with a long rainfree weekend i was finally able to attack the a/c evaporator core and was successful in replacing it. the problem comes from the evac/recharge step -
i purchased a set of manifold gauges from auto zone, and they let me borrow a pump. cool beans. i hook it all up as directed and turn the pump on, the directions say to pump till you hit 29 bars or so, then leave it on for one hour. it went to 29 bars in about one minute, with a 2.0 cfm pump i dunno, sounds ok to me. after an hour i stop the pump and let it sit for 1/2 hour - no increase in pressure so all should be cool, right?
i shut down both sides, hook up the yellow hose that was on the pump to a can of 134a, then start the engine and turn on the a/c and open the blue valve into the low pressure side - -nothing. guage doesnt move. i checked and triple checked that the valves were open thru to the low side connector. i slightly disconnected the yellow hose clamp onto the 134a can and confirmed the can was full and had been punctured. unhooked the blue quick-connect and opend the valve so the guage did read zero (up from negative). hooked all back up and tried again - nothing.
disconnected the whole contraption and used the little el-cheapo refill hose and got the system charged correctly, and it works.
anyone have this problem? if the guages will not allow 134a to enter the system, then when i did the evac was i just evacuating the hoses and not my a/c system? is that why it hit 29 bar so fast, or is that normal?
i am thinking i need to vac out all the coolant in there now and try this again