basically my A/C was on full blast blowing cold air on the way to work in the morning, but when i went out at noon for lunch it did'nt blow any cold air at all???
like it was blowing warm air or something.

whats the first step i should take to diagnose this ? i have never done it but i know people charge it up with refrigerant or freon???? i am on a budget and want to take all steps i can myself before forking it over to a shop and getting fudgepacked. thnx

 

ac don't go out like that.
Turn on your AC and see if your clutch is engaging.

 

mine did that, cold on Sunday, warm on monday. I added a can of freon and it started back getting cold again. When I connected the gauge to it, it was low on freon. I may add like a half a can, if it's not cold to my liking.

 

that gives me hope at least.

is it easy to add freon? have instructions or link? what kind should i buy (its a 90 crx si), i also heard its not freon anymore? its some new stuff?

thanks for the info

 

If you are still r-12 then you can look into freon alternatives like Freeze-12, which is less expensive than r12. Or you can convert to r-134, but it will not be as cold.if you are r-12 and it went warm all of a sudeen, then you have a leak somewhere, or bad compressor. Take it to a shop, they usually check it for free.

 

actually i had it charged about 3 yrs ago at a acura/honda specialist shop called HondaHouse and i remember when they did it they put a sticker in the engine bay saying there is dye in it, so if there is a leak they can find it with a black light or something i think.

yeah, best thing would be for me to take it back there, but i am scared they won't tell me the truth and just say i need a compressor when all i really need is freon, its like how would i know? cause all shops do is say the more expensive thing it seems.

thats why i was hoping to put the freon in myself, so you don't think its something i should do myself? i saw my roommate putting a bottle of something into his ford ranger in front of autozone and while i was sitting in the vehicle i felt it get colder and it looked so damn easy, i was thinking thats all i had to do? am i wrong?

 

If you are converted to r-134a you can definitely do it yourself. I have like 6 hoses with gauges just sitting around the house because alot of the freon cans comes with them. But, get yourself a hose adapter to connect to your lowside charge inlet. It is right beside your fuse box the top line. Add one can of r-134a. If you have a big leak you will definitely hear it when you start putting freon in. If you want to check for leaks you can get a leakcheck kit from autozone, which has the ultravoilet glasses and light and follow the lines.

 

just remember do not mix r12 with r143a.
if you have r143a converted already then just recharge it.
If there is a leak it shouldn't last you 3 yrs.

And if you have r12, there is no choice for you except take it to the shop.