in a perfect world you should never have to add refrigerant. With that said most leak about 1 oz per year. whenthey get about 5 oz low ac performance suffers.
adding freon just for the season?
- Thread starter The motor guy
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If the system still has pressure inside, no moisture will enter.
Very good post Chris…
I just added 7 ozs to my 2010 Honda r134a.
It worked last year and this year but it was weak to a degree. Not anymore after adding that 7 ozs.
People go and add a whole can 12 ozs and or another can Willy nilly can easily over pressurize their system. Which happens a whole lot I bet.
I can get R-12A in 6 oz cans and I believe someone posted R134A at Walmart in 9 oz cans. It is amazing what 6 oz or so can do when you are on the cusp of being fully charged.
it depends. my montero is still on all original a/c parts, and my dad's truck made it 15 years before an a/c line cracked
but yeah, 8-10 years is when stuff usually starts to break
Not uncommon on some F150s and expeditions. Pre 15's (later on Expedition) have no cabin filters. I think the grit eventually does them in. Ford calls for the entire box to be replaced (not such a bad idea considering a $10 temp sensor has no aftermarket).
The 10th gen Honda Civics, '16-'21, are notorious for failing AC systems. They extended the warranty on both the condenser and compressor seal, but it's often the (expensive to replace) evaporator that fails.
My '17 started blowing warm after five years. Paid a LOT of money to have it recharged w/dye. Now, it's starting to get weak again. Not failed, yet, but less than "cold". I've got a UV light, and will try to look for leaks, but so far, I can't see any. Maybe the evaporator, which I can't inspect. Anyway, when it fails next time, and if I can't find the leak, I'll just throw some more refrigerant into the system. I've already bought it. Question is whether it's worth the effort to do a full evac and recharge? We'll see when I get there...
My '17 started blowing warm after five years. Paid a LOT of money to have it recharged w/dye. Now, it's starting to get weak again. Not failed, yet, but less than "cold". I've got a UV light, and will try to look for leaks, but so far, I can't see any. Maybe the evaporator, which I can't inspect. Anyway, when it fails next time, and if I can't find the leak, I'll just throw some more refrigerant into the system. I've already bought it. Question is whether it's worth the effort to do a full evac and recharge? We'll see when I get there...
Both the HAH and the Forester have needed AC repairs, both due to condenser leaks and both fixed free under warranty extensions from their makers.
Nice when the manufacturer owns up to an issue and makes it right.
Having written the above, if I had a leaky system and could limp it through the warmer months with an under ten buck can of R134A, I'd do it.
Nice when the manufacturer owns up to an issue and makes it right.
Having written the above, if I had a leaky system and could limp it through the warmer months with an under ten buck can of R134A, I'd do it.
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I may just do that. I'll have to look and see how to do it. I watched a friend of mine years ago donit and he kept the can upside down the whole time and would move it in a stiring motion if that makes sense. I think he said it keeps it from sucking air in, but can't totally remember the reason why. He's really smart and does stuff for the government fixing their emergency communications systems and such.
There is positive pressure so no risk of sucking in air.
Add gas slowly until a temperature of 50F or so is reached on the center dash outlets and don't get carried away with the thought that if some is good more must be better.
This is to prevent overfilling the system to dangerously high pressure.
I've done this a time or two with no problems down the road, but I have neither a manifold gauge set nor any HVAC training, so you might want to research this a little further.
Youtube might be useful for this.
this is fine as long as the low side port isn't close to the compressor. if you do this you can feed liquid into the compressor (designed for gas) and break reed valves.
Every time you put a hose on a can, you have to blow its volume of air (and moisture) out. I can't imagine anyone doing that perfectly, so every time you charge your system a little "not good" gets in.
There's a dryer that's supposed to help with this-- how much, who knows.
We do a lot of AC work and if I had to throw a guess out there it would be that more than half we see are leaking at the schrader valves (charging ports) and the rest are bad compressors. We have done 6 compressors just this week. Then there's always the fun temp actuators up in the dash lol.
Bring it to a place that knows what they are doing and get it fixed.
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But yet they have shelves full of it at any auto parts store
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It isn't rocket science
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Maybe some vehicle systems are better than others? I would think they're all basically the same
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I didn't see an oring on the cap.
I was referring to the actual schrader valve itself - the part that seals the line under the cap. They have small o-rings but most caps have seals as well as a small back up
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I added some freon. Took a whole can which was half of what the system holds. Holds 1 lb 14oz