AC recharge, clutch not engaging

[Foxmxrcer]

ok, well, a month or 2 ago my car didnt have AC, because it was out of coolant. So i ripped off my AC for fun (got bored) to loose some weight and make it look cleaner. My mom got me (w/o my permission!) a 134a recharge kit to swap mine over from R12. So i put everything back on, double checked all my hookups, and hooked a can up to the service port. (i had my AC on full and stuff), and my clutch wouldnt engage, and I know when its low on pressure...it wont. So i filled it up to about 44PSI which is what the can said to fill it to max. The car says the AC can take 38oz, one can is 12 oz, i didnt even get through half a can! So, what gives?

[Foxmxrcer]

The compressor is getting about .15 volts when AC is turned on, but when i hotwire the compressor to ground and hot, itll spin fine, but it clicks....

[allmotor]

ac will NOT come on unless it is fully charged. also you needed to have the system evacuated, and hold a vacuum. then you need to change over the oils in they system... plus, you are in volation of federal laws by servicing the system without federal license.

[johnnyfive]

the a/c compressor should kick on once the low pressure switch is taken care of. I think around 15-20 psi on the low side is enough that will allow you to charge the system fully (once you figure out why the compressor not getting power check all the switches to make sure they are fine). Also did you have the system evacuated before you put R134 in?

[Foxmxrcer]

allmotor..lets just say i have a license... Besides, how could i have purchased this stuff from a local store w/o one? isnt something wrong there? haha. Now, to loose my masculinity, i read the instructions...haha. and it didnt say anything about putting a vacuum in the system. Although I do know its supposed to be about 30psi of vacuum if i remember correctly. The refridgerant im using is an oil/refridgerant all in one, so what oil is needed to be changed? Also, the reason for the clutch to be clicking? Is the clutch going bad? or is it just because it was low on pressure?

[allmotor]

dude, if you have NO clue what you are doing, get a flipping book. why should people on the internet waste their time GIVING your step by step instructions, when it's already been written a gazillion times. hell do an internet search on the proper proceedure for replenishing your system... then YOU can have all the answers/

your clutch is cycling because pressure is not high enough

you can buy the stuff but if you read the directions, it'll state that it can only be installed by a licensened professionall. I'm sure glad in my state the average TD clueless hack mechanic cannot buy R134a w/o a license.

BTW if you actually had a license, you wouldn't be asking this question.

[Foxmxrcer]

allmotor, i appreciate all the help that i can get from fellow TD people. But I dont appreciate a smart a** like yourself. If you dont want to help someone other then yourself, then just shutup and go to the next thread, its that simple, isnt it? But no, you have to be a **** about everything, even when i was using sarcasm (but ill let that slide due to its online and you cant tell the difference most of the time). And as far as people online "wasteing their time" , I hate to inform you, but you wasted a good couple of minutes typing up all that ******** just to be a ****. For another thing, i do not like other people working on my car, so the most that I can do, I will, or atleast attempt, and If I cant do it, I go to this great forum which is filled with answer and KIND words of advice, but thanks to you, I probablly wont ask as many question on this site anymore because of people like you not keeping to themselfs. all you had to say was "the clutch is clicking because its cycling due to not enough pressure, oh, and just a side note, its not legal for you to do this, so you should get a professional to do it" .... I hate it when at the end of the day, im in a good mood, then a **** like you ruins it.

[Turbo Joe]

foxmx, this is your first and last verbal warning. Keep the profanity down to a minimum. Also, there is nothing wrong with asking questions. Thats one way of learning. When it comes to a/c, it would be highly suggested to have a manual handy to referance.

[Foxmxrcer]

turbojoe, thanks for just a warning, i got a lil mad. But I cant help it when people would rather be a jerk then help, let alone not just say nothing at all. NORMALY there is nothing wrong with asking questions until someone like allmotor steps in, when he didnt have to. Also I would like to note to allmotor, that its illegal to threaten a minor (your pm). And I know that manuals are always good to have handy, but in my case, since no1 is practicly home in my house, I cant get out to get one, and i only have a permit, so i cant drive myself, thus I use the message boards. If i run into troubles, i normaly have my friends, but none of them are expirienced with AC, thus, I asked on here.

[bluneon]

just to let you know, allmotor is correct if you wish to have a properly operating A/C system. not a hacked up one.

i don't have any certification in A/C systems, yet i was able to get mine fixed. you are probably wondering how i went about doing this; i searched the internet and asked friends of mine who are mechanics (with certs no less!) before i jumped in head first into all of this.

one part mainly that you will have to replace no matter what is the reciever/drier. this contains stuff what abosorbs water from the atmosphere. any time you have it exposed to the atmosphere you are depleting it's efficiancy, just like exposing brake fluid to the atmosphere.

the reason for the vacuuming is to determine if the system is capable of holding charge. if the system is able to hold a vacuum, then it's certain that it will hold a charge. if the system leaks under vacuum, what do you think it'll do once you pressurize the lines? holding vac also helps to boil off any remaining moisture held inside the drier. if the system doesn't hold a vacuum then there's not point in charging the system.....and this leads to the next paragraph..

the reason for proper evacuation is because it's a federal offence to discharge any refridgerant into the atmpsphere. you can only do this with proper equipment; namely an A/C machine.

the couplers used on the on-the-shelf recharge kits are pretty much worthless. the couplers on AC machines seal the best. you will also need yellow goggles and a UV light to trace any leaks that you might have.

the genaric recharge kits also might come with stop leak type stuff premixed into the charge. avoid these at all costs. once you inject your system with this stuff you will have to either flush out your entire system OR replace every single componant if you ever want your system to work properly. this crap clogs up a/c machines and replacing a machine isn't cheap. the better machines can check for contamination automatically before evacuating. pretty much every AC recharge place with NOT help you out if they determine that you had this stuff in your system.

any more question?

search.

