Calling AC gurus. it seems I made a mistake!!!
06-05-2017, 09:50 PM
#1
TECH Apprentice
Thread Starter
Calling AC gurus. it seems I made a mistake!!! Car is a 97 trans am .it's a long story but I will make it as short as possible. I forgot to put the strap that keeps the ac line from rubbing into the alternator and it completely obliterated it and it caused a major leak. I replaced the line along with a new evaporator,dryer and seals. I kept the old ac because it was working good and blowing cold before. Ok ,so here comes the big deal. Since all the refrigerant and the oil came out upon disassembling i decided to put fresh pag oil into the compressor. I didn't know where to fill it . Upon inspection I found a bolt in the middle of the compressor .I don't remember well but it seemed to be a 12 or 13 mm bolt.
I took it out and I filled the oil in there. After that I put everything back together,vacuum the system again,it holds pressure, then put freon .it holds pressure again but the vents don't blow cold and the low side port pipe does not feel cold to the touch.
Did I do something wrong by putting oil in that spot and if I did what purpose does that port serves?
I took it out and I filled the oil in there. After that I put everything back together,vacuum the system again,it holds pressure, then put freon .it holds pressure again but the vents don't blow cold and the low side port pipe does not feel cold to the touch.
Did I do something wrong by putting oil in that spot and if I did what purpose does that port serves?
Last edited by ikaros23; 06-05-2017 at 09:55 PM. Reason: trying to add picture
06-05-2017, 11:18 PM
#3
TECH Apprentice
Thread Starter
06-06-2017, 10:59 AM
#4
by evaporator, i assume you mean accumulator?
google ac accumulator for a pic.
from memory 1998-02 cars take 9 oz oil, I think your year takes 8 oz oil total.
problem with a leak like yours is you don't know how much oil leaked out.
the proper way is to remove compressor and accumulator, flush rest of system to remove all oil. Install new accumulator. regardless if reusing compressor or new compressor (because you don't know how much oil is in it) drain the oil out of it. then add at least 2 ounces oil to compressor and spin by hand, it needs adequate oil before the engine spins. but don't add all 8-9 ounces to compressor filling it completely with liquid, that's bad. As much as you can fill it then the remaining add to the accumulator or into the discharge line between compressor and condenser to result in the correct amount of oil in the system. then connect all your lines and pull a vacuum. your problem is most likely air in the system, you didn't pull a deep enough vacuum. but if you added too much oil that will result in reduced cooling... not sure how much oil would be needed to cause no cooling.
normally you just drain the oil out the suction and discharge ports off the compressor while spinning the unit - make sure you spin the compressor and not just the pulley with the clutch not engaged. then fill by pouring into the suction port. the bolt you speak off in middle of your compressor, i don't know about. I would say if you undid it and were able to drain oil out of it then you're fine adding oil into it. if there was no kind of o-ring or crush washer on this bolt to seal it, then i'd suspect it does not lead to the internal section of the compressor and adding oil here would have been bad- but i don't know without seeing the compressor. the smart thing to do would be get the make & model of compressor and look it up.
what make/model vacuum pump did you use, and what gauge did you use to measure vacuum?
google ac accumulator for a pic.
from memory 1998-02 cars take 9 oz oil, I think your year takes 8 oz oil total.
problem with a leak like yours is you don't know how much oil leaked out.
the proper way is to remove compressor and accumulator, flush rest of system to remove all oil. Install new accumulator. regardless if reusing compressor or new compressor (because you don't know how much oil is in it) drain the oil out of it. then add at least 2 ounces oil to compressor and spin by hand, it needs adequate oil before the engine spins. but don't add all 8-9 ounces to compressor filling it completely with liquid, that's bad. As much as you can fill it then the remaining add to the accumulator or into the discharge line between compressor and condenser to result in the correct amount of oil in the system. then connect all your lines and pull a vacuum. your problem is most likely air in the system, you didn't pull a deep enough vacuum. but if you added too much oil that will result in reduced cooling... not sure how much oil would be needed to cause no cooling.
normally you just drain the oil out the suction and discharge ports off the compressor while spinning the unit - make sure you spin the compressor and not just the pulley with the clutch not engaged. then fill by pouring into the suction port. the bolt you speak off in middle of your compressor, i don't know about. I would say if you undid it and were able to drain oil out of it then you're fine adding oil into it. if there was no kind of o-ring or crush washer on this bolt to seal it, then i'd suspect it does not lead to the internal section of the compressor and adding oil here would have been bad- but i don't know without seeing the compressor. the smart thing to do would be get the make & model of compressor and look it up.
what make/model vacuum pump did you use, and what gauge did you use to measure vacuum?
