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Adding Freon to your automobile's Air Condtioning systemby Gort on August 2, 2008

Table of Contents

Adding Freon to your automobile's Air Condtioning system  ...............................................................................

Intro: Adding Freon to your automobile's Air Condtioning system  .......................................................................

Step 1: Install the hose on can  .................................................................................................

Step 2: Familiarization with your cars freon system.  .................................................................................

Step 3: Hooking up the freon  ..................................................................................................

Step 4: Charging the system  ..................................................................................................

Step 5: Final thoughts  .......................................................................................................

Related Instructables  ........................................................................................................ 1

Comments  ................................................................................................................ 1

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Author:Gort

Making or fixing things is how I relax.

Intro:  Adding Freon to your automobile's Air Condtioning systemEvery automobile parts store I walk in these days has freon for sale. When R-12 was around I was licensed to buy and use it. I thought that was a good thing becauseyou can be severely injured and or do $$ of damage to the system your working on. I decided I would do this instructable for the following 2 reasons . First to help peoto understand and be safe. Second to equip you to make a repair to your AC system if it just needs a Freon charge to bring it back to good working order. First a fewRules you need to always follow.1. Since your car engine is running to charge the AC system there are moving belts and pulleys,fan(s) and very hot parts. You can easily loose your fingers if you put

them where they don't belong!2. Freon if sprayed as a l iquid on your body parts will f reeze them instantly- FROSTBITE3.Don't release freon into the atmosphere. It is not good for the earth.4.Wear safety goggles at all times incase a hose blows or something goes wrong and freon is sprayed on your face.5. If after reading this instructable you feel unsure about doing this then you should not be doing it.THIS CAN BE DANGEROUS AND THERE IS POTENTIAL FOR INJURY. I ASSUME NO LIABILITY FOR YOUR TRYING THIS. THIS IS JUST A DEMONSTRATIONOF HOW TO DO IT. IF YOU DECIDE TO DO IT YOU DO SO AT YOUR OWN RISK.Ok lets get started.Tools needed:1. The adapter to connect from the freon can to your freon SUCTION SIDE of the AC system.Found where you buy freon.2. Freon- probably 2 cans if your system is barely cold. If i t is cool but not as cold as it was buy 1 can3. A thermometer to see the temp drop from the dash vents or cold air out.4. An AC system in need of some freon.

Image Notes1. Freon 134A. There are different types of freon and number is how you tell thedifference. In an older car Freon 12 was used but good luck finding it and youneed a license to buy it and it is pricy. I'm not getting into conversion here so weall assume your car needs 134A . A bit later you will find out how to know whatyour car uses.2. The charging hose adapter you can buy where you buy the freon. They stillsell the adapters for freon 12 so if your not sure ask before you buy this as theyare not interchangeable.

Image Notes1. The little point sticking up is what opens the can. This should not be visiblewhen you screw this on the freon can. if you see it back out the silver coloredlever on the bottom until the point is down in the rubber grommet in the canadapter

Image Notes Image Notes

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1. This end snaps onto the fitting on the freon SUCTION SIDE LINE. I amholding the sliding collar back so it can be installed or removed from the fittingwelded on the freon SUCTION SIDE LINE.

1. my 20 year old fancy smancy digital temperature probe. I paid 70 bucks forthis back in the mid 1980's today they are much nicer and cheaper

Image Notes1. The outside temperature is 87.4 degrees2. Note on the hose it tells you what number freon you can use in this hose. Notall freons are alike chemically and can attack hose compounds. 134A is on thishose.

Step 1: Install the hose on canWe now make sure the pin in the tool is backed out so we cant see the point. We install the hose tool on the can. The can is not punctured. Once you screw the pin dointo the can you can not remove the hose tool until the can is empty.When you screw the pin in to the can the pin seals in the freon. The other end of the hose also hasafety seat built in it so if the pin is backed out it will not vent freon to the atmosphere.AS LONG AS THE CAN IS UPRIGHT ONLY VAPOR COMES OUT OF THE HOSEIF THE CAN IS UPSIDE DOWN LIQUID COMES OUT SO KEEP IT RIGHT SIDE UP!I spent a lot of time on this simple step but that was so you do this SAFELY.

