A/c Recharge? Easy? A/c dont blow cold when its hot

[longhornsqx4]

2001 Infinity Qx4

I basically bought this car knowing something was up with the a/c. The prev owner (mechanic aparently) installed this switch that I have to flick up when I turn on the a/c. He said something went bad in the controls and was very expensive and a simple switch fixed it.

Well to turn the a/c on (01+) you just have to turn it down to 65 and push auto right? ( i think that what i tried last summer)

Anyways, itll blow decently cold when it isnt above 15 about, but when it gets hot it doesnt blow cold air for nothing. Maybe needs an a/c recahrge

Any other ideas anyone could think of or anything I can try out or check

Is a recharge hard to do yourself? I think I read you simply have to twist a can of freon on this fitting?? This happen to be the fitting?



THANKS!

[BoostTed]

It takes about 5 mins to do, very easy. Get the hose with the gauge, and about two cans of freon. I used 2 12oz canisters when I recharged mine.

Attach the hose to the car, can to the other end of the hose, turn the AC on and shake the can every so often, thats it.

[longhornsqx4]

Well I dont even know if my a/c needs a recharge, but it sounds like it right?

Or could it be another problem, do you just buy these recharge kits form the store or is online cheaper?

Just going from what you said, Ive ever seen it done, you buy a hose with a gauge seperate, then 2 cans of freon or however many I need. (but I ont really get what attaches to what, maybe I should ge the stuff first)

Is the female thread in that line what you tap into?

[bmlawless]

Well to turn the a/c on (01+) you just have to turn it down to 65 and push auto right? ( i think that what i tried last summer)

It doesn't matter if you set it to 65 or 80, but it does have to be on Auto. If the interior temp is warmer than the desired temp, the system will activate the A/C system.

In your case, it sounds like whatever system sends the signal to the electromagnetic clutch on the A/C compressor failed. The guy used a switch to turn it on as a workaround. I did the same thing on an old Corsica because I didn't want to spend several hours and a bunch of money replacing the pressure switches in an 18 year old car with 170k miles.

As far as why it isn't working, that's another story. You could be low on refrigerant, you could have a vacuum leak that is letting the flapper door inside close, or you could have a sensor that fails and closes the solenoids that allow refrigerant to flow through the system.

One thing that will help you know if you are just low is to pay attention to whether or not it works better when you are driving versus idling. Recharging is pretty easy in the newer vehicles with the R-134a refrigerant since the environmental concerns are not as drastic as the R-12. You can usually buy the pressure gauges complete with instructions at Harbor Freight cheaper than anywhere else. You can buy the refrigerant and most auto parts stores. If you really want to be cheap, Wal-mart sells an R-134a recharge kit complete with gauge. There's a crap load of stuff at JCWhitney, too.

Harbor Freight Kit

[URLhttp://www.jcwhitney.com/Recharge-Kits/600002308.jcw]JCWhitney[/URL]

[longhornsqx4]

Thanks for typing that out first of all

I "recall" last year it seemed to blow colder when moving, assuming thats because the rpms were higher, but I haven't had a day over 15 degrees here yet this year. ANyways o diagnose?Am I correct on the freon refill spot with the threaded hole though?

[longhornsqx4]

anything at all

[bmlawless]

I don't know if that's the right fill location, but the refill kit will only fit on the correct fitting. Diagnosis is hard when it's cold because the oil doesn't flow properly and there isn't enough of a temperature differential across the A/C condenser coils to make it work right. Wait until it's hot and mess with it then.

[longhornsqx4]

Well Id LOVE to do the simple recharge

So I need to buy 1-2 cans of R-134a and some sort of gauge

Anyone have a step by step

[K03sport]

Well Id LOVE to do the simple recharge

So I need to buy 1-2 cans of R-134a and some sort of gauge

Anyone have a step by step

I do know you use the port marked "L" for low side. I hope the can you buy would be able to tell you.

I tried to recharge our '04s, but I couldn't get the hose on the vavle fast enough without losing some of the green oily fluid. I only tried once because I didn't want to reduce the pressure anymore than I did on the first attempt.

I thought the fitting was pressure fit, but there are threads on the inside of the valve head instead of the traditional outside.

I was trying to diagnose a cold weather squeak and thought maybe the A/C system was low on fluid.