Truck AC recharge

320090T

Flipped the AC on in my truck today and HOT AIR! Dang, took it to a shop and they recharged with 134A for $45.oo and told me that was a bargin. Was it?????

nunn

Get ready to spend that $45 again and again...until you pay someone to find the leak. A/C systems never need to be recharged unless there is a leak.

willdallas2006

I agree with Nunn. Refrigerant doesnt just disapear. Did they hook it up to a recovery machine or just spray in more refrigerant?

haroldchrismeyer

That is about as cheap as I have heard lately. What kind of vehicle is it? You might get lucky and not have a problem this summer, but it did leak out somewhere.

320090T

It is on a GMC pickup. He put in a dye, I think, and shined the light thing around then added more oil and 134A. I had a 93 that did the same thing, recharged and 5 years later, it was still good. I will have to keep an eye on it for sure.

select-fire

quote:Originally posted by 320090T
Flipped the AC on in my truck today and HOT AIR! Dang, took it to a shop and they recharged with 134A for $45.oo and told me that was a bargin. Was it?????


Must not have needed much.

jwade311

I got a '97 Silverado, had the same thing done bout 4 years ago. It only cost me $35, at the time. No telling what the same shop would charge now, seeing as how everything's been getting more expensive lately. I rarely use the A/C, just ride with the windows down. But if I can remember right, I think it only worked for about a month or so before it was out again. New compressor wasn't cheap, bout $600, installed.

While we're on the subject, anybody ever hear of running your heater during the summertime? Something about not wanting the anti-freeze to stay sitting in the heater core for too long???

bigdaddyjunior

If there is a little moisture in the system then at just the right temp the lines can become restricted and build up pressure which will release through the high pressure relief valve built into a lot of automobile compressors. Once the system is vacuumed out and recharged it may never happen again.

320090T

What happens if that radiator looking thing, I believe it is the condenser, gets plugged up? Would that cause an increase in pressure and bleed some freon out? Mine was 50% blocked with bugs and weeds. I did clean it out.

haroldchrismeyer

Adding the dye to a 134a system only helps if it is a big leak. Dye worked better on R12, but there aren't many of those left. The reason for this is the molecules of 134a are smaller than the molecules of the dye. Refrigerant will leak, but the dye stays in place. I think that the Dye sometimes will act like stop leak, but can't prove it.

nunn

I had a 1993 Dodge Caravan with the rear air. It had a tiny leak in the rear portion of the system, but the techs could never find it. It was so tiny, it would leak down to the point of needing a re-charge about every other year. Cheaper to do that than to dismantle the entire system looking for a leak.