does freon disipate or disolve somehow naturally in the air conditioning system or is the only way a drop in cold air coming out the result of a leak?

the air is coming out at around 50 degrees where up until recently it was steady at 38. the car was never hit and I wonder if the freon is just disolving somehow and if a charge will solve the problem or if there could be a leak somewhere.....

any advice would be helpful >> thx

 

A/C units will loose their charge over time... expecially in cars. depending upon how old your car is, it may or may not have barrier hoses...... if it does not you should replace them with barrier type hoses and after replacing all of the o-rings and receiver/dryer, place system on a vaccum for 8-12 hours and then recharge the system to proper levels..........

 

Hi all. This past weekend, I bought a recharging kit for the A/C. I hooked up the can and the hoses to the low-side. What bugs me is that no freon went into the system. The can remained full. So after a while, I kind of forced the freon into the low side. My compressor made this weird noise, like the sound of a blow of valve and freon came out of the underside of the car. I think from the compressor area.

I still have little cold air. Have you guys had similar problems? Can you please share your experiences or comments? Do I have to take the car to a shop and have them use the machines there?Thanks.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by integra dave &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> is the only way a drop in cold air coming out the result of a leak?

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No, there are a number of problems that can cause them not to cool well.

 

Yea a/c problems can be a number of things. "Theoretically" if an a/c system never leaks, the system will NEVER lose full charge. Freon does not wear out or just dissappear like some people think. So if it's low on charge, then you have a leak. That's the simple part. Now finding that leak, that's another thing. If it's a small leak (aka... the air slowly got warmer over quite a period of time), then it can be just about anything (comp, evap, hoses, fittings, o-ring(s), etc). If it worked perfect one day and it's blowing warm the next day, or you have it charged up and it only lasts a week (or otherwise short time), then you have a large leak which is usually either the compressor or evaporator 98% of the time. It can also be the condenser, or any combination of other leaks cuz anything is possible after all. Automotive a/c systems do tend to leak after awile simply cuz of the rubber hoses used, as well as the extreme conditions they have to live in (heat-cold, bumps, etc)

If the system is full of freon and it's still not getting cold, then it could be several things. The compressor may be shot and simply not making any compression. A compressor is essentially just a little engine, so to speak. Much the way engines wear out and lose compression, the same happens to a compressor. Could also be a thermostatic expansion valve problem, usually plugged or the little pintle isn't opening and closing properly. Could also be a cooling fan problem. When the a/c is on, both cooling fans should be running continously for as long as the compressor is running. If even one fan is not running, as soon as you come to a stop or going slow, the a/c will blow warm cuz the high pressure vapor being pumped into the condenser will not be able to condense into a liquid due to no cooling from the fans. This can also cause very high head pressures which can lead to compressor damage, and/or cause the pressure relief valve to open if so equipped. Could also be something unrelated to the actual a/c system, which I see quite a bit on electronic automatic temperature control systems. You may have a blend door or water valve that isn't closing properly, which is allowing some hot air into the mixture, warming the air up some. It doesn't take much heat at all to do this!! Usually the easiest way to figure if it's a problem with the refrigeration portion of the HVAC system or not is to run the a/c for about 5-10 minutes, and feel the low pressure hose/line (which is the larger one coming out of the evaporator, going down into the compressor... feel on the metal part). Coming out of the evaporator this line should be very cold to the touch. It may have a light coat of frost or condensation on the outside of the line, which is a good thing. That means the actual a/c is working just fine. If that's cold, then start looking for problems elsewhere first, such as a temperature blend door. If not cold, then taking pressure readings is the only real way to see what's going on in the system. If you have a sight glass on the reciever/dryer then you can also look for bubbles while the system is running. If you see bubbles, it's low on charge. With the system off (and having been off for a few minutes), there should be about 60-80psi (depends on which refrigerant) on BOTH low and high sides (they equalize when it's not running). If it's got that, then the system is full or near full. Run the a/c for about 5-10 minutes and check the high and low pressures.... low should be roughly 30-40, and high should be about 160-200 (which is really rough, cuz it varies greatly with both temp and refrigerant.... it can go as high as about 260 or so on a hot day with R134a).

Back to the original question though.... if you need to recharge it, it's because you have a leak and it will just leak out again until the leak is found and fixed. Hope this helps some

 

Okay, here's an interesting deal. Ole' Faithful ('90 Accord DX 5-sp, 155K miles) is haveing A/C problems. If the car sits for half a day or so, when I start the A/C it blows nice cold air. After about 20 minutes or so of driving, it gets increasingly warm. NOT good in Texas. Fan blows strong, I can hear/see second cooling fan come on, but just gets warmer. I would say I am low on Freon but if that is the case, why is it cold when first started? I recharged about a week ago and noticed no real difference in symtoms... Any ideas?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by chrispaul &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Okay, here's an interesting deal. Ole' Faithful ('90 Accord DX 5-sp, 155K miles) is haveing A/C problems. If the car sits for half a day or so, when I start the A/C it blows nice cold air. After about 20 minutes or so of driving, it gets increasingly warm. NOT good in Texas. Fan blows strong, I can hear/see second cooling fan come on, but just gets warmer. I would say I am low on Freon but if that is the case, why is it cold when first started? I recharged about a week ago and noticed no real difference in symtoms... Any ideas? </TD></TR></TABLE>
Is the compressor running when it's blowing warm air?

 

Uhhh...I think so. A/C Guru I'm not. The pulley is turning and as I said, it's great for awhile - 15-20 minutes and then no more cold air. From what I know of compressors, it is either working or not. If I had a leak, I would assume I would lose all freon and have NO cold air. I tried a recharge and does not seem to make a difference one way or another.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by chrispaul &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Uhhh...I think so. A/C Guru I'm not. The pulley is turning </TD></TR></TABLE>
The pulley will always be turning with the belt. Is the clutch turning? A flashlight will help. There are a number of problems that can cause your symptoms, need to narrow them down.

 

Yea, I know the pulley rotates as long as engine rotates - So, how do I tell if Compressor is really working? And, it seems weird that it would work intermittently. It ALMOST seems to be heat-related. Again, if sitting for half-day or so, I'll get cold air for awhile when first started, then progressively less.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by chrispaul &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Yea, I know the pulley rotates as long as engine rotates - So, how do I tell if Compressor is really working? </TD></TR></TABLE>
Is the clutch turning? It's the center part.

 

Yep - clutch is engaging - center is rotating. I had someone sit in car and turn A/C on/off - clutch starts and stops. Here's another piece to this puzzle - a couple weeks ago I would notice that I had a belt squeel(sp?) for a second or two sometimes at startup. Could this be A/C compressor not turning freely or giving extra friction. This time of year, A/C is always on when starting my car.

 

It may be low of refrigerant. Make sure the belts are properly tensioned.