zman4011

2001 Honda Civic EX:

My A/C has been blowing warm air for quite some time. It's not a problem as I live in the Bay Area where its generally cool. But as I now drive for work to hotter environs its time to fix it it. Its started to blow warm air right around the time I pulled a piece of wood that was lodged in the condenser. It doesn't look like there is a break but its mangled enough to assume there is a leak. All the places I've called quoted me at about $150+ just to fill and check for a leak. That seems like a lot to me considering I can just replace the condenser for less than that. I was thinking about first just doing a recharge with one of those kits from autozone first in the off chance it just needs a recharge and hopefully find one with some kind of dye to find the leak. Anyone have any recommendations as to which one (I know....one with a guage) or any other insight or berating advice?

sl33pyriceboi

iTrader: (3)

i will give you my advise and you can take it for whatever its worth.


let me tell you a little about how i learned AC:


back in '10 i recharged the AC myself (and i would recharge/decharge it about once a year myself with those "kits" you buy at autozone)

good idea to recharge ur AC yourself right? WRONG.

the reason why you dont want to is because every time u hook up that "kit" hose, you inject a small amount of air into ur AC system (the air coming the vacant space in the tube)

and when you have air in your AC system, you could freeze/seize you compressor or build up small ice particles.

i didnt know that so one summer in vegas (it was 110 degrees) and i over worked my AC. it so happens that i froze/seized my compressor which led to a $1200 fix.

sl33pyriceboi

iTrader: (3)

so ur prob wondering "how does a pro recharge the AC then?"

well, what they do is they vacuums everything out of ur AC (all the old R134 refrigerant and all air thats in there) and then they pump pure R134 in there)

sl33pyriceboi

iTrader: (3)

so what do i suggest?

option1: test it yourself. buy a recharge kit (around $30) and pump it in (this is only going to be temporary). see if you have any leaks. if you have a leak, you will hear or see the R134 going out.... or you can check the pressure a few days later with the gauge that is included in the kit.

if you have NO leaks, take it to a professional AC shop and have then vacuums out everything in there and recharge up refrigerant

if you HAVE leaks...well, now u know u have leaks and you saved yourself the $150 inspection. you should be able to have them directly "fix it"

option 2: just take it straight to the place and ask them to work on it from the get go. tell them it doesnt blow cold air, and it needs to be fix. usually they will KNOW if you just need a recharge or a full blow replacement of something.

sl33pyriceboi

iTrader: (3)

i would also advise you to act quick. summer is around the corner. AC shops will charge you much more in the summer to do ur basic recharge job cuz they know people are more dependent on their Ac in the summer.

ezone

if you have NO leaks, take it to a professional AC shop and have then vacuums out everything in there and recharge up refrigerant

Um, if there were no leaks, we wouldn't be having this conversation. Or would we?
There are many other reasons for an air conditioner to stop working too. It isn't always just low on Freon. Plenty of electrical issues.



if you HAVE leaks...well, now u know u have leaks and you saved yourself the $150 inspection. you should be able to have them directly "fix it"

At most decent shops: No guarantees unless the shop diagnoses it. We MIGHT do what you request, but if your guess doesn't work then it is not our responsibility.
Then you pay for proper diag.

But

If you already KNOW there is a hole in the condensor, then I would certainly have the shop replace it before doing anything else.
This should be a no-brainer.

Then if the system can't hold a vacuum during the evacuation procedure, we do a proper leak check.
(5 or 10 minutes under a deep vacuum without any loss means there should not be a major leak. Could be very minor leaks though. This is only used to determine if it is safe to recharge the system.)
If it DOES hold the vacuum, then we assume it is ok to recharge.

option 2: just take it straight to the place and ask them to work on it from the get go. tell them it doesnt blow cold air, and it needs to be fix. usually they will KNOW if you just need a recharge or a full blow replacement of something.


rant
Only if you get someone that knows WTF they are doing. Plenty of "techs" out there that can't do anything BUT recharge the AC, and God help you if it is a wiring, control head, or MICU problem. You can waste a metric ton of money with the wrong mechanic.
I have even seen where some unscrupulous shop or tech STOLE the freon out of a system to make the "customer" return and donate money again. Usually on elderly people, and done in the cold season so they won't realize it doesn't work until much much later.
/rant.

Sometimes, the cause of freon loss isn't found during a check.
If a leak is too slow for a sniffer to register on, we load the system with UV Dye, recharge it, and have you drive it for a week or two or until it quits again. THEN the leaking spot should be noticeable when viewed under a blacklight.
Yes, this is extremely common.

HTH

MartinSigsworth

the reason why you don't want to is because every time u hook up that "kit" hose, you inject a small amount of air into ur AC system (the air coming, the vacant space in the tube)

That's why the canister needs to be inverted when the regulator is above the canister the contents will be ejected out as a gas. When the regulator is below the canister the contents is liquid. Therefore if done correctly there will be no air in the system as the air rises above the liquid.

Well, that was the theory when I was repairing fridges same basic principle.