Leaking AC compressor life....

[Fleetmon]

Vikas is telling you true....if it's cooling then leave it alone. The little one-gauge kits can cause more problems than they solve. Once it leaks enough, the ac will shutdown on its own.

 

[Vikas]

If you are worried, open a savings account, start putting money in to it every week and earmark it for the eventual A/C repairs.

 

[sleddriver]

Originally Posted By: gregk24
I thought you had to vacuum everything out before refilling, because you DONT know how much to put in, and you could over charge it. Am I right?

Not necessarily. Given your hot, humid location in Florida, you can easily use this method:

With the engine on, Air-con on (no recirc), blower on high, open the hood, and locate the two a/c lines where they penetrate the firewall. The smaller of the two is the high-pressure, liquid line. It may be hot/dry or cold/sweating depending. The larger line is the low-pressure, suction line which carries gas.

Given Fla. hot/humid weather, the suction line WILL be sweating like crazy and feel cold in a properly working system. If not, enable recirculation and give it two minutes (all doors/windows closed of course....). If it still isn't sweating, then you're definitely low on refrigerant (which I'm assuming is 134a...).

If it IS sweating, then don't worry about it. Given your location, you'll quickly realize when it starts blowing barely-cool air.

Forget those stupid cans with the cheap pressure gauges and stop leak. You want a can of 100% 134a and a short piece of hose with a can piercing valve on one end and either a straight or 90° low-pressure valve on the other. I picked up mine from Advanced Auto I think. Which one you need depends on where your low-pressure valve is and its orientation. Straight works best for mine.

http://www.amazon.com/Interdynamics-MB-1...0N3P4TTETSD8YA9

This type with a gauge is OK if you need a longer hose:
http://www.amazon.com/Interdynamics-GBM-...0N3P4TTETSD8YA9

With a/c on, recirc off, blower on high, engine on, follow the directions on the back of the hose package to pierce the can. Before you attach the hose to the low-pressure port, open the can valve until you hear 134a hissing out the hose end. This is to displace air + moisture out of the hose. With it still hissing, attach the hose to the port, hold the can vertical and open the can valve 100%.

When the can gets cold, that means the system is taking the gas. Keep shaking the can and watch the suction line for sweat. You can tilt the can 90° and shake every 20sec or so. When the can gets too cold, switch hands.

As soon as the suction line begins to sweat, turn off the can valve. Tiny, tiny beads of condensation will appear so you'll have to look close or swipe your finger across it.

If it's still not sweating after one whole can, then you need another. All depends on the capacity of your system. Look at the sticker under the hood for your systems capacity.

Disconnect the hose from the port and screw the port cap back on. It should be blowing MUCH colder now. You can check the cold air temp with a small dial temp gauge stuck into a main a/c vent. Note that reading and see how long it takes before it warms up again. That'll give you some indication of how bad the leak is.

If your compressor ever starts making a very loud racket, then you need to immediately turn it off. It's probably coming apart inside.

In hot, humid climates like ours, it's best to keep recirculation enabled to ease the load on the compressor and allow cold vapor back to it to cool it off, especially in traffic/city driving. You'll also slightly help your fuel economy.