Image Notes1. NOT READY TO SCREW ON CAN AS PIERCING TIP IS OUT.

Image Notes1. This is what the tool looks like when your adding freon 134A to your systemNotice the can is upright and NOT UPSIDE DOWN. Note that as the freon levedrops in the can you can usually see a line of dampness on the can.

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Image Notes1. READY TO SCREW ON CAN AS PIERCING TIP IS BACKED OUT.

Image Notes1. As you can see the can has a threaded boss the tool screws on to. You justscrew it on until it is tight. tight does not mean as tight as you possibly can itmeans so the rubber grommet seats to the can. spin on the can until it contactsthe rubber and go a 1/3 to 1/2 turn more.

Image Notes1. I have screwed the needle down into the can. Just tighten this until it seatsand is finger tight. Now the can is punctured and you NEVER SCREW THETOOL OFF THE CAN NOW UNTIL AFTER THE CAN IS EMPTY. If you don'tuse all the freon then leave the tool on the can with the needle screwed down inand put it in a safe cool childproof place.

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Step 2: Familiarization with your cars freon system.

Image Notes1. My id tag for freon. If its gone look in owners manual, call a dealer or trustedshop who will tell you what you need. Pretty much anything mid 1990's and up isall 134A. If you call have the make model VIN and year. You can also look at thefittings to see if they look like those pictured here. Freon 12 fittings are muchsmaller and have external threads not a snap on connector.

Image Notes1. Freon compressor electromagetic clutch which turns on when you turn onthe AC system. Yes the freon is always there but not in the correct pressure / temperature/ state until this locks up and drives the compressor2. The engine drive belt3. the freon compressor. They can look very different than this and be almostanywhere under the hood. You don't need to know where this is

Image Notes1. The back of the freon compressor.2. The SUCTION SIDE LINE OR LOW PRESSURE SIDE LINE. This takes thecold gas back to the compressor to be recompressed.3. Yes the high pressure side has hose in it but its high pressure hose to be sure

Image Notes1. Note the high pressure side is SMALLER DIAMETER TUBING than the lowpressure side

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Image Notes1. This is the low pressure service fitting. Notice how large the pipe is and hose iscompared to the High side Smaller diameter tubing. On my car this port happensto be right where the tubing exits the evaporator2. heater / evaporator housing on firewall3. windshield

Step 3: Hooking up the freonRemove the SUCTION SIDE port cap. This can be in a number of places on your car so you may need to look for it. It will always be on a bigger tube. By that I mean thigh pressure side tubing is smaller diameter than the low pressure side. Thankfully the ports are not interchangeable so you can't plug on the wrong port. The air in thline is vented now by loosening the fitt ing (see pictures)Then retightend and The can punctured by screwing in the pin until it bottoms.Now start the car and turn the AC or climate control to high and the fan on high.Make sure the temperature control is at full cold or set it to the lowest temp you can if it has numbers.Now we are ready to charge the system.

Image Notes1. This end snaps onto the fitting on the freon SUCTION SIDE LINE. I amholding the sliding collar back so it can be installed or removed from the fittingwelded on the freon SUCTION SIDE LINE.

Image Notes1. The black cover is unscrewed off the port.

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Image Notes1. The quick connect is slid back and the hose pushed on quickly and then letgo of the slide or push it up towords the SUCTION SIDE port so it locks. Thetool hose should not come off now but can swivel.

Image Notes1. I now seated the puncture pin so the can is opened but before i open the fittinand allow freon to enter the hose i must bleed the atmospheric air out of thehose.. Humm how ..2. To vent the non freon air out of the hose just slightly loosen this fitting until yohear what sounds like a tire air leak. You only need to do this a couple ofseconds. The freon in the cars system will purge out the air. Then ret ighten thisfitting with your fingers only. You purge air as freon systems can have NOMOISTURE IN THEM.

Image Notes1. Stick your thermometer or digital temp gage in the vent. Or hold up yourhand and say this is not cold enough...

