jahfari

Does anybody know the approximate quantities of R134a and compressor oil to add to the A/C system?

The workshop manual said around 14oz of R134a and about 2 oz of PAG 46 oil (DENSO 8 oil), but I read in a forum that someone took their car in to have it recharged and the A/C system took about 2lbs 2oz of coolant and oil.

rotarygod

Just stick to that manual. You can't go wrong that way.

Are you going to completely flush the a/c system before you add? Merely pulling the freon out and putting a vacuum on it doesn't get the oil out. I have a general rule when I do a/c work and that is if anything in the system needs replacing, everything comes out, gets cleaned, and inspected. If you had a compressor go out, just bite the bullet and replace the entire system. Metal shavings get into everything and will ultimately kill the system again. If your only issue was that freon leaked out somewhere and nothing in the system died, fix the leak and then just add freon. Don't keep installing more oil.

jahfari

thanks for the tip RG!

TrochoidMagic

did you lose freon due to leak?

assuming all else is fine, i would recommend getting some leak detector dye and a black light just for save measure.

jahfari

No actually, a thin sheet metal sign flipped up off the road and sliced through my undertray, and front spoiler, and right into my condenser, causing most if not all of the R134a to leak out. Sucks ***.

Needless to say I have now ordered the Racing Beat screens and will install them so that I have a little better protection in case this happens again.

I need a full recharge of the system.

rotarygod

If that's all it was just replace the condenser and add freon again. You'll be good to go. If the compressor ever goes, plan on spending the big bucks on everything else.

jahfari

rotarygod, glad to hear it should be an easy A/C job (for the most part). So your saying I don't have to worry about adding any compressor oil?

Also, would it be a good idea to vacuum down the lines before adding freon? I capped the line fittings to the condenser after I took it off, to minimize the amount of moisture in the system, not sure if that was enough to keep out the humid florida air though.

EDZRIDE

iTrader: (1)

Vacuuming will remove the moisture from the system so I highly recommend it.

As for the oil question; that type of freon loss took some oil with it. You will need to figure out how much oil is retained by the various components (The manual isn't very clear on this) and add as appropriate.

peterp

Ugh. I just got my car back from the dealership to try and diagnose a squeaking noise and they say the compressor is going bad.

What does "everything else" entail? Compressor, lines, dryer/accumulator, condensor...?

Sounds like an expensive proposition.

swoope

iTrader: (5)

reported.

beers