My A/C has been down for months and with the heat going crazy outside I decided to get it refilled. I got the refill kit. It came with a can of freon, pressure gauge, and the hose. So I did as the instruction told me. It worked when I first loaded the gas up but after a day it stopped blowing cold air. Has anyone ever used this type of "do it yourself" refilling kit?

The gauge has basically 4 reading zones: green, yellow, blue, and red. It says to refill up to the yellow zone. When I plugged the gauge back in to see if the gas has leaked after it stopped blowing cold air the gauge read in the red zone! Any clue anyone?

Perhaps its clogged somewhere?

 

I would bet you have a leak...check to see.

 

a big *** leak. time for some dye and a vist to a shop of your choice.

 

I just refilled my system a month ago as well to find that it won't blow cold anymore...damn leak!

Now, what do I do... find the leak somehow...get rid of the whole A/C...or just refill it everytime I need to take a long trip in hot Cali weather.

This sucks!

Edit: They even tried looking for leaks with a dye before the refill...but I guess it's a pretty small leak. Had me going for a while...

 

if the dye did not show it. it might ba a vapor leak in the evaporator. or the tech is a shitty detective. just letting it leak seems like a waste

 

Tell me about it...I'm gonna go back and have him look for the leak more carefully.

What's a common area for these "small" leaks. Is the evaporator the black can near the battery? And how common would it be for the compressor to leak even though it still works...(when there's freon in the system of course)

 

evapoorator is in the car next to the heater core. the freon changes states there thus its name. sometimes they will have a small vapor leak in them. look at the drain tube check for dye. the can is the reciver drier. you can look through the sight glass and see if it is cloudy, contaminated ,air water etc.. the condensor is in front of the radiator. sometimes they leak from the welds but not as common. and yes the compressor can leak from any joint onn it and work. does it tick or knok when it's running?

 

Okay guys, he said that the gauge now reads in the "red zone" On the kits that I've seen the "red zone" means that there is too much in there.

Maybe when you filled it you put too much in. If it was in the yellow when kinda warm out it might be in the red on a hotter day. Having too much refrigerant in the system can make it blow hot air too. I think that maybe you should let a little out, until it reads in the blue on the gauge. Make sure that you are checking it with the car running and the ac on high.

 

Thanks, I'll make sure he checks all those areas...

 

Anyone ever try those cans of leak stop? did it work?

 

that was my initial guess as well, i put in the freon while the engine was on and had the AC running for 5 minutes prior to putting the freon in. I followed the directions well and it was working like a charm. I do remember seeing that the red zone is if there is too much freon. I guess I'll try to bleed it some how to put it back to "correct zone"

any other ideas?

 

I've been noticing a ticking sound even without the AC on which was odd, its a small suttle ticking sound though. Could this mean a leak in the compressor?

 

well the freon can on mine said "Stops Leaks" and apparently i guess its doing such a good job that I'm in the red zone now on the gauge...

I'm beginning to think that there is a clog somewhere since its supposed to get rid of leaks...

 

what will also be a good way to bleed the system, if evne possible. Would it be the other nipple right next to the one that I used to refill the freon? (right under the intake pipes)

 

The normal stop leak is just an oil additive that is supposed to expand dried o-rings. I wouldn't be worried unless you put some of the other kind of stop leak in.

 

I bought a Freeze 12 kit on ebay a few weeks ago and its coming in tomorrow...it has the freon cans, oil and leak stop. Should i put in the oil?


My AC i know for a fact has a leak because i had it recharged at mazda and a few months/years (i forgot)later, i turn on the AC and i could see like white vapors coming outta the vents haha. and then it no longer blew cold air out.