AC Question
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 225
Likes: 4
From: Missouri
AC Question
I had warm air blowing out on my drivers side and cold air on the passengers side. I put a can of refrigerant in it a couple of months ago and has been working great. The last time I was out I felt it wasn't quite as cool. I took it out today and it is blowing warm air again. As Shaggy says: Ruh Roe! Any advice is appreciated. 99 c5
Drifting
Joined: Jul 2015
Posts: 1,844
Likes: 375
From: San Jose, CA
Your refrigerant is leaking.
Okay, so you have two choices.
One, either add refrigerant every spring and late summer, let it leak out into the atmosphere (bad stuff), and hope that the rest of the AC system doesn't break due to the unexpected moisture in the system and low pressure of the system due to the leak (remember AC compressors are not cheap to replace for this car);
Or diagnose it (yourself or with a shop.)
My opinion is of course the latter.
Start by buying a can of UV-impregnated refrigerant. Should be $20. UV r134a is very common. Stick this into your AC system. Then after a few days, take a UV flashlight and light up the engine compartment at night. Hopefully you will see a glowing green splotch in your AC system. Hopefully this is something simply to replace - some tubing, a condenser, etc. (If it's the compressor, you may as well just keep trucking on till it dies, because either way you're replacing it, so deferring the cost may be easier.)
Once you (or a shop) figures out the problem, you can replace the offending piece, plus another one or two inexpensive pieces that are recommended to be replaced any time you much with the AC system. Total cost can range from $50 to $1500...
Okay, so you have two choices.
One, either add refrigerant every spring and late summer, let it leak out into the atmosphere (bad stuff), and hope that the rest of the AC system doesn't break due to the unexpected moisture in the system and low pressure of the system due to the leak (remember AC compressors are not cheap to replace for this car);
Or diagnose it (yourself or with a shop.)
My opinion is of course the latter.
Start by buying a can of UV-impregnated refrigerant. Should be $20. UV r134a is very common. Stick this into your AC system. Then after a few days, take a UV flashlight and light up the engine compartment at night. Hopefully you will see a glowing green splotch in your AC system. Hopefully this is something simply to replace - some tubing, a condenser, etc. (If it's the compressor, you may as well just keep trucking on till it dies, because either way you're replacing it, so deferring the cost may be easier.)
Once you (or a shop) figures out the problem, you can replace the offending piece, plus another one or two inexpensive pieces that are recommended to be replaced any time you much with the AC system. Total cost can range from $50 to $1500...