Step 4: Charging the systemYou now start the car with the AC system on high. You open the can tap so freon starts to travel from the can to the suction side. You only need to open the can tap 34 turns and you will feel the top of the tool getting cooler. This tells you the can is open enough. Don't try to unscrew i t all the way to make it go faster as the needle cabe screwed out of the can tool and then you have a fountain of freeze spraying all over- not good. Freon moves from the can to the suction side because the can is unlow pressure but the suction side is under even lower pressure so the freon leaves the can and moves to the system. Now watch the accumulator can. If you can safetouch it you will see it's warm if your low on freon. As you charge the system it will become cooler. Finally it will start to sweat. That is when you stopAdding freon. Nowyou have about the right amount. If you add too much your over stressing the system and it is not going to work any better in fact it will not be as efficient. Overcharginalso adds stress to the system since pressures are higher than normal. So now that the accumulator is sweating close the can tap. Check the temp in the car and youshould feel very cool air . I dropped from 87 to 50 degrees with a can and 1/2 of another. The cans come in preset quantities. I don't ever buy the large completely cha

your system can as it is usually too much. The smaller cans are what you need. I don't recommend the sealer in a can. If you think you need to add oil to your systemtake it to a shop so its done correctly. Any left over freon do not vent to the atmosphere. tighten down the can tap and leave the tool on the can. You can tell when a cais empty as if you shake it it will feel empty.Close the tap before you remove the hose off of the fitting. Then recap the fitting. If your system does not work properly ( no cold air ) it is time to go to a pro. Open frecan be used at a later date but must be stored in a cool place That is CHILDPROOF. The temperature coming out of your vent can vary depending on a lot of factors sdon't think you have to see the temperatures I saw.

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Image Notes1. fan on high mode = AC Max Temp control on max cold

Image Notes1. This is what the tool looks like when your adding freon 134A to your systemNotice the can is upright and NOT UPSIDE DOWN. Note that as the freon levedrops in the can you can usually see a line of dampness on the can.

Image Notes

1. Again the suction line . It runs around the engine compartment to theaccumulator which can seen in the next photo.

Image Notes

1. This sort of hidden can is the accumulator. It will get very cold and even havwater droplets on it when you have enough freon in your system. The Big brasnut hooks the can to the back of the freon compressor inlet through a pipe2. NOTICE THE ENGINE FAN HERE. IT RUNS WHEN IT WANTS TOO ANDIT DOES NOT CARE IF IT TAKES OFF ALL YOUR FINGERS SO STAYCLEAR OF THIS EVEN IF IT IS NOT TURNING.3. HEAT SHIELD OVER THE SCREAMING HOT EXHAUST MANIFOLD.

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Image Notes1. A close up of the accumulator can. When freon is low it is warm and dry.When you have enough freon the can gets very cold and starts to sweat or haswater condensation form on it. That condensation is the tip off you have enough

freon and you should stop putting in f reon. Of course the car engine is running allthe time your putting in freon.

Step 5: Final thoughtsAs you can see in the photos we dropped 30 degrees and it actually went down to 51 degrees. Good enough.A recap:SAFETY GLASSES AND IF YOU WANT GLOVES...Charge the system with the can upright position. By the way it can take up to 1/2 hour to charge a system...If your system is very low when you start putting in freon the compressor may not start turning unti l a sensor sees you have a predefined minimum amount of freon. Ad15 minutes more for charging. This is a safety so you don't damage the freon compressor...If you see oily goo all over your compressor or at a line fitting don't bother charging it as it needs pro service or your shooting your wallet in the foot in the long run...If after you charge your system the cold air comes and goes and comes and goes you have moisture in the system and it needs to go to a pro...If things don't seem to be working as I have described in this topic then something else is wrong and you need to have a trained pro look at it ...Remember a pro uses gauges to check pressures on the high and low pressure sides. He factors in ambient air temp and even humidity levels and he can pinpointcomplex problems like that. We used the >watch the symptoms< process to determine we are in the ball park in terms of the amount of f reon we have in our system. Mfeeling is a little low is way better than too much...

After your all done check the port cap to see its in place. Put your tools away. Go for a nice cool ride. If it all works ok go look in the mirror and say. I DID IT AND PATYOUR SELF ON THE BACK FOR A JOB WELL DONE!

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Image Notes1. Stick your thermometer or digital temp gage in the vent. Or hold up your handand say this is not cold enough...

