help with any questions.</P>

 

ya go to the autoparts store and get some refridgerant, i actually did it with my dad on his benz, he was monitering the refridgerant while i was on the engine at 3k rpm while the air conditioner was on and he just told me to stop when it got cold, after about 5 minutes it got cold and we stoped, it was pretty ez.

 

Thanks for the input guys. That really helps. roush97 when you say that your are going to convert to the 134-A what all is involved in that? and by the way my car is a 90 GT.

 

Well, converting to 134-A you will need to purchase a new dryer,and fittings, which looking at mine, the ac line and fittings and dryer is all one piece, so it would be easy to swap. The other A/C line will have to have the fitting replaced from R-12 to 134A connectoron it too. May have to purchase the whole line for that also. Looks as though the lines/dryer are easy to get at. The dryer is the round shaped thing located near the firewall on the passangers side. You will seewhere the line is made into it. After replacing that, you will have to have your A/C system vaccumed out to get the moisture out of the system. Any time the A/C system is opened it will draw in moisture from the air.A new dryer will take care of some of it, but it's still a good idea to have it vacced. This can probably be done at any place that services A/C,s. (I made my own out of an old compressor out of a dehumidifier. I hook the vac line of the compressor to one line on my recharge set and the other to the sytem and just plugthe compressorin till it draws a good vacuum. As I said though, if you don't have a vac, any place that services A/C's will do it for ya.) Then you can just charge it up with 134-A. You will have to trick the compressor on your A/C into thinking it has coolant in it. Just unplug the connector on the compressor and plug a jumper wire into the connector. This will bypass the low coolant shutoff that's built into the compressor so it will run without freon. This way it will drawthe freoninto the system. Also I almost forgot. any lines that you replace, you may want to add a little A/C compressor oil into the linesso the compressor stays oiled through the process.</P>


This info is probably a little choppy, since I kept thinking of things I left out. I hope it helps, That's about all I can think of that needs done. Any more questions, I'll try to help with the best of my knowledge.</P>

 

I work for ford and do a/c work all the time. To do a R134A conversion go to a good auto parts house and get a retrofit kit. The kit will have the R134A fittings new O-rings and Ester 100 oil. Get a new acumalator/ Reciver dryer. Also this is a good time to replace any lines that are leaking at the crimp fittings. First evac the system of the R12 replace the old acumalator with the new one ( BE SURE TO ADD 6 oz of the ester oil into the new acumalator befoe installing)( Also lube all O-rings befor installing lines this will make assembly easier and will prevent damage to the new o-rings ) Make sure to remove the schrader valves from the R12 fittings befor you install the new R134A fitting If you forget you will damage the new fitings and the system will leak. It is also a good idea to replace all the old o-rings on the system due to R134A is higher pressure and the new o-rings in the kit are desigined for R134a unlike the old black o-rings on the R12 system. When you recharge do so on the high side only with the engine off. Charging on the low side can cause damage to the compressor. If you charge with the engine on charge on the low side and jump the low pressure cycling switch that is mounted on the acumalator doing so will cause the a/c compressor to to come on. If your R12 system held 2.0 lbs of freon add only 1.85 lbs of R134a due to operating pressure are higher with the R134a GOOD LUCK.

 

Thanks for the input roush and aquafastback. but hey aqua what is the schrader valves and where are they located?</P>


With all this input i think it will be fairly easy to make this switch.<IMG src=smileys/smiley20.gif border="0"> Any idea how much its going to cost me?</P>

 

borrow a set of gauges to check pressure..too much opps there goes a seal.....alot people don't change the seal and they end up leaking.....r-12 is still farely easy to get

67 aback.... have you used they new r-12 replacement?...I still have a case of r-12 some I'm good for about 5 years

 

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No I have not at the dealer we use either orginal R12 or convert the system to R143a.</P>


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Schrader valves are located in the hose connectors the are just like a valve stem shrader valve on your tires use the same tool as you would on your tires to remove the ones on the a/c system.</P>

 

bringin this back from the dead, where in the engine compartment can i fid the "high" side to hook up some gauges? thanks.......