Added R-134A to AC. Now just blowing hot air???

[BAJA_05]

Just added another can of R-134A to the Acura in signature. Was blowing nice cold air but my gauge when attached to the lower port was in the middle of the green. After I added the can, now its blowing nothing but hot air? Can adding too much be detrimental? Do I need to get it purged now?

 

[mattd]

Over charging can certainly cause issues, mainly high pressure which will prevent operation. This is why you need both high and low side gauge set.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Why did you add anything when it was in green and blowing cold air?

And yes, if it's overcharged, there is a high pressure cutoff switch that disables the AC.

 

[demarpaint]

Over charging can certainly cause issues, mainly high pressure which will prevent operation. This is why you need both high and low side gauge set.

+1 Overcharging can also cause damage depending upon how much overcharged the system is.

 

[BAJA_05]

How do I go about restoring it?

 

[Warstud]

It should have been purged before adding R-134

 

[RooflessVW]

How do I go about restoring it?

Draw the system down properly, apply a hard vacuum, verify that the vacuum holds, then charge with the correct amount of refrigerant.

 

[Astro14]

It should have been purged before adding R-134

It was in the middle of the green. It didn’t need purging, and it didn’t need more refrigerant. OP, the legal way to fix this is have a shop remove some Freon via their recovery machine.

 

[demarpaint]

How do I go about restoring it?

Take it to a shop that has a recovery tank. Let them properly evacuate the system and recover the refrigerant, pull vacuum and check for leaks. Then charge the system by weight.

 

[RooflessVW]

It was in the middle of the green. It didn’t need purging, and it didn’t need more refrigerant. OP, the legal way to fix this is have a shop remove some Freon via their recovery machine.

They have to remove it all because the system is currently charged with an unknown quantity.

 

[mk378]

How do I go about restoring it?

Have a shop with a charging machine remove all the refrigerant and refill with the proper amount by weight. The amount should be on a sticker under the hood.

Many modern cars use less than 16 oz total, so one can is a huge amount.

 

[Warstud]

It was in the middle of the green. It didn’t need purging, and it didn’t need more refrigerant. OP, the legal way to fix this is have a shop remove some Freon via their recovery machine.

The proper way is to purge all refrigerant and moisture from the system and start from scratch . Those cans of R-134 with a hose and guage they sell at Autozone dont work for modern cars

 

[JHZR2]

How do I go about restoring it?

You messed up. If there’s a leak, you need to, by law, find it and repair it.

Go to a proper shop, have them evacuate it, find the leak, fix it, and refill by mass.

Release of refrigerant to the ambient is illegal.

 

[mattd]

You’ll have to start from scratch by having someone with a recovery machine draw the system empty and vacuum the system down and recharge to the proper amount.

 

[spasm3]

More is not better with refrigerant.
Best way is by weight. Second best is to know high and low side pressures and stick a vent thermometer and see what the temp of the vent air is( a/c on hi recirc on). 38-45 f , leave it alone.

 

[Astro14]

They have to remove it all because the system is currently charged with an unknown quantity.

Yes. You’re right.

I didn’t really say it properly- a risk of trying to post quickly.

Yes - recover and recharge to get the weight right. Should check for leaks while in the process.

 

[Chris142]

The proper amount of r134a is critical. Just a couple ounces either over or undercharged and it won't work. This is why the guage on a bottle is a scam. You need to know the high side pressure.

 

[BAJA_05]

Made an appointment today after work at the local garage. Going to hook it up to there machine tomorrow and let it do its thing. I learned something from this experience and thanks for all the feedback. Much appreciated!!!!

 

[KrisZ]

Your system needs to develop a temporary leak that will fix itself once the pressure is back to normal.

Having said that, since you just added a whole can of refrigerant blindly, I highly doubt you will get the pressure correctly anyways. So it's probably best for an AC shop to handle this.

 

[Exhaustgases]

And many times a bunch of air can be added if the hose your using hasn't been purged first.
You tried to fix something that was not broke. Now you get to pony up $300. that is what it costs here.
Hope they change the valves in the test ports. They may now find other things that need to be changed as well.
Like going to school and paying out the big $ for only 2 minutes of lessons