Ac overfill/blowout

[HyundaiAbuser]

Preface this with stating I do not know a whole lot about the air conditioning systems in vehicles, but when a buddy of mine asked if I wanted to armchair quarterback his ac work i felt like it'd be a good show. He has a 2009 impala and his compressor was not kicking/staying on with, "the ac button would blink 6 times or turn itself on or off." Long story short he jumped the compressor relay, hooked up an acpro can and I got to watch as something gave out in this system. A giant hissing cloud of what I assume is r134a rose from in front of the engine and I'm assuming it was due to an overfill blowing a hose or something of that nature out.

Afterward this whole ordeal there was a tiny puddle of green ac dyed oil on the ground underneath his vehicle and the low pressure fitting still had pressure.

Now I have my speculation, but I'm wondering if someone with more knowledge than I could impart some knowledge onto me?

 

[Rand]

Take to pro., consider that knowledge imparted

usually jumpering and using fix a car in a can causes massive issues.. sooner.. or later.

 

[Lubener]

Now is the time to take the car to a qualified a/c person before any additional damage takes place. He probably cost himself a lot more additional money to get his system back up working again.

 

[clinebarger]

The compressor has a mechanical pressure blow-off valve, Takes around 400 psi for it to pop off.

 

[RoadDukie]

The compressor has a mechanical pressure blow-off valve, Takes around 400 psi for it to pop off.

Perfect response!

(My favorite movie BTW)

 

[nthach]

Mistake one - AC Pro. That ish will contaminate a recovery/recycling machine. That stuff’s only for cars whose last stop is the junkyard. Now at this point in time, he’s looking at an entirely new AC system.

This is a job for a pro unless you have experience in HVAC and a set of manifold gauges, vacuum pump and other things.

 

[Snowflake White]

Mistake one - AC Pro. That ish will contaminate a recovery/recycling machine. That stuff’s only for cars whose last stop is the junkyard. Now at this point in time, he’s looking at an entirely new AC system.

This is a job for a pro unless you have experience in HVAC and a set of manifold gauges, vacuum pump and other things.

This!!! Times a billion!

If you are going to attempt to recharge your AC system you ONLY want to use PURE r134 refrigerant with NO leak stops, sealers, or related, the only other thing that should be put into your system on ANY car is the correct PAG oil required to keep the compressor oiled.

FOLKS STOP AND THINK...AND IF YOU DO NOT KNOW THE ANSWER GO TO A PROFESSIONAL WHO KNOWS!

Many shops will simply refuse to work on cars where sealers and leak stop for AC have been used, their machine will tell them the system is contaminated, and these computer controlled AC machines pros use will mostly refuse to service contaminated systems to keep the shop unit from being damaged!

 

[bbhero]

Great, great post here ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

[Chris142]

If you were closer I could pressure test it. If ok add oil that you blew out then charge it correctly. Only then can we diagnose any problems.

 

[nthach]

This!!! Times a billion!

If you are going to attempt to recharge your AC system you ONLY want to use PURE r134 refrigerant with NO leak stops, sealers, or related, the only other thing that should be put into your system on ANY car is the correct PAG oil required to keep the compressor oiled.

FOLKS STOP AND THINK...AND IF YOU DO NOT KNOW THE ANSWER GO TO A PROFESSIONAL WHO KNOWS!

Many shops will simply refuse to work on cars where sealers and leak stop for AC have been used, their machine will tell them the system is contaminated, and these computer controlled AC machines pros use will mostly refuse to service contaminated systems to keep the shop unit from being damaged!

One addition - xEVs(hybrids and battery electric) use a hermetically-sealed compressor much like the ones used in HVAC and refrigeration. In those cases, only the OEM specified or “hybrid-specific” POE oil is to used. Even a small amount of PAG oil will cause major problems.

 

[StillLearning]

I have successfully recharged the cooling systems on a '95 Bonneville and a '04 TL using the "EZ Chill" R-134a w/oil from Walmart with good results. Using the low pressure port and the gage that comes with it you can pretty clearly see if the pressure is low (or high) and as you add you can observe the compressor beginning to stay engaged for longer periods of time. For $20 and 20 minutes worth of my time I thought it was a good investment into older cars that probably weren't worth putting hundreds in to the A/C systems. They were older cars and I would have still just had a car without working A/C if it didn't work out, as in what the OP observed.

I will say it was really only a temporary fix, as there were obviously leaks in the system allowing the refrigerant to leak out to begin with. I ended up having to do it almost annually for the last few years I owned both of them. The Bonneville had over 220k miles and was still blowing cold A/C when the g/f totaled it and the Acura was traded with over 180k miles and the A/C was still blowing cold.

Edit: Took a closer look at the EZ Chill can and it did indeed have "System Safe Leak Sealer" on the label. Removed wording that said it did not contain leak sealer.