Air Conditioning Recharge
	Category:	Maintenance
	Author:	Eric
	Date:	March 16th, 2004

Is the summer heat getting you down because your A/C just isn’t doing anything but killing your gas mileage? Mine was and I admittedly feared the worst. When my A/C is running, the air was only slightly cooler than vent air. Asking around, I was advised to recharge my A/C with any kit you can pickup at your local parts store.

Still not having a clue as to what this involves, I was quickly amazed to find that this is easier than changing your motor oil. My kit included three cans of R-134a refrigerant which most modern cars use, a pressure gauge and a set of retrofit nozzles to convert your older R-12 systems to R-134a. The first thing you need to do is find your low pressure line and its nozzle. The high pressure line comes from your compressor and runs through the firewall into the evaporator where air is mixed and cooled. The refrigerant exits through the low pressure line into the condenser which looks like a second radiator behind the grille and back into the compressor where the whole process starts over again. It is somewhere along the low pressure line where you need to find the nozzle to recharge your system.

Here you can see where the high and low pressure lines come and go.

The low pressure nozzle was very accessible.

My pressure gauge connects to the low pressure valve with a sliding sleeve connector for easy on/off capability. On the other end of the gauge you thread on the new can of refrigerant where you control its flow.

The whole setup.

The first thing you should do is see what pressure currently exists in the system. Start the engine and set the A/C to max and let it run for a few minutes. Check to make sure the clutch on the compressor is engaged indicating the compressor is running. My pressure was low and I added 1.5 bottles to get it back up to normal. Now I can run my A/C on the lowest fan speed in 100 degree weather without breaking a sweat.

As you can see, it’s very simple to recharge to your A/C, not to mention cheap. I picked up my kit for $30, much cheaper than to have a mechanic diagnose and then simply recharge it for me.