hello i just put a can of freon r134a in my 98 dodge stratus and have a ? about it. when i put the refill gauge on it at first, it said low ( in the green area on gauge) then when i put the can of freon onto it and emptied it, it was in the blue range which means full. now i noticed the more i reved the engine,then the gauge would fall down toward the green area. does this mean i need more freon so that when i rev it good it stays in the full area on the gauge? thanks Randy
Randy if you don't have a clue of how the A/C system works you may want to leave that job to someone that is qualified to do the repair. You can seriously hurt yourself by trying to charge the system yourself or do damage to the system .
Glenn is right. To charge the system properly requires a manifold gage set that shows high and low side pressures. You measure the temperature of the liquid line at the condenser and compare that with the high side pressure against a chart in the service manual. The other option is to completely evacuate the system and recharge it with the exact amount of refrigerant specified for your car.
If your ac was not cooling properly, but worked good sometimes, chances are the expansion valve is bad and needs to be replaced. If you have a high mileage car you might consider replacing the compressor (and filter dryer) now. If you wait until the compressor dies, the repair job will be more expensive because the lines will need to be flushed out to remove any metal particles that the compressor may have shed.
Those top off kits that the auto parts stores sell are a waste of money. If you were unfortunate enough to pick the one that adds oil to the system, now your ac system has too much oil in it. The excess oil displaces refrigerant which reduces its BTU capacity. You never add oil unless you have replaced a component like the filter/dryer, and then add only the amount that component holds.
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