Brian_B

Anyone able to help me with an AC recharge?

Ive heard it costs about 150-200 at the shop.

Anyway to do it myself...is it hard? waht do i need etc... the basic breakdown.

Pheonix

A trip to autozone (anywhere) Buy a recharge kit. It'll have a crappy gauge, a can of r134a, and the hookups to the low pressure line for you to fill.
It's not hard, and always cool to freeze your hand when you pop the liquid R134a expands into a gas leaving the can.

If it leaks again after that... Time to take it somewhere & let them find the leak. (Remember the refrigerant also contains some lubricants for the compressor. Running it without said refrigerant & lubricants will kill it.)

trukn1

It really is better to let a qualified person do the recharge on your AC. In the worse case, you could do some real damage to AC not to mention YOURSELF [/I]if done improperly. I would just eat the cost and get it done right. There are people who have died doing this incorrectly[I].
Breakdown,,
1. you need to first determine what you are running in AC R-12 refrigerant (which you cannont buy yourself) or R134
2. pressure gauge needs to be attatched to low side of the ac lines to determine what your current pressure is.
3. refill canister with gauge (to avcoid overfill) must be attached to low side of AC lines while filling.
4. car and AC (on high) must be running while filling.
5. once full, place cap back on line and you're done.

like I said before, it's not hard to do, however it is extremely dangerous [I]if you don't know what you arfe doing and could result in possibly injury to you. Please by all means let someone who is trained and qualified to do so handle this.

Tammy

If you want it charged right, take it to a specialty auto air condictioning shop. It's what they do and most have access to Denso parts if needed. They understand what the pressures should be according to your ambient temperature, they can test for leakage and you should get a warranty.

If you have experience in refrigeration, you might try to do it yourself. But, mistakes could be costly.

Pheonix

It's always better to let a professional work on something. Just not practical all the time.
He could trip in the shower & die too ya know.

It swapped over in 1994 with the gen 3.5 Camry update. There is no question about what he's using. Also remember guys. R134a fittings, and R12 fittings are not compatible. You can't mix them without physically making it happen!

If somebody can't tell the differance in the lines (high/low) *especially* considering the simple fact that the factory service manuals for the ES, and the Camry of that generation are well known. It's their own fault.
No reason for all the soap-box. Chill abit man. We're not quite to rocket science yet.

The simple fact is that if it continues to leak, he'll have to go to someone qualified if he wants it fixed. At which point all they are going to do is re-charge it yet again. With the refridgerant containing a UV dye. Then have you come back every few days/weeks to try see where it's leaking.

trukn1

That's my point exactly. Would rather see him go somewhere to get it fixed professionally rather than hurt himself, especially if he is unsure of what he is doing. This is a really close subject to me because I had a friend severly injure himself because he didn't know what he was doing. 3 plastic surgeries and alot of physical therapy later, he still only has use of half of his face and is totally blind in one eye after canister blew up. Brian, if you are familiar with what you are doing, then save yourself some money and recharge and be done with it. If you don't know, or question what you have to do, don't risk it; just pay the money to have it done.

Brian_B

therefor i dont have the layout of the ac unit .

Thus i dont know which is the high/low lines for my vehicle.

i have a 1998 Lexus ES300.

Any body able to help me figure out the high low plus gimmie direction.

Furthermore...

My AC light is blinking...i was told it needs a recharge, im not sure if the problem is more extensive than that. Any way to trouble shoot my AC unit to find out the true problem.

Tammy

He's kidding, right? Do you understand what were trying to explain?

trukn1

Tammy, I hope that he is kidding. I really do. You and I both understand that this can be dangerous to someone who doesn't know what he's doing.

hmmm, don't know about anyone else, but I personally would not be toying with this system given this fact.

All goes back to being unqualified to handle this job. Please don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to put you down because there are alot of people who don't know this info. I still have to look this up sometimes or ask for help. My whole point was to get you to understand that this can be harmful, personally, to you if done incorrectly. Really $150-$200 is not a bad price and remember most shops also warranty their work.!!!! Whatever you do, just please make a wise decision.
I'm going back to the LS forum.

springlake

I was told by a Ford shop forman that when it comes to any A/C with the new refrig and the
A/C is not cooling then a recharge is not going to do any good. The shop forman said that if the A/C is cooling it has refrig, if it is not working, it has a leak. (Without blower problems etc.)

In the 1960's, 1970's and so on until the change over was made in the suggested year of mid 1990's it was common practice to recharge the system.

I still thought that the practice of recharging was the way to go until May of 2006. It does make sense to me that the "new" A/C systems should not leak like the old systems did.

I hope this will help you somewhat.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/edi...ost&p=1908310#
There are repair shops that offer to check the pressure and recharge the newer A/C's and when I called one they admitted that the new systems do not require recharging and that if there is freon ie the A/C works then that is that.

I do have a 1998 ES300 and a 1996 Ford E350 and a friend of mine told me he thought that I should have the A/C recharged....he is in Jacksonville Florida and I am in Palm Springs Calif.

I think if you checked with a pro A/C person where you are they would tell you not to bother if your A/C is working and if it is not working then it needs to be repaired....which will require special equipment beyond what almost anyone would have at home.

Good luck