Maintaining my A/C system

They sell refrigerant bottles for about $10, containing the refrigerant, and compressor oil, along with a pressure gauge attached to the hose. You can check the level in your A/C and top it off if it's low.

Will doing this prolong the life of my A/C system? Would the oil help keep the components from wearing and rusting out? It looks like a cheap and easy do-it-yourself job, since my 2001 car uses the newer, readily available (cheap) type of refrigerant.

What would happen if I actually OVERFILL the system? Will it damage the system?

Reply to
Martin Lynch
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I've never seen those DIY recharge kits around here, though I guess they have them in the US (maybe other parts of Canada too). I'm not too crazy about the idea of using those things, because they encourage people to try and fix the system without the proper equipment. For example, some people will just fill up a system that has no charge left, even though in that case the system needs to be evacuated with a vacuum pump to prevent air and moisture from staying in the system and causing problems.

There would be no reason to add oil to the system unless the charge all blew out and took the oil with it. All car A/C systems will eventually lose some refrigerant over time, but they should not normally lose oil.

Overcharging the system is just as problematic as undercharging it, it can cause the system to not perform as well, or cause the compressor to start cycling off on the high-pressure limit.

Reply to
Robert Hancock

Yes, you can put too much oil or refridgerant into the system very easily by adding R-134a without proper guages , both high and low.

Niether of these conditions are good.

If it is working fine, leave it be.

Reply to
Hardpan

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specializes in auto A/C and has several forums.

The best thing you can do for your A/C is to run the compressor for at least 10 minutes continuously every week of the year, even in the winter (turn heater control to Hot while running A/C). This will circulate the oil and keep the compressor shaft seal wetted so it leaks less. It also doesn't hurt to occasionally clear debris from the condenser coil in front of the radiator by hosing it off from behind (only when the engine is stone cold).

You don't want to routinely add oil to the A/C unless it leaks so badly that it drips because too much oil can really cut the cooling capacity by decreasing the volume of the system and causing it to become essentially overcharged. Add nothing but pure refrigerant (only what was put in at the factory, not some miracle chemical that's claimed to bring Antarctica to Death Valley), and do that only if you are a) 100% certain that your only problem is a slight leak, b) you know what you're doing, and c) you're not the kind of person who thinks he knows what he's doing when he doesn't. It's very important to NOT overcharge the system because this will worsen the performance (more than even running as much as 50% low on charge) and can even cause the overpressure relief to blow open ($$$ to get system repaired, including pumped down to hard vacuum to remove all moisture). To put in the right amount of refrigerant, purge the charging hose of air by opening the valve before attaching it to the A/C's suction hose (low pressure -- do NOT charge into the high pressure hose or the can could explode), and run the engine at over

2,000 RPM (important). Monitor A/C pressures and evaporator coil inlet and outlet pipe temperatures while slowly adding refrigerant until the right pressures are reached or the inlet and outlet pipes are equally cold. It's OK to stop even when the outlet pipe is still slightly warmer than the inlet. I have to admit that I've charged by just measuring temperatures, but remember that if anything is wrong with the A/C or if you run the engine too slowly you can easily overcharge the system. Again, do NOT add refrigerant unless everything is perfect except for a slightly low charge.
Reply to
do_not_spam_me

Adding refrigerant this way will allow air into the system. The air will react with the refrigerant and become acidic. This will slowly eat out all of your seals and trash your A/C system.

Leave the serviceing of your A/C system to the professionals which are properly trained and have the correct equipment.

As another poster stated, the BEST thing you can do for you A/C system is to run it periodically in the winter to keep the oil circulated and the seals supple.

NOTE: Many chrysler cars have a "feature" that uses the A/C system on a low duty cycle when you set the climate controls to "defrost". This does two things:

1) It uses the A/C coil to suck the moisture out of the air, which defrosts your windows faster, and

2) It forces the circulation of the oil through the A/C system via "normal" operation of the "defrost" system - thus keeping your seals supple at times when you would not normally run the A/C system! WELL DONE Chrysler!

YMMV

Reply to
Cloaked

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