[PTT]

After nearly 35 years of getting ripped off for repair work of ALL kinds I decided at the age of 50 to DIY. So I was actually in Foxmxrcer's position basically just a little older and possibly wiser when it came to Auto/AC repair. The old saying stands true that failure is learned from experience and experience is earned from failure or something like that? There's only one way to approach AC repair and thats the right way....no short cuts. I've caught all kinds of grief on other boards for my preferrence for Envirosafe-12 HC refridgerants. And to a man the verbal abusers were AC shop owners! I wanted to use something (HC's) that the shop owners consider bad for their business. When applied correctly it's an all around better product for your AC system AND your wallet! But my point is actually this, If your going to do your own repairs...get in the habit of doing it correctly the first time around and use the best parts you can afford. The cost of OEM parts only hurt once! And it shouldn't be that hard to just help an inquiring board member or just let someone else if you don't agree with them. The verbal abuse is totally unnecessary an unacceptable by anyone...right moderators? Let's all play nice!

[speedyshelby16]

I hate to get involved. But blue neon is right on the drier. It should be replace since they go bad real fast if exposed to open air. Second in the state of wisconsin it is illegal to own any freon if don't have a license or work on any system without one too. Allmotor is from wisconsin also never meet in person but meet a friend of his. I'm license in the state of wisconsin to work on moble A/C systems. After tring using these recharge system myself the big machine is best bet. Even if you could get a shop to put a vac on it for you recharge yourself.


Now what the pressure gauge read when the car is off?

[lotashelbys]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PTT The verbal abuse is totally unnecessary an unacceptable by anyone...right moderators? Let's all play nice!

That is 100% correct. Just think about how nice this board would be if EVERYONE could get along. If everyone could just help each other we all would be that much better off and we could get back to more important things like our TD cars

Im my experience with A/C(which Im not legally supposed to be doing being from WI also and not having a license,but have a buddy that does it and he taught me a thing or two about it) Blueneon has some great info in his post. I would read over what he said. I would get a new filter/drier for sure and see if you can get someone that does A/C to evac your system. Then you could put the 134 back in yourself if you really want to. What I do when I wanna get mine done is get all new gaskets and a new drier and have my buddy evac it and install new refrigerant. He charges me 10 bucks for the evac and 12 bucks a pound for the 134. It usally takes about 2-2.5 lbs to fill the system.

[TIMZ Z]

I'm sorry but I can't resist, I have to reply to this thread. The next few sentences will absolutley have no value to any of you except for those of you who feel the same way I do. WHO CARES ABOUT RELEASING R12 OR R134 IN THE ATMOSPERE! The federal government can kiss my fat booty. I'd like to see them come up to my door step and do anything about it. The amount of refridgerant released ain't gonna do a darn thing to the environment. The EPA is nothing more than a bunch of tree hugging hippiees that enjoy destroying capitalism and sweating to death in there non A/C vehicles and homes. And they want to force you to live their miserable lifestyle as well. They are solely responsible for high energy costs. For fun I like to NOT recycle, work on my A/C without a lisence, burn my Christmas tree in my driveway, crush and break styrofoam peanuts and packing materials and remove my catalytic converter, egr valve and any enviromental control devices from my car. There, I think I'm finished.

Now back to Foxmxrcer and his A/C issues.

[Turbo Joe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TIMZ Z I'm sorry but I can't resist, I have to reply to this thread. The next few sentences will absolutley have no value to any of you except for those of you who feel the same way I do. WHO CARES ABOUT RELEASING R12 OR R134 IN THE ATMOSPERE! The federal government can kiss my fat booty. I'd like to see them come up to my door step and do anything about it. The amount of refridgerant released ain't gonna do a darn thing to the environment. The EPA is nothing more than a bunch of tree hugging hippiees that enjoy destroying capitalism and sweating to death in there non A/C vehicles and homes. And they want to force you to live their miserable lifestyle as well. They are solely responsible for high energy costs. For fun I like to NOT recycle, work on my A/C without a lisence, burn my Christmas tree in my driveway, crush and break styrofoam peanuts and packing materials and remove my catalytic converter, egr valve and any enviromental control devices from my car. There, I think I'm finished. Now back to Foxmxrcer and his A/C issues.

well, don't hold back now.. just let it all out! anyhow, yes it's a federal offence to release freon into the atmosphere. Why? because freon damages the ozone. In Ma. anyone can by R-134a. R12 is still availible but really expencive!! I believe for R12 you need a licence now..