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Comments

12 comments Add Comment

 Derin says:  Jun 22, 2009. 5:56 AM REP

How would I be able to remove A/C from a car?

 skunkbait says:  Aug 3, 2008. 8:49 PM REP

Hey, you did a gret job on this ible. Five Stars! I was intimidated by A/C systems until a couple of years ago. I had to make a trip to New Orleans (in Augusand my Suburban's A/C had just crashed (compressor). I had one day to figure it out or burn up. Necessity is the mother of A/C repair!

 Gort says:  Aug 4, 2008. 4:52 PM REP

Thanks. Good for you for not giving up and figuring it out. Don't things just pick the worst time to break?..lol

 Derin says:  Dec 26, 2008. 12:16 PM REP

I know...the brakes on our VW failed right when we were about to go home which was 50m away...had to take it to two service stations because ondidnt have the part.

 Derin says:  Dec 26, 2008. 12:13 PM REP

NEVER;EVER touch the fan if i ts not unplugged.I have seen cars that are off and still have the fan running full blast.

 Gort says:  Aug 10, 2008. 11:17 AM REP

As a side note you can dust talcum or baby powder onto the accumulator and then easily watch for moisture accumulation on it.

 PATSY001 says:  Aug 4, 2008. 4:03 PM REP

Not trying to be petty, however "Freon" was just a brand name used by the DuPont corporation. The appropriate term to call such substance would be"Refrigerant". The term refrigerant can refer to all the different types such as R-12, R-22, R-134a etc.(and many more). But most importantly true Freon iscomposed of chlorofluorocarbons.

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 Gort says:  Aug 4, 2008. 5:08 PM REP

Your right.My intended audience for this was folks who wanted to get their system going but really did not understand what was going on behind the scenes. Ninetimes out of ten i f you walk into a parts store and ask the counter guy "I need some of that stuff that makes your AC cold" The guy will say "you meanfreon and its over there." Freon is the accepted street name if you will and most people recognize That name. Take a look at this big chain auto partsseller's web page and see how they identify refrigerant on their web sitehttp://www.autozone.com/N,101308/shopping/accessoriesLanding.htm

 PATSY001 says:  Aug 4, 2008. 8:50 PM REP

Yes, I see your point, but that is not right. Not even for large corporations, unless it is manufactured by DuPont, but even they don't call it thatanymore. Not picking on you, but maybe someone could make a buck or two by letting DuPont know someone is "ripping off" (using withoutpermission) their trade name. Like for example if you invented the "Gort" recharger, and someone else marketed a similar product, and called it a

"Gort" ... you should get millions due to inventors rights and copyrights... but maybe now I'm just being silly. But someone out there should offer thelegal services to DuPont against "un-named big name auto parts store" hint hint... if anyone does this, keep Patsy001 in mind for compensation of hidea.

 Gort says:  Aug 4, 2008. 10:06 PM REP

It's your idea ..have at it

 thematthatter says:  Aug 3, 2008. 3:48 PM REP

Is there a concern about accidentally putting moisture in the system when you recharge it?

 Gort says:  Aug 3, 2008. 4:47 PM REP

Moisture will cause freezing of your system. Usually at the expansion valve which is where the freon escapes high pressure into low pressure through atiny orifice. Moisture likes to freeze that orifice closed. I t will unfreeze in about 10 minutes and your ac will work again. 134A boils around -15 degrees F

So its very cold at the expansion valve and that is why you don't want moisture. The oil in the compressor also likes to absorb the moisture and this cancause it to go acid over time.All AC systems have a "drier" in them. That is a powerful chemical that absorbs and holds any moisture. If you accidentallallow moisture in your system most likely there will be absolutely no problem because the drier will immediately grab it. But I wanted everyone to knowthe correct procedure. The quick answer to your question is don't lose any sleep over it. In my summary you noticed I stated that if after you charge yousystem it goes from cold to warm over and over its probably moisture. Remember that when an AC system is recharged by non pros they have no wayknowing if their system is moisture saturated or not. On older cars there was a little view window on top of the receiver / drier and if it was blue you wergood if it turned pink you were moisture saturated. If you have a leak and lose ALL your freon then the drier will actually pull" outside of the system"moisture in through the leak path and saturate itself. Then when you Recharge it there is moisture mixed with freon and that is a major problem in termof it working as it should.