anyone know about car A/C?

^Agree with this, as I was about to mention the other components are downstream and will collect any debris from the compressor blowing up (assuming it did).

Also, the Walmart kits don't work all that great. The only way to really have it recharged properly is to take it to a shop that has said capability. I'd take it somewhere that can do recharges and get a second opinion, recharge if appropriate.

 

I used to work for Ford doing this type of stuff, I can tell you the manufacturer if it's a warranty job required us to replace all 3 items if one was failing, if the coolant oil becomes tainted it will ruin a brand new part, that is one of the big reasons we had to replace all 3

 

i usually just recharge my air every year... i used my sniffer and I have a small o ring that is leaking but am just too lazy to replace it. so every summer I just put in some more r134

 

thanks for the responses. very helpful.

i'm not a big fan of letting freon leak. if i have a leak, i'd want that fixed.

 

i agree, letting freon leak and just refilling it as needed is irresponsible and ispolluting to our atmosphere. not as big of a deal with r134a but Never do this if your system runs r12, r12 leaking into the atmosphere is Horrible pollution. hence the reason we switched to r134a.

 

R134a isn't that great either. It's soon to be on the outs.

 

The leak stopping recharge kits do a pretty good job IME. I have only used the regular non leak sealer recharges on my jeep.

Also, since 94+, all vehicles have used r134a. My 93 jeep ZJ(built in summer of 92) was one of the first to use r134a, and not R12 like what used to be used.

R134a is over a decade old now. Newer more efficient refrigerants have been created since then. I'm surprised that r134a has been used as long as it has because it does not work as well as r12 did, but it is more enviro friendly.

 

I would love to fix it, but to leak test and fix (as long as its not the compressor or major part.) was $140 bucks last summer, a can of r134a $20. So that's why I do it.

 

If the compressor clutch is not engaging it could be a bad pressure switch or a blown fuse or some other elect problem , if thats not the case first you have to make sure the compressor is running and is creating a pressure difference with in the comp . Then once you are sure its kicking on then you can test it if you have the gages ? or simply shoot a can of gas in
134-a and see if the low pressure switch is holding the clutch out from lack of proper refrigerant levels ? Now if the compressor has blown up yes then you should change out the receiver and filter and even clean out the condenser coil . A blown up comp[ shoots metal everywhere and its mess to get right , Last one I did for a buddy with a Nissan He wanted to not change the receiver and filter drier the new comp lasted less then a week and never cooled properly ..

I had a new under warranty 85 Blazer to loose a compressor they did not want to change out the coils hose sets and all the stuff they 1/2 butted it and it lasted not the entire year . Took the dealer to court and G.M made it right to do it right the second time close to $3,000.00 in 86 with a old R-12 system .

If the comp. is blown or has busted a valve or rotary vein there is no cheap long term fix to it .. and a can of 12 oz. of 134a is less then 9.00 at about any auto parts store like any advance auto or pep boys .And the average cra requires about 3 cans and they also have the can of 134a with dye to locate a leak 12.00 or so . You could have alot of little things from a plugged drier to a simple blow fuse ? to a major problem ?

 

The smallest can of R-12 you can get is 30lbs and runs close to 1,000.00 wholesale ): I have well my son now has commercial chiller and refrigerant systems that use R-12 still but the stuff does not come cheap it requires a special EPA permit to buy it .Unlike the little 134a 12oz auto cans that anyone can buy