06-06-2017, 06:30 PM
#5
TECH Apprentice
Thread Starter
by evaporator, i assume you mean accumulator?
google ac accumulator for a pic.
from memory 1998-02 cars take 9 oz oil, I think your year takes 8 oz oil total.
problem with a leak like yours is you don't know how much oil leaked out.
the proper way is to remove compressor and accumulator, flush rest of system to remove all oil. Install new accumulator. regardless if reusing compressor or new compressor (because you don't know how much oil is in it) drain the oil out of it. then add at least 2 ounces oil to compressor and spin by hand, it needs adequate oil before the engine spins. but don't add all 8-9 ounces to compressor filling it completely with liquid, that's bad. As much as you can fill it then the remaining add to the accumulator or into the discharge line between compressor and condenser to result in the correct amount of oil in the system. then connect all your lines and pull a vacuum. your problem is most likely air in the system, you didn't pull a deep enough vacuum. but if you added too much oil that will result in reduced cooling... not sure how much oil would be needed to cause no cooling.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TANldmkL0sg
normally you just drain the oil out the suction and discharge ports off the compressor while spinning the unit - make sure you spin the compressor and not just the pulley with the clutch not engaged. then fill by pouring into the suction port. the bolt you speak off in middle of your compressor, i don't know about. I would say if you undid it and were able to drain oil out of it then you're fine adding oil into it. if there was no kind of o-ring or crush washer on this bolt to seal it, then i'd suspect it does not lead to the internal section of the compressor and adding oil here would have been bad- but i don't know without seeing the compressor. the smart thing to do would be get the make & model of compressor and look it up.
what make/model vacuum pump did you use, and what gauge did you use to measure vacuum?
google ac accumulator for a pic.
from memory 1998-02 cars take 9 oz oil, I think your year takes 8 oz oil total.
problem with a leak like yours is you don't know how much oil leaked out.
the proper way is to remove compressor and accumulator, flush rest of system to remove all oil. Install new accumulator. regardless if reusing compressor or new compressor (because you don't know how much oil is in it) drain the oil out of it. then add at least 2 ounces oil to compressor and spin by hand, it needs adequate oil before the engine spins. but don't add all 8-9 ounces to compressor filling it completely with liquid, that's bad. As much as you can fill it then the remaining add to the accumulator or into the discharge line between compressor and condenser to result in the correct amount of oil in the system. then connect all your lines and pull a vacuum. your problem is most likely air in the system, you didn't pull a deep enough vacuum. but if you added too much oil that will result in reduced cooling... not sure how much oil would be needed to cause no cooling.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TANldmkL0sg
normally you just drain the oil out the suction and discharge ports off the compressor while spinning the unit - make sure you spin the compressor and not just the pulley with the clutch not engaged. then fill by pouring into the suction port. the bolt you speak off in middle of your compressor, i don't know about. I would say if you undid it and were able to drain oil out of it then you're fine adding oil into it. if there was no kind of o-ring or crush washer on this bolt to seal it, then i'd suspect it does not lead to the internal section of the compressor and adding oil here would have been bad- but i don't know without seeing the compressor. the smart thing to do would be get the make & model of compressor and look it up.
what make/model vacuum pump did you use, and what gauge did you use to measure vacuum?
was talking about.
06-07-2017, 10:11 AM
#6
i suspect that plug is an oil drain, but i don't know or have experience with it. Before you did anything if you first undid the plug a half turn and oil drained out then yeah you'd be fine adding oil there. you might try asking somewhere like autoacforum.com. You have a H6 harrison type of compressor.
06-07-2017, 10:34 AM
#7
you can look up various tech articles on the H6, HD6, HT6 style compressors.
basic things to know are they were prone to leaking oil from their case o-rings because of the case design... and also refrigerant. and it was important to install the compressor in the car with correct {lesser} and even torque on the bolts mounting the compressor to the engine, otherwise loading on the compressor case by the mounting bolts would cause internal wear on the compressor. if you have everything installed and ac system is charged adequately, my recommendation would be to put a set of pressure gauges and make sure the compressor is pumping before doing anything else. you should see over 150 psi high side and below 50 psi on low side. if pressures don't look reasonable, then consider getting a new compressor since you're working with a 20 year old one and those H6 type of compressors don't get better with time.
https://www.carid.com/images/spectra...-tip-guide.pdf
basic things to know are they were prone to leaking oil from their case o-rings because of the case design... and also refrigerant. and it was important to install the compressor in the car with correct {lesser} and even torque on the bolts mounting the compressor to the engine, otherwise loading on the compressor case by the mounting bolts would cause internal wear on the compressor. if you have everything installed and ac system is charged adequately, my recommendation would be to put a set of pressure gauges and make sure the compressor is pumping before doing anything else. you should see over 150 psi high side and below 50 psi on low side. if pressures don't look reasonable, then consider getting a new compressor since you're working with a 20 year old one and those H6 type of compressors don't get better with time.
https://www.carid.com/images/spectra...-tip-guide.pdf