A/C Problems after overcharge!!! Oil leak???

[bfrey64]

Okay it's been awhile since I have posted BITOG website. My 2003 camry has a 127,000 miles on it. I didn't have any issues with my ac, but it did feel as cold as my new camry. So I bought a kit from wallyworld and decided to charge it. Pulled the gauge out checked the pressure, it seemed a little light on freon. So I charged it, thought I needed a little more and added part of a second can. Pressure went into the red, it wasn't peaking a the end of the gauge. Being scared I tried to release the pressure with the gauge, by doing so the pressure did remain high, but it came back into the green. I did all of this on the low port side. Fear more then anything caused me to do this, but after doing this I noticed that there was a clear oil like substance on lower plastic protection pan. Not sure what it is, but now I am afraid it might have been my ac compressor. I did take it to the dealership and had them evacuate the freon, they ran a vacuum on the system, and recharged the unit. They did say that I had a little too much freon in the system. What could this oilly substance be? Is it freon/r134 oil, ac compressor oil. The oil was clear, light amber to a clear color. The dealership did inject dye to see if there were any leaks. They told me everything was fine. Is there a way to see if my compressor lost oil?
Thanks

 

[yonyon]

I don't know offhand if this car has a high pressure blowoff valve, but most do. Regardless of how the excess refrigerant was bled off, chances are that some oil left along with it. It's also very likely when the dealership did the evac/charge they added a little oil as well, and very likely even more than you lost. One way or another, you probably have an acceptable amount of oil in the system and shouldn't lose any sleep over it.

Edit:
Just for future reference, Toyota tends to run the low side lower than many others, so if you ever feel a need to do a "from a can" charge, keep that in mind.

 

[bfrey64]

I take it the r134 is an oilly like substance. I know that the r410 is and r22, but I wasn't sure. I love my camry and feel like a did something really stupid yesterday. It was strange but I couldn't find the leak. They put dye in the system and told me to come back in 30 days. The dealership did right by me for sure. Thanks for the info. The oil was left before I went into the dealership. Does anyone know if the 2az camry has a high pressure blowoff valve? Where would it be located?
Thanks

 

[bfrey64]

It was normal before I charged it. Dumb mistake on my part, I may have done more damage then anything. Love my Toy, but I should have been patient and read up before doing anything.

 

[river_rat]

Not really the refrigerant you're seeing. Oil dissolves in refrigerant and stays behind after any refrigerant blows off and evaporates. It's normal, and unless you lost a huge amount of oil, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[bfrey64]

Do you know if the camry has a high pressure blow off valve? It was enough to make me clean it up with a paper towel. Not sure I just don't want my ac to seize on me. I guess it would make me feel better to know if the Camry has a blow off valve. Thanks

 

[Chris142]

the lowside guage on the can of R134a means nothing w/o a high side guage. When charging an AC system the low side pressures are pretty much ignored untill the system is full and diagnostics are being ran to determin the problem.

I wish they would stop putting those useless guages on the cans. It's just a gimmic.

I'm betting that you severly overcharged the system and it spit some out the high side blow off valve. When it spit it also spit some oil and thats the oil you are seeing.

 

[Chris142]

Originally Posted By: bfrey64
Do you know if the camry has a high pressure blow off valve? It was enough to make me clean it up with a paper towel. Not sure I just don't want my ac to seize on me. I guess it would make me feel better to know if the Camry has a blow off valve. Thanks
All automotive AC systems must have a pop off valve. It's the law.Hopefully yours resealed it's self. Often they don't and must be replaced.

 

[JimPghPA]

I am not 100 percent sure of this but years ago I heard that the charge cans from auto stores and places like wall-mart, include oil with the refrigerant in those cans. Supposedly when you loose refrigerant from a system such as the small amount that leaks out around the compressor shaft, you also loose oil. And if you only recharge with refrigerant (especially if you do it several times like several years in a row) then the the system can end up being low on oil.

So the do it your self cans include oil. If so you charged it with refrigerant and oil, and you saw some of the oil when you let both refrigerant and oil out later on. The refrigerant went into the atmosphere as a gas, and the oil collected on what ever was in the way, or what ever it fell on.

If it aint broke don't fix it. or as the GEICO lizard says FOORGEETABBOUTTIT.

 

[bfrey64]

I won't make this mistake twice!!! I think I will leave it to the pro's to service my AC. It was only an extra 40 dollars for the service. 40 dollars for a peace of mind!!! That's an easy answer!!!

 

[VicVinegar]

After getting a price for simply diagnosing and potentially recharging my A/C, I hope the pros are worth it. Looking at $250 just for that. Now I see why people just hook up a $5 can of R134. I was thinking it would be more like $150.

 

[mechtech2]

Why did they evacuate it?
Why not just let a bit of R134a out?

 

[antiqueshell]

Originally Posted By: VicVinegar
After getting a price for simply diagnosing and potentially recharging my A/C, I hope the pros are worth it. Looking at $250 just for that. Now I see why people just hook up a $5 can of R134. I was thinking it would be more like $150.


Worse than that is that today even IF you pay a good amount of money to have the job "professionally" done, you're just as likely to get a [censored] effort. Paying a professional is NO guarantee of quality work. I can personally vouch for this experience.

 

[VicVinegar]

Originally Posted By: antiqueshell
Originally Posted By: VicVinegar
After getting a price for simply diagnosing and potentially recharging my A/C, I hope the pros are worth it. Looking at $250 just for that. Now I see why people just hook up a $5 can of R134. I was thinking it would be more like $150.


Worse than that is that today even IF you pay a good amount of money to have the job "professionally" done, you're just as likely to get a [censored] effort. Paying a professional is NO guarantee of quality work. I can personally vouch for this experience.


True. This is why I am using a shop that is relatively expensive and not close to my house at this point. The two shops I used that were convenient both displayed incompetence and I had to move on. While expensive, this place hasn't messed anything up yet. There is a new one or two guy operation getting good reviews on Yelp though (not astroturfers) I might try for something small soon though.

Of coure this is also why I am trying to build courage start DIY'ing. I just wish I had someone to look over my shoulder the first time.

 

[bfrey64]

I went to my local toyota dealership it cost me 90 dollars plus tax. If you think about it, a can of r134 cost 10 dollars, a gauge is 20 dollars. So if you are planning on doing it yourself it will cost you about 40 dollars. I would rather pay the dealership the extra $50 dollars for peace of mind. Also the gauges are not meant for all types of engines. Toyota run lean compared to other pressures between 17psi and 25psi. It makes sense on what happened to me, I assumed something based on a bottle rather then my OEM repair guide. Courage is great, but not at the cost of means of transpiration in 95 degree weather in PA.

I also wanted them to evacuate the system to run a vacuum to make sure there was no moisture present in the system. $5 can of r134 plus my mistake = 1200 to 2000 dollar repair. All of my friends who are in the HVAC business all run a vacuum prior to installing refrigerant. Moisture plus R134 equals acid, plus no AC. I have done a lot to my car but this should be left to the pro's or someone who has a lot of experience.

 

[wtd]

This is why I learned how to do Auto AC stuff myself. This is not hard stuff to learn and the initial cost of the basic tools are not that bad. I have saved myself and others, $1,000's of dollars by doing it myself. I also know that it is done right which I doubt most places do.

Those one in all charge cans from the parts stores can do more harm than good and I won't use them anymore.

Wayne