93Euphoria

In our cars. Took it over to my old mans shop and a tech only put in 2lbs with the recharge machine at 5 minutes of every check, vaccum, ect. A/C was cold for 1 day now its hot again. So how many lbs and how long should I run the recharge again for the FULL recharge? And how long should I do each check recharge again?

30696bird

iTrader: (4)

Freon does not "go bad" it only leaks. If it were me, I would put NO more freon into the system without finding the problem first.

dapsaute

I ran into the same issue when I recently bought my 1995 Z. The car had sat for at least a year, maybe more, and had probably only had the AC cycled rarely in a 5 year period.

I charged it with over a pound...compressor started, then stopped. Had my mechanic check the system out completely...pressure safety switch was defective and the low side schrader valve was leaking. Within a couple of days that pound-plus of refrigerant was down to 2 ounces. He scanned the system and found the bad switch, then evacuated the system and changed both Schrader valves before flushing and properly charging the system. The whole deal cost about $400, but it sure beat replacing a compressor/drier/hoses for what, $900+? Now the AC is nice and icy cold.

This probably isn't your issue, but the lesson here is that if you aren't properly equipped to diagnose the problem, you can throw a lot of dough at an issue and not fix it.

I would check the pressure with a good set of gauges, then see if the switch is working properly...mine was telling the computer the system was in a vacuum state on the low side, so the compressor would not cycle.

-Dave

383partout

You can usually rent a pressure test kit for free or for a deposit at the parts store, start there before you waste any more money on freon because as said earlier, it only leaks it doesn't go bad and when it gets low it means you have a leak or faulty compressor condenser ect and need to fix that and get the system nice and tight again.

sweetbmxrider

iTrader: (13)

2 pounds is the correct capacity. You should put dye in the system and use a uv light to find the source of the massive leak once the system has cycled for a good amount of time or just wait till it gets hot again.

93Euphoria

Update: So I took it back to my my old mans shop (The Tire Choice), and hooked it up to the scanner for the 2nd time and got code (61) A/C system. I cleared it and refilled the system with 2lbs with dye. A/C got cold and I ran the car for 5 minutes to check for leaks. 3 of the techs all had flash lights & one black light and NON of them could find a visual leak. Now obviously the system is leaking but where?? Any other place would be in the dash. Is it possible its leaking in the dash? If so wouldnt there be refrigerant dye leaking into the interior? Well there isnt. We didnt have the time to break into the dash because I had to go to work 30 minutes later.

dapsaute

Did you check the Schrader valves? Mine was leaking at the low side valve.

-Dave

sweetbmxrider

iTrader: (13)

Schrader valves can definitely stick and leak. The evap core could be leaking and be tough to see the leak with dye. Did you have the yellow eyeglasses on? They really help show leaks. Do you have access to a sniffer? You did suck the system down and verify it was empty, correct?

SS RRR

iTrader: (2)

Exactly. These should be replaced at every service. Especially the high side.

93Euphoria

Schrader valves werent leaking, but I mentioned a sniffer and we had non. Kind of a low end shop who doesnt have **** in advance, but I guess ill have to convince to order a sniffer. No yellow glasses either. But Yes I sucked the whole system, put oil in it, than dye refrigerant. Until then ill work on getting them to order what is needed to get their **** together. If worse comes to worse & I end up replacing several of the components, is there any option or possibilities on getting an upgraded A/C system? The stock blower motors dont blow out as hard as my best friends CTS Plus cant stand the fact that the cooling effect slows down when at a stop light.

sweetbmxrider

iTrader: (13)

I haven't looked into upgrading the hvac system. A pair of the yellow glasses really can help when looking for the dye. It could be the evaporative core which sits in the portion of the hvac box in the engine compartment. Maybe you can try another shop that has the equipment and is trained using it?