Automotive Air Conditioning Information Forum (Archives)

GT-ER on Mon May 18, 2015 11:18 AM

Year: 2002
Make: Toyota
Model: Highlander
Engine Size: 2.4
Refrigerant Type: R134a
Ambient Temp: 80
Pressure Low: 30
Pressure High: 200
Country of Origin: United States

Hi. My dads highlander had the compressor lock up. I swapped out the compressor, condensor ( with built in dryer ) and the expansion valve ( inside the dash ). I also cleaned out the evaporator with ac flush and the lines. I added 7.75 oz of Pag 46 oil and spun the compressor by hand to allow the oil to run through some of the system. Then I pulled vacuum ( -29psig ) and now comes the interesting part.

When I added refrigerant the system acted as if it were blocked. The low side went up to 70psig ( can was open ) but the high side would barely budge. Only after a few minutes would the highside even start showing pressure. I had to slightly open the highside just to get enough pressure in to activate the compressor. Once the compressor was active it took a whole HOUR just to get 12oz of R134a in it ( half the required ) and it only cooled down to 63* at the vent. Pressures were at 30psi/200psi though.

What could be wrong? When I pulled the gauges off a TON of oil spewed out as well. Could I have overfilled the system? I put 7.75 which I was told was right for this car.

The only things I reused were the lines and the evaporator. Everything else is new.

Edited: Mon May 18, 2015 at 11:20 AM by GT-ER

Jag987 on Mon May 18, 2015 2:02 PM

Did the new compressor come with oil in it? Where did you "slightly open the high side"? If you are charging with the 12 ounce cans of refrigerant, you may need to warm them up in hot water to increase the pressure in them to help the refrigerant flow into the Highlander.

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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!

Jag987 on Mon May 18, 2015 2:44 PM

duplicate post

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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!

Edited: Mon May 18, 2015 at 2:45 PM by Jag987

GT-ER on Mon May 18, 2015 4:57 PM

...

Edited: Mon May 18, 2015 at 5:01 PM by GT-ER

GT-ER on Mon May 18, 2015 5:01 PM

Quote
Originally posted by: Jag987
Did the new compressor come with oil in it? Where did you "slightly open the high side"? If you are charging with the 12 ounce cans of refrigerant, you may need to warm them up in hot water to increase the pressure in them to help the refrigerant flow into the Highlander.

The new compressor did come with SOME oil but the instructions on the compressor say not to empty it and to put the oem spec amount inside. I am charging with a 30lb cylinder, the low side goes to 70-75psi when I open the cylinder. I opened the high side upon realizing that not enough gas was getting into the system via the low side to even activate the compressor, not even after like 10 minutes of having the low side open ( highside showed 0psi while low side showed 70psi with the cylinder open ). I opened the high side just enough to get the compressor to open and then shut it immediately.

Dougflas on Mon May 18, 2015 6:19 PM

Never open the high side when the compressor is running.

mk378 on Mon May 18, 2015 6:32 PM

The shrader valve on the low side may be barely open. Even if the valve opens fully, it is normal to see the low side gauge go up to nearly tank pressure while charging because the shrader valve is always a significant restriction.

It is common to charge an empty (evacuated) system as much as you can with liquid through the high side with the engine off. If you don't get the full weight in that way, close the high side valve, start the engine and finish the charge through the low side. It is OK to take refrigerant out of the tank as liquid and send it to the low side as long as you don't open the charge valve fully and slug it into the compressor. Running the compressor for a long time with a low charge is not good for it.

Edited: Mon May 18, 2015 at 6:34 PM by mk378

GT-ER on Mon May 18, 2015 7:18 PM

Quote
Originally posted by: mk378
The shrader valve on the low side may be barely open. Even if the valve opens fully, it is normal to see the low side gauge go up to nearly tank pressure while charging because the shrader valve is always a significant restriction.



It is common to charge an empty (evacuated) system as much as you can with liquid through the high side with the engine off. If you don't get the full weight in that way, close the high side valve, start the engine and finish the charge through the low side. It is OK to take refrigerant out of the tank as liquid and send it to the low side as long as you don't open the charge valve fully and slug it into the compressor. Running the compressor for a long time with a low charge is not good for it.

I'm getting the car back this weekend so I have until then to think about this. I guess I could try to remove the gas inside and start all over again but with liquid into the high side it makes sense but I've never had a car do this to me so I'm kinda weary. I want to hear more ideas before I waste another day on it though.

Has anyone had this happen to them? Also, if only 12oz went in, doesn't 30/200 seem kinda high for such low amounts of gas?

bohica2xo on Fri May 22, 2015 1:58 AM

You may have too much oil in the system.

But the bigger issue is that your service connectors are not properly depressing the service valves. The high side gauge should respond easily when charging gas in to a vacuum - yours did not move.

You stated that even with the low side open, the LPCO still kept the system from operating. That tells me the tank was reading the hose pressure. The high side schrader may have been easier for the refrigerant to push past - the reason the system started, but it was not opening properly either.

If you evacuated through the same bad connections, you may not have actually pulled a vacuum on the system. A system full of air would give 200 on the high side with half the charge on board.

Was the compressor cycling while you were charging it?

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"Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the act of depriving a whole nation of arms, as the blackest."
~ Mahatma Gandhi, Gandhi, An Autobiography, M. K. Gandhi, page 446.

GT-ER on Sat May 23, 2015 10:34 PM

I got it to work. It definitely seems like my gauges were not depressing the schrader valve enough or something. I ended up having to run the tank upside down the whole way and regulating the consumption to ensure not a huge amount of liquid would go in and spraying water on the condensor to get the pressures as low as possible and it still took me almost an hour. I finally got the 24oz in and my vent temps were 41*f so all is well. Thanks for the ideas guys. You really helped me out.