Automotive Air Conditioning Information Forum (Archives)

xtremevdub on Sun April 20, 2014 6:58 PM

Year: 2001
Make: Ford
Model: Focus ZX3
Engine Size: 2.0
Refrigerant Type: R134a
Ambient Temp: 85
Pressure Low: 20-40
Pressure High: 120
Country of Origin: United States

This is what's happening...

YouTube Video of problem


I bought a new compressor and took it to a mechanic to install along with a new orifice tube and dryer. (I had no time to do it my self at the time)
They guy installed it and charged it but the A/c only lasted about 2 months and it started doing what you see on the video. Then winter came and had no use for A/C.

Now is getting hot again in Florida and not wanting to take it to those guys again, I bought the manifold gauges and decided to give it a go.
When I measured pressure with the car off, the car had very little pressure, to I added some r134a to leave it to about 100psi in the low and high side.
I think is leaking from a shraeder valve.. no other leaks could be found with a UV light. (they seem to have put dye on the system)

What I wanna know is why is it not rising almost at all on the high side?
Is that a bad compressor?
Bad Orifice tube?
I have no idea... should I put more freon?

Let me know guys.. I wanna do this myself, but I cant find anywhere how to diagnose the system properly.

Edited: Sun April 20, 2014 at 11:34 PM by Automotive Air Conditioning Information Moderator

Dougflas on Sun April 20, 2014 11:10 PM

your youtube link won't work.

TRB on Sun April 20, 2014 11:37 PM

I fixed the link. Are you sure it has a full charge of refrigerant? I'd reclaim the refrigerant checking charge level and also pull the OT at that time.

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xtremevdub on Tue April 22, 2014 12:46 PM

Oh.. no.. it is not fully charged.. I know that for a fact.

Because I put some spare r134 I had around just so I could see what the compressor did..

Ok.. I am gonna fix the leak and replace the OT and refill again to see what it does. This time with the proper charge..

quick question.. Do you have any idea how much they charge of the top of your heads to remove the old gas?

Jag987 on Tue April 22, 2014 4:09 PM

If it is low in the video, then it is doing just what it should be. The compressor comes on, the low side drops too low (not enough refrigerant) the compressor kicks off until the low side come back up. Besides a leak, not much can be diagnosed without a full charge in the system.

As far as how much it will cost to have the refrigerant recovered, there is no set nationwide price. Any shop can charge whatever they want. I would expect it to be in the $20-$50 range; my price is within that range.

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I bought a can of 134a at w**-mart that had a stop leak, oil, and dye in it. It also had a hose and a gauge, so now I'm an AC pro!

TRB on Tue April 22, 2014 5:28 PM

As Jag said, many places with charge around $20.00 plus they keep the refrigerant. Some will do a purity check before hand and if it is not 100% they will not remove it.

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mk378 on Tue April 22, 2014 5:36 PM

There will always be dye on and around the shrader valves from attaching and removing the hoses, you can't use that to say for sure that there is a leak there.

xtremevdub on Sat April 26, 2014 10:46 AM

Cool.. thanks much for your help.. I am gonna take the car next month to get "recovered" and I am gonna put some compressed air thru the service line on the gauges to pressurize the system with air and see/hear where it leaking from.
Because looking at it with a UV light I found nothing other than that shrader valve..

mk378 on Sat April 26, 2014 11:06 AM

You should go over it with an electronic leak detector while it still has refrigerant. It is a preferred way to find those medium-sized leaks that leak out most of the refrigerant over a month or two. Those don't make a hissing sound.

Dougflas on Sat April 26, 2014 5:37 PM

Do not use compressed air. If anything, use nitrogen thru a regulator. As MK said, as long as there is refrigerant in the system, use a sniffer.