The AC in the BRZ wasn't keeping up on the way home yesterday. I Knew it had been recharged before I bought it so I'm not 100% surprised. I had just hoped it might be a once a year thing.
YouTube suggests this is fairly simple. Maybe even I can do it? Picked one up this morning. Hope these things really work.
They are pretty easy to use, but you do need to be careful as the gauges aren't all that accurate. Worse, sometimes the gauges ice up, give a false low reading, and you end up overfilling. Make sure you're using R-134A - some newer cars use a different formula.
You can do it!
However, I recently thought we needed to recharge our Honda Odyssey. It turned out that the ac relay was intermittently failing instead.
I had an issue with my AC last year and added some R134A but it didn't help much. Earlier this year when the weather got warm the AC didn't cool at all. I attached my gauge to the system and found that the pressure was high! I let out some R134A and as the pressure came down to within the "normal" range the AC system started to blow cool air. So you can add to much freon to a system, I guess?
^ Absolutely can have too much pressure in the system and the compressor won't run
Here's a great thread on AC from earlier this year. https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/air-conditioning-leaks/183256/page1/
You should use the kind with a dye in it to find out where your leak is.
Those things are easy to use, but also easy to over use, and if you have a leak in the system, be it a pinhole or am o ring or whatever, it won't do much good.
I tried a couple of those "all-in-one" cans with the gauge built in over the years, but never got satisfactory results. Finally sprung for a manifold and a vacuum pump and am very happy I did. Another thing to note is that some cars seem to want slightly different amounts of refrigerant than the standard pressure would suggest, and really need to be evacuated and recharged by weight. I just did this on my 128i and it's really not difficult at all with the above equipment and a cheap digital scale, and there's no guesswork as to whether you've gotten the pressures right.
Those will work fine, provided there are no problems with the system. As long as the compressor is good, no obstructions, and otherwise healthy, you should be fine.
If the compressor is weak or you have some kind of restriction, only seeing the low side pressures won't get you the right charge. Hence why A/C manifolds have two gauges.
Worth a shot. I splurged and got the A/C manifold from HF on sale for something like $38 with a coupon. Might be a wise investment if the aerosol can doesn't work.
Do the next guy to work on your car a favor and do not use any product that claims to have sealant. That stuff destroys A/C equipment, which can run $20K or so, not counting lost income from having a damaged A/C machine during the time of year when it is shop MVP.
I bought the pump and gauges to do the A/C on the old Kia van since I replaced the compressor. Love having the right tools, made all subsequent refills much easier.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ recharged the AC back in late May or very early June when it was having a hard time keeping up on a hot day. It worked just fine after & until yesterday. I'm guessing it does have a bit of a leak but hoping this gets me through until next spring/summer and get it fixed proper.
Although it's going into the shop next Monday for Eibach springs and fluid changes. If they see something obvious I'll have them repair it then.
When I started managing transmission shops, I did not have that A/C skillset. I had one of my techs teach me over a six pack one night and it has probably saved me $10,000 over the last 15 years.
Pump, manifold, done.
Success.
Slight thread hijack, but curious. How do these work if there is a leak? From what I understand (which is very limited), an A/C system is under vacuum. Specifically, you have to drawn down a vacuum before you fill it. If you're A/C isn't cooling as well, I would assume that means a small leak, and, subsequently a loss of vacuum pressure. With less vacuum pressure, how do those AC in a can systems fill it? Does the compressor bring the vacuum back up with the addition of more freon?
If so, I would assume you could use one of those to fill an empty system, but I'm betting you still have to draw down a vacuum as that wouldn't work.
(Sorry for the hijack, Jerry, just kinda topical and made me wonder. Congrats on the success!!)
-Rob
In reply to rob_lewis :
The vacuum is only there when you evacuate the system; normally the system is under pressure. If there's enough of a leak that the system can't hold a vacuum, it also won't hold pressure, and you're going to have to fix the leak. That said, the pressure in the can is going to pump some refrigerant into the system no matter what, even if it's already got a charge in there (hence the ability to overcharge).
I was just at Autozone this afternoon and they will lend out a set of real gauges - hi side/low side - so you can get a better idea of how the system is working. This is on my list to see if I can get the new Saturn to blow a little colder.
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