If your interested in more information on mobile a/c systems check out MACS - mobile air conditioning society. They have a study guide on the 609 Cert that covers r134a do's and don'ts. You need to watch how much oil is added to a system. If yours hasn't been flushed or had oil removed there is a possibility that you have too much in there.
i believe for the most part it was empty and I lost a lot of oil in the compressor and manifold hose in transit from GA when I got cut off and it all tumbled and spilled. I checked that the hoses and compressor were empty before I installed it but if it lasts the summer I may have it flushed and replace the compressor and drier with oem parts as the used compressor had 320k on it when I pulled it from the donor. that will help me be sure I have the exact amount of oil in there. if everything works for the summer I will just run it till it shows signs of failure.
""I hope you cleaned that valve before you put it back together.. there was a fair amount of YUCK on it.... ""
yeah, i let it sit in gas for a bit and took an old tooth brush to it then hit it with compressed air. I dipped it in some of the ac oil before installing it.
""And used O ring...not my FIRST choice.. was the donor car a R 134 system? ""
well, I didn't trust the o rings auto zone was selling and the donor was a near perfect match and it was what I had, it came from an 05 kia so it wasn't too old. the rest of the seals were in great condition and not hard at all, i could see no signs of age on them. any connection I opened got some oil on the seal before being re connected and I believe that helped a great deal.