a/c recharging

hello i just put a can of freon r134a in my 98 dodge stratus and have a ?
about it. when i put the refill gauge on it at first, it said low ( in the
green area on gauge) then when i put the can of freon onto it and emptied
it, it was in the blue range which means full. now i noticed the more i
reved the engine,then the gauge would fall down toward the green area. does
this mean i need more freon so that when i rev it good it stays in the full
area on the gauge? thanks Randy

 

Randy if you don't have a clue of how the A/C system works you may want to
leave that job to someone that is qualified to do the repair. You can
seriously hurt yourself by trying to charge the system yourself or do damage
to the system .

Glenn Beasley
Chrysler Tech

 

Glenn is right. To charge the system properly requires a manifold gage
set that shows high and low side pressures. You measure the temperature
of the liquid line at the condenser and compare that with the high side
pressure against a chart in the service manual. The other option is to
completely evacuate the system and recharge it with the exact amount of
refrigerant specified for your car.

If your ac was not cooling properly, but worked good sometimes, chances
are the expansion valve is bad and needs to be replaced. If you have a
high mileage car you might consider replacing the compressor (and filter
dryer) now. If you wait until the compressor dies, the repair job will
be more expensive because the lines will need to be flushed out to
remove any metal particles that the compressor may have shed.

Those top off kits that the auto parts stores sell are a waste of money.
If you were unfortunate enough to pick the one that adds oil to the
system, now your ac system has too much oil in it. The excess oil
displaces refrigerant which reduces its BTU capacity. You never add oil
unless you have replaced a component like the filter/dryer, and then add
only the amount that component holds.

--
Gyz

07 Saturn Sky
98 Dodge Status ES
94 Mitsubishi Eclipse GST

 

Oh come on Glenn, obviously his system is RF'ed already or he wouldn't
have been screwing around with it. You can't get a garage these days in the
middle of the summer to touch an A/C job for under $500, they have more
than enough work to not bother with the peanut jobs.

To the original poster, here's how the guage color codes work:

) No needle deflection - big freon leak, if you add freon it's just going
to
be empty in a few weeks again. System is RF'ed. Adding freon to this
system is definitely illegal until it's repaired.

) Needle deflection into the white or low green area - very likely smaller
freon
leak and if you add freon it might last the summer. Add freon gradually and
stop
when the air starts blowing cold. If the air temp doesen't change after
adding
a can, stop adding, the system is RF'ed. Also, consider buying a black
light
and a can of Freon with dye in it, add the freon, drive a week, then use the
blacklight
to find the leak. It's most likely a fitting, sometimes just tightening the
fitting will work.

) Needle deflection into the green or blue area - don't add freon the system
is not leaking. System is RFed.

) Needle deflection into the high blue and yellow area - system is probably
partly plugged - look for a big rock dent in the condensor in the front that
might have collapsed one of the tubes. Do not add freon. Do not run the
A/C. System is RFed.

)Needle deflection into the yellow or red area - system probably has a
plugged
expansion valve. Do not add freon. Do not run the A/C unless you want to
damage it. System is RFed.

Ted

* RF = Royally Fucked.

 

i guess by your statement is why my shop is always swamped with ac work for
less than 500 is there

 

I'm sure there's an english sentence in there somewhere, but I can't quite
make it out.

 

Here's my answer: No. My answer is just as good as the other guys', and
it's short!