A/c Recharge Help??

[82-T/A]

Hey guys,

I was laughing at my girlfriend's car the other day. I was telling her how the A/C in her new 2002 Jetta is crap compared to that of an American car.

Sure enough, my 1997 GrandAm, not but a few days later.. started to lose it's cool. It's got 114k miles on it. Everything is great with the car, brakes, motor, transmission, it's all perfect. EXCEPT... the A/C. It still blows a little cool, but I can hear it cycling. It's definitely not how it was. Maybe within 1/10th.

So.. I bought an A/C recharge kit. With the fittings for the HIGH and LOW side of the A/C recharge.

I have a separate bottle of oil recharge, and a separate bottle of A/C refrigerant (R134A).

Can someone tell me what I need to do?

I mean, I can figure it out myself actually, but I wanted to know if anyone has done this before, and / or if there is something I need to watch out for?

I understand that it lost it's pressure obviously because of a leak. So I need to find that. What's the easiest way to do that? I'm not about to pay someone $600 bucks to recharge my system.

How do I know how much oil to add? If I put TOO much oil, can that cause the compressor to seize? I actually have another one that I pulled from the yard just in case mine fails on me in the next couple of months.



Thanks,

[Dr_Kyle]

I recharged the refrigerant on a car before, but I'm not sure about the oil deal.

For the refrigerant, you want to attach it to the low pressure port. Hook it up (pierce the seal) and turn the AC on high. Leave this running until the pressure gauge is at ~35-40 psi. Unhook it and you're now recharged.

[PontiacGT]

haha. my air was kinda bad so i wanted to recharge, i bought the Castrol recharge kit for our a/c's (i have a 1997 also by the way) and it came with 3 cans and a hose to recharge. they were kinda small cans like 12 oz a piece or something and i think our a/c needs something like just under 3 lbs heck i cant remember. anyways ya i was gonna let out the pressure but i didnt really know how so i grabbed the wrench and unscrewed the high pressure valve.

DONT DO THIS........ok sometimes i can be retarded. that sticky nasty **** sprayed all over my hood and engine for about 2 minutes straight. well ok i got over that it wasnt all that sticky when it dried and it didnt hurt anything but it sure scared the **** out of me. ANYWAYS back to the ordeal. get under ur car and hook it up to the low port, if you try to do it from the top you may not be able to if you have big arms and my engine was hot at the time so yeah. hook up the hose to the low port on the bottom, screw on your can GENTLY. you dont need a freakin airlock seal here. trust me. i broke the damn hose and wasted a can till i stole another hose and proceeded with the a/c the next day.

ok next day came, i now only have 2 cans, which adds up to way less than what i needed. but this time i was gentle, and i turned on the ac all the way like you should, started the car bla bla that's easy. just put on the can, puncture it and let it drain. then do the next can until you get to what u need for pressure.

that's what i had to do. the a/c isnt any cooler because i messed up i know but hey experience is fun, and i didnt have to pay for the kit cuz they forgot to charge me ( i got it from work ). yeah. dont do dumb things. leave it to ppl like me :cheers:

[71Z28RS]

If you want to find a leak, they sell inked oil at most parts stores. It's a flourescent green like old style anti-freeze. It goes in the same way you put the coolant in, and it mists out that green dye where your leak is.

[iceman]

I recharged the refrigerant on a car before, but I'm not sure about the oil deal.

For the refrigerant, you want to attach it to the low pressure port. Hook it up (pierce the seal) and turn the AC on high. Leave this running until the pressure gauge is at ~35-40 psi. Unhook it and you're now recharged.

Doc did you ever do it on the GA? Where are these ports?

[Dr_Kyle]

Nah, I did it on a Neon. Usually, the high pressure port is the one with the solid metal lines, while the low pressure/vacuum side only has the rubber lines.

[Dr_Kyle]

I just checked and I believe its the fitting just behind the radiator on the pass side. It's right in front of the water pump, facing up. The fitting that comes with the recharge kit will only fit a low pressure port anyway, so it should be easy to tell.

[iceman]

OK... I'll have to get this done at the drag strip saturday lol

[iceman]

well I bought one of those do it yourself kits today for 30 bucks. I'll post a how-to when I'm done if I can figure it out.


edit: Is the little port coming from the compressor, right on the left when you open the hood, the "low side" ?

[iceman]

I found the low side port.. Whoever the hell decided to put it there gets #1 on my jackass list for today - It's right on the other side of the firewall, below the exhaust manifolds, where it's almost impossible to reach and even more impossible to get this refrigerant hose anywhere close to :(

[Irate]

I found the low side port.. Whoever the hell decided to put it there gets #1 on my jackass list for today - It's right on the other side of the firewall, below the exhaust manifolds, where it's almost impossible to reach and even more impossible to get this refrigerant hose anywhere close to :(
lol Sorry man, that sucks... you should have bought a honda.

Seriously though, if we can't get it done this weekend, we'll do it at my house next week. :)