For the last few years, the 96 Saturn's A/C has been so-so in warm weather. About a year ago, I decided to try recharging the A/C in hopes of making it blow colder.
So I bought one of those DIY A/C recharge kits by Interdynamics. It was a 19oz can of refrigerant, oil and leak-sealer with a built-in hose. I added about 1/3 of the can (5-6 ounces) and the low-pressure reading only increased by 1 psi. The air conditioning did work a bit better, but not much. I decided that it wasn't worth the risk.
Last week, it was getting a bit hot. Frustrated, I called my mechanic and asked him if I could use his A/C machine. I gave him $40 in cash, and he allowed me to use his machine for an hour.
Here's what I did:
1. Evacuated the system. I recovered 1.06 lbs of R-134A. If you do not count the 5-6 ounces that I added last year, my system lost about 50% of its charge (12 ounces) over the course of 14 years.
2. Vacuumed the system for 15 minutes to remove any moisture. The system had never been opened before, so I didn't think I would have any moisture. However, I did the vacuum just to be safe-- it can't hurt. I was able to draw a vacuum to -25+ degrees.
3. Charged the system with 1.5 pounds of R-134A.
4. Equalized the pressure in the hoses. On a SPX/RobinAir machine, this means that you start the car and tell the machine to allow the A/C system to suck out any refrigerant left in the A/C machine's lines. This allows for a maximum charge as sometimes there is a lot of refrigerant left in the lines of the machine.
Did I do this correctly?
After this was all done, I used an infrared thermometer to measure the outlet temperature. On a humid 80F day, the vent temperature was showing between 29-31F with the fan on 4 (max) and the system set to recirculate. I was also stuck in traffic yesterday and the outside temperature was 105F. With the system set to recirculate and the fan speed set to 4, the air was still fairly cold.
In conclusion, I think having your system recharged with an A/C machine is the ONLY correct way to achieve maximum A/C performance. Without the machine, you cannot charge your system with the correct (or ideal) amount of refrigerant. I highly recommend that anyone who is not satisfied with their A/C system's performance to take their car into a shop to have the system professionally recharged. I think you'll be very satisfied with the results.
So I bought one of those DIY A/C recharge kits by Interdynamics. It was a 19oz can of refrigerant, oil and leak-sealer with a built-in hose. I added about 1/3 of the can (5-6 ounces) and the low-pressure reading only increased by 1 psi. The air conditioning did work a bit better, but not much. I decided that it wasn't worth the risk.
Last week, it was getting a bit hot. Frustrated, I called my mechanic and asked him if I could use his A/C machine. I gave him $40 in cash, and he allowed me to use his machine for an hour.
Here's what I did:
1. Evacuated the system. I recovered 1.06 lbs of R-134A. If you do not count the 5-6 ounces that I added last year, my system lost about 50% of its charge (12 ounces) over the course of 14 years.
2. Vacuumed the system for 15 minutes to remove any moisture. The system had never been opened before, so I didn't think I would have any moisture. However, I did the vacuum just to be safe-- it can't hurt. I was able to draw a vacuum to -25+ degrees.
3. Charged the system with 1.5 pounds of R-134A.
4. Equalized the pressure in the hoses. On a SPX/RobinAir machine, this means that you start the car and tell the machine to allow the A/C system to suck out any refrigerant left in the A/C machine's lines. This allows for a maximum charge as sometimes there is a lot of refrigerant left in the lines of the machine.
Did I do this correctly?
After this was all done, I used an infrared thermometer to measure the outlet temperature. On a humid 80F day, the vent temperature was showing between 29-31F with the fan on 4 (max) and the system set to recirculate. I was also stuck in traffic yesterday and the outside temperature was 105F. With the system set to recirculate and the fan speed set to 4, the air was still fairly cold.
In conclusion, I think having your system recharged with an A/C machine is the ONLY correct way to achieve maximum A/C performance. Without the machine, you cannot charge your system with the correct (or ideal) amount of refrigerant. I highly recommend that anyone who is not satisfied with their A/C system's performance to take their car into a shop to have the system professionally recharged. I think you'll be very satisfied with the results.