Recharging A/C

[no2dlite]

Anyone ever recharged the air condition unit on thier 6th gen accord?
My 2000 accord's A/C still works but is not as cold as it once was.
I bought a recharge kit with a pressure gauge and tried to recharge the system myself. The gauge needle jumped to red zone showing the a/c system to be overpressured (red zone). I don't understand how this could be if the a/c still works and the compressor comes on. I have never had any service done to the a/c by me or anyone else (I am the original owner of this car). Also I have no leaks anywhere. The recharge kit instructions states to seek a professional if the gauge goes to red zone. Anybody have any useful information about recharging the a/c????
Thanks.

 

[dynasty]

i think you should bring it to the shop and get it recharged the free-on. or however you spell it.

 

[Tx_Accord98]

if the gauge went into the red after you opened the bottle, then it is just reading the flow from bottle to ac system. if the needle is in the red before then it is overpressurized.

the best way i have found to do it when the gauge reads like that is to take the reading before you open the bottle and then put a little in at a time then check the reading again.

it works best if you can keep the compressor running.

 

[DirtyRussian]

i have done it before a couple of times...however the last time i did it i had some problems...i put two cans as i usually do...however it ended up 3 times as much pressure in the compressor which almost blew...so be careful doing that yourself ... i ended up paying 20 bucks to some guy at a local shop to do it for me

 

[jasonvictory86]

How many miles are on your car? I have 177k and I needed to recharge. Here in Wisconsin, all the tree-huggers made Freon illegal to purchase! WTF?! So I ended up skipping the border to Illinois to grab a dozen cans to do it for friends.

Anyway... you need to listen to see if the compressor comes on. If it doesn't or enages off and on, then it needs a refill bad. Add freon until you can hear the compressor engage continually and then feed until the gauge reads to the proper amount.

Oh... make sure it's R134-a. If you find R12, that's for cars pre-1993 (I think that's the year.). Be sure not to mix them.

 

[hancockd]

dude...the last post in this thread was 8 months ago.....

 

[ryan s]

How many miles are on your car? I have 177k and I needed to recharge. Here in Wisconsin, all the tree-huggers made Freon illegal to purchase! WTF?! So I ended up skipping the border to Illinois to grab a dozen cans to do it for friends.

Oh... make sure it's R134-a. If you find R12, that's for cars pre-1993 (I think that's the year.). Be sure not to mix them.

r134a was legal during the summer for a couple months. r12 is toxic, r134a biodegradable at least as far as i care to learn

the nozzles are different sizes between the systems, just like diesel nozzles are bigger than gas pumps.

 

[hancockd]

^^ ryry likes teh bigger nozzles....

 

[jasonvictory86]

r134a was legal during the summer for a couple months. r12 is toxic, r134a biodegradable at least as far as i care to learn

the nozzles are different sizes between the systems, just like diesel nozzles are bigger than gas pumps.

Good point. I had forgotten about that size difference. You can get some R12 alternatives that meet legal standards... but they require a ton of adapters and crap . I filled up my accord with Freeze12 but I'd never do that again. R12 runs cooler than R134a but the oil's are different. No shop carries R12 for that toxic reason you said earlier.

As for availibility, I remember that back a couple of years ago they had it legal in WI, but wasn't it two winter's ago they re-banned it? Back in spring of '07 I couldn't find it anywhere. Wal-mart in Gurnee, IL has a ton of it. I believe it's still banned now.

 

[guitarsolo23]

If the gauge says that it is in the red before you start charging, then you have a blockage in the system. If you have a high side adapter, then check the high side and see what that says... If they are both off the charts, then take it into the shop so they can find where the blockage is at...usually at the dryer.