AC guys...what'd we do to my new DD?

[AJMBLAZER]

Recently got a '02 Chevy Tracker 4 door as my DD. Love it so far...especially the (formerly) working AC. Sat for most of the last year so things have been "coming back to life" a bit. When I purchased it on Sunday and drove it 4 hours home the AC seemed weak. Cooled you but didn't ever freeze you out of the cabin. Got a bit better these last few days but never seemed Nome, Alaska cold.

Picked up a can of R134 at NAPA and went over to my buddy's dad's house. I've either owned vehicles without AC, with completely non-working AC, or with perfectly fine AC so I've actually never had to dick with it. He claims he does it all the time and knows what he's doing.

We put the little blue hose on the can, put it on the Low fitting, and started the process. Emptied the can, it was blowing colder, and then he declares we overcharged it. We let some out of the high side, didn't seem like too much...and the needle was in the red around 70. He declared we had a leak and recommended I go get a can of the R134 with the stop leak stuff and try that.

Off we went, I got a can of R134 with lube/leak stop/die/fries/etc and we put that in...and didn't seem to get anything. In fact, now the needle on the gauge is stuck all the way over on the red side. He seemed to indicate that meant undercharged...I'm thinking overcharged?

Did we let it all out and I don't have enough in there? Happened so fast I thought we were just bleeding a little off but I'm now questioning how he was reading the gauge and his process. Overcharged? Do I just bleed some off of the high side? Should I be concerned about lubing the system or letting it out?

 

[Fordum]

Man, you are screwed right now. But, you can still get out of trouble maybe.
DO NOT run that system anymore until you get a set of real gauges and see what the high side is.
If it is a charge issue, its almost certainly overcharged.
But, the stopleak may have stopped up the metering device.

I'm thinking orifice tube, but that model may use something else.
If the tube is stopped up, or the system severely overcharged, you could damage the compressor by running it.

Beg or borrow a set of gauges and find out what the high side is. Also, make sure that all fans are running on the radiator.
If its in a building, either move it outside or turn a fan on the radiator.

When you find out the head pressure, get back to us.
There are folks here who can help once you know enough information.

 

[AJMBLAZER]

I'm trying to get in touch with a friend of a friend who's a professional mechanic and AC is one of his specialties. I had a bad feeling about this and regret even touching it now. Kicking myself. It even seemed to be getting better after being driven and used regularly.

 

[AJMBLAZER]

Well, I don't know anyone with the gauges. The "mechanics" at work are just guys with tool boxes and none of them have the AC gauges and I can't bring my truck in to use the AC recharge system we have. Just not going to happen.

Going to start calling shops as I get the feeling I'm being ignored by the "friend" of a friend.


**** me running.






Any chance I can just bleed some off the high side?

 

[Fordum]

Hang in there a little longer.
Here is the problem.
If its too full, then you could just bleed some off. Illegal, but doable.
But, if you have something stopped up, then bleeding won't help.
The compressor takes in the warm gas, compresses it to really hot gas under high pressure, and feeds it to the condenser (radiator), usually through a drier/filter.
If that drier/filter is stopped up, then the gas has no where to go and the head pressure starts building up.
This causes the compressor to be unable to suck in gas as well as it should, so the low side goes high.
Let it continue to build up pressure with no way to get rid of it, and you run the risk of damaging the compressor or bursting a line.

Bleeding off a little won't help, it will just suck in more from the low side and build up the pressure again.
If the blockage is in the metering device, then its not quite so bad. The condenser cools the gas and causes it to condense back to a liquid. It can hold quite a bit of refrigerant, so the compressor is less likely to break.

Either way, you need a set of gauges, or at least a high side gauge. I have seen the full set on Amazon for about $50 but if you never use them again, its not a good deal.

If you can't find someone to loan you a set by tomorrow, PM me an address, and I will see if I can round up my set and send them to you.

 

[AJMBLAZER]

Nah, don't worry about it. I'm taking it to a shop. Sick of this ****.

Thanks man.