DIY air conditioning recharge kits
If you’re like me, and you live in the South, then you probably have already started using you air-conditioner in your car or truck as soon as a month ago when the weather started getting warmer. Well, ask yourself this – “does your air blow really cold or as cold as you think it should?” If it doesn’t, and according to automotive trade magazines upwards of 90% of vehicles on the road in America today have A/C systems that are not fully charged, then you need to have it recharged.
Now you can easily go take your vehicle to your local car dealer, Pep Boy’s or similar car repair and service station and pay through the nose to have your air conditioner recharged. Usually most of these high price repair shops and car dealers do not fix parts anymore, they replace instead as it makes for quicker repairs and higher profitability. This does not mean it’s good for you, that actually means it is wasteful and bad. Most of the time AC systems run low due to a small leak. These leaks can easily be repaired but the shops instead rely on replacement parts which Canada costing you hundreds or even thousands of dollars unnecessarily.
You can also opt to recharge your system yourself. This is the cheapest and easiest method. Nowadays they have cans of refrigerant at local auto parts supply stores and even Wal-Mart and Target that come with full directions and include everything you need including the gauge to tell you the pressure currently in the system and when it’s fully charged. Depending on how low your system is you may need more than one can. At an average price of $10 per can that’s really not bad.
Now you’ll see that all current and recent model cars the new refrigerant R134A. the old R12 or freon is no longer used and if you do have a vehicle that requires that you’re going to have to go and get a conversion kit to convert it to R134A. these conversion kits aren’t too expensive and range in price of around $30-$40. Next you need to look for word hook up on your vehicle. Every car would truck comes with two a/c ports a high pressure and low pressure port. On most of these vehicles that are made for sale in the United States these ports will have different sized hookups or adapters.
So when you you hookup up your can to recharge the a/c system you really can’t mess this one up as it will only fit the low pressure port. Then follow the directions that come with the recharging kit. Which will tell you generally to start her car, turn the air conditioner onto high or maximum. Be sure to watch the gauge to see if your system is charging. Be sure and turn off the valve when it gets to the mark where it states fully charged. Remove the AC recharge kit and test your A/C system to make sure it works and blows cold.
If you’re system was really low you might need more than one recharge kit or can. If it leaks out within the next day or two no you have a bad leak which will need to be repaired. They do make recharge kids that do have sealants included in them. You should refrain from using these unless you have to as they will block the condenser and other parts of the AC system and cause them to eventually fail. So only use them as a last resort if you have to. It Is better to repair a leak than to patch one with a sealant kit.
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Tags: a/c system, air conditioning, car, car care, car repair, DIY, how to, repair tips, Save money, trade in, truck, used car
April 20th, 2010 at 7:14 am
I wanted to thank you for this excellent read!! I definitely loved every little bit of it. I have you bookmarked your site to check out the latest stuff you post. This will save me big money over going to the car dealer to get my a/c charged!
April 21st, 2010 at 9:51 am
Bookmarked your web site. Thank you for sharing. Definitely worth the time away from my studies. My local mechanic blew the a/c line on my car and I have to buy a new hose. Do you know where I can get one cheap?
April 21st, 2010 at 12:13 pm
Interesting. I always find your posts so informational and helpful. Can you write one on getting better gas mileage for my truck? With gas prices at $2.90 per gallon here I could really use some good advice to get better gas mileage.
May 18th, 2010 at 12:56 pm
Thanks for the great tip – my a/c just stopped blowing cold. I will go and get one of those recharge kits and try this. Thanks again.