[coloradotrout]

So this is getting interesting.

I reattached the gauges and with no AC, both read 80. Equal and that makes sense. Then I started the car and AC, and the low went to 25 and the high 175. I shut off the AC and it took 5 minute or longer to get the low to 70 and the high to around 125. Somewhere I read they should balance out within a few minutes.

[coloradotrout]

Is 35/225 psi at idle with 75F and 60 RH ok? Someplaces I read that 225 is high and maybe indicative of blockage in the expansion valve (which we did not replace). At higher rpms high side climbs to 300 plus.

Also, when you remove the gauges there is some refrigerant loss from the line. Does that add up much?

[coloradotrout]

Shall I evacuate and start over? I’m good with that if needed.

Guages/pump – $0 rental from OReilly
R134A, 2 x 12oz – $10 Walmart

Very low cost to try again. If damage to my new compressor, dryer, condenser is likely, I can evacuate and recharge.

[coloradotrout]

Got guage and vac pump from O’Reilly, two 12oz cans of R134a from Walmart, and the self sealing can adapter from O’Reilly 2nd trip.

Ran vac for an hour, then let it sit for another hour. No leaks.

I attached the first can and bled it out at the manifold yellow valve. All vapor so hard to know exactly when, but I hit it for a few seconds. I opened the low pressure side and gently shook and rolled the can with the ac on. It took awhile, maybe 5 to 7 minutes. I was getting some leaks around the connection at the can; just needed to tighten connection. Now the bad news. When i disconnected the can i forget to close off the knob on the manifold. It was a few seconds before i realized and then quickly shut it off. I then attached the 2nd can, emptied it, and disconnected everything correctly.

It blows 50F with 70 outside and 70 humidity tonight.

Thoughts? Kicking myself for letting that air in.

[coloradotrout]

Good callout ‘relative4’, my O’Reilly has guages and pump. I’ll Google up how or point me to a video please. $20 vs 100 is reason enough to consider.

I found the ETCG vids; any other tips?

[coloradotrout]

Yeah I know. But there’s a fair bit of positive feedback on the maxlife. So just asking.

[coloradotrout]

Thanks. Shop quoted me $59 plus R134 to vac down and charge. That is getting down into the territory where its hard to jusify tools.

[coloradotrout]

No visible shavings at firewall. Using compressed air I blew out the line from dryer to evaparator. Grey oil but no shavings. New compressor, dryer and condenser, new o rings wherever I pulled a line. Oil into those 3 components. I guess now I take to the shop for vacuum and charge. I’m tempted to buy a manifold and vacuum pump, but not sure I would use it again.

[coloradotrout]

Condenser comes right after compressor and costs $47. I will replace it.

[coloradotrout]

I went with Moog despite being lower priced than B/A. Moog ES3331R and ES3332R which are suppose to be their higher quality “Problem Solver” line. We’ll see.

[coloradotrout]

Thanks. I did only see shavings on the inlet side of the dryer, nothing visible on the outlet side. Do I just pull the line at the firewall and look? Or should I remove the expansion valve itself and look?

The route is compressor to condenser, to dryer, to expansion valve (with the evaporator), to evaporator, back to compressor. The expansion valve is part of the evaporator assembly under the glovebox.

Should I use compressed air to blow out the lines from compressor to condenser, condenser to dryer, and dryer to firewall (assuming I see no more shavings beyond that point)?

[Author]

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