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A/C charge didn't work and car started overheating.
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chrisprattmt
New User
May 21, 2014, 4:32 PM
Post #1 of 8
(2820 views)
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A/C charge didn't work and car started overheating.
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I charge the A/C with one 12 oz. can of R134A because my A/C was warm. This is the first time i have used it for 7 months. I noticed my temp Gauge in the car was getting close the the red and that the gauge for the A/C that i had on the charging hose was near 60 PSI. I looked at my Radiator coolant and noticed that overflow hose had leaked almost a half gallon of coolant on the ground and the current contents were boiling. I released some pressure from the A/C line so it was 30 PSI and refilled the reservoir for the coolant. I tried again to charge the A/C with a new can and it immediately ran to 60 PSI. I always was charging the A/C low pressure line while the car was on and the A/C was running. What is wrong?
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nickwarner
Veteran
/ Moderator
May 21, 2014, 9:16 PM
Post #2 of 8
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Re: A/C charge didn't work and car started overheating.
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What is wrong?
Absolutely everything you just did and the way you did it. Refrigerant is not like oil or coolant where you just top it off with some when you think it is low. There are a lot of reasons why your AC might not have been working that have nothing to do with the level of refrigerant in it.
I do not think your overheating is related to this, merely a coincidence. How much pressure is in an ac system has no effect on how your engine cooling system is. You need to diagnose that one seperately.
For starters, it helps us to know what year, make and model of car you have. I don't know if you have a Yugo, a Lambo or something in between unless you tell me.
When you try to diagnose an ac issue, you need to have a manifold gauge set that shows both the high side and low side pressure. Even then, you cannot charge by pressure readings. Being undercharged by as little as an ounce or two can cause poor or no ac cooling on some systems, and in the same token being overcharged by the same amount can grenade the system. The only way to charge it is to first fully evacuate the system, place it in a vacuum and recharge by exact weight along with being able to measure how much oil came out to be able to put that amount back in. The machine that does this isn't cheap.
You didn't have a machine though. You didn't even have manifold gauges, didn't test anything electrically, you just had a Death Kit to feed it. Thats what we call those cans you get with the one little gauge on it. Its because they allow people to kill their systems and our machines. Let me guess, somewhere on the can it says it has some sort of leak sealer in it, right? Well now you really screwed yourself. That stuff can once in a great while stop a very small leak, but it usually does a much better job at plugging parts that are supposed to be left open in order for the machine to work correctly or at all.
Now the real fun, and its going to be expensive. You do not have the skills or equipment to fix this and you have already done some expensive damage by feeding it a Death Kit. If you want this to have working AC, you need to take it to a shop that specializes in AC repairs and have them look at it. You need to be upfront with them before they look at it that you fed this thing a Death Kit. If they suck that crap into their $10,000 machine it is going to do hundreds in damage to it and contaminate their entire container of refrigerant. Needless to say if that happens they will not be in a good mood with you. You must be upfront about this crap being inside it to prevent this. Not telling a shop you gave it a death kit is like taking a date home and not telling her you have herpes. Its just a wrong thing to do to someone.
You aren't the first person by far to post pretty much the same story. I actually don't blame you, as you didn't know any better. Parts stores like AutoZone love to get on TV and the radio advertising how cheap it is to get your AC running, just put this can in it. They do it because they are not liable for what you do with it and how much damage is done. AC is not as simple as many think it is, and using the wrong tools or parts can turn what would be a $500 fix at a good shop into a $1500 one fast.
Until a few years ago in WI, the only people who could buy refrigerant had to have proof that they were licensed to service the systems, and you had to take a test to get the license. Honestly I wish they would go back to that so that store chains couldn't dupe people into buying and using things they thought would save them a repair bill at a shop but ended up costing them dearly in the end for it.
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chrisprattmt
New User
May 22, 2014, 1:40 AM
Post #3 of 8
(2782 views)
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Re: A/C charge didn't work and car started overheating.
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I have a 2002 chevy cavalier 2.2l
I have charged the A/C units in both my car and my wifes 1999 olds eightyeight last year the same way that i just did. It worked fairly well with absolutely no problems. Last year, i used a refrigerant that did have leak stopping oil. It worked all summer long. now, the A/C is warm and I put in strict R134A that did not have any leak stopping oil (since the previous refrigerant didn't seem to help that).
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chrisprattmt
New User
May 22, 2014, 11:04 AM
Post #5 of 8
(2766 views)
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Re: A/C charge didn't work and car started overheating.
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Last year, i used a refrigerant that did have leak stopping oil. I meant to say that i got refrigerant WITHOUT leak stopping oil. I dont even know whear to start with repairing a leak for an A/C system, so asking me to do so versus doing a simple recharge is an enormous task - which, i suspect, would include replacing an entire part and not "repair" it.unless you recommend i weld something. I am NOT sending my car to a shop, I signed up with this forum to get advice for how to FIX the problem myself, not being told how stupid i am for doing something that i was ignorant of the possible harm it could cause. should I vaccum out the system and start over? replace the whole condenser/compressor? check the A/C cluth on the serpentine belt? I live near flint MI so I have plenty of part and tool recources available. My car has nearly 200,000 miles on it, and is probably worth about 500 bucks, I'm not going to spend more than the value of my car on a mechanic.
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
May 22, 2014, 2:12 PM
Post #6 of 8
(2762 views)
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Re: A/C charge didn't work and car started overheating.
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Regardless of how much you don't want to go to a shop, AC repairs are not DIY repairs. Most everyone that tries it themselves ends up just making matters a lot worse and paying out more than they would have in the first place. You can do a lot more damage than good by trying to do this yourself.
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We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
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chrisprattmt
New User
May 22, 2014, 3:22 PM
Post #7 of 8
(2760 views)
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Re: A/C charge didn't work and car started overheating.
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I thought I would say that I fixed the problem and charged the A/C in both of my old cars. The clutch wasn't turning on in my cavalier. I manually turned it on by shorting out 2 connection under the A/C condenser relay, and then put 2 cans in. (the pressure in the low pressure line was still 30 psi after the second can). It turns out that the clutch wont turn on if there is too low of pressure in the high pressure line. My cars are old and not worth much. I maybe have a year or two left in 'em, i dont want to spend alot of money. I know i have a leak in the A/C, but this fix saved me from suffering in the summer.
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
May 22, 2014, 10:30 PM
Post #8 of 8
(2756 views)
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Re: A/C charge didn't work and car started overheating.
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You didn't fix anything. You probably made the problem worse and don't even realize it by running it with the incorrect charge and no oil and charging it with straight liquid. It's not necessary to jump anything out to charge a system either.
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We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
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