RECHARGE AC

[Mr.Ted]

I need to know for sure about the R 134 to recharge the AC for a 1998 Expedition EB 5.4

 

[stamp11127]

What do you need to know?

 

[1955moose]

If you've got front and rear AC , 62 ounces, front only 37 ounces r134a. That's total empty system. Pag 46 oil is 11 ounces front/rear air, 9 if front only. Hope that gets you started.

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[Mr.Ted]

THANKS MOOSE

 

[1955moose]

No prob.

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[Mr.Ted]

Hey mr Moose do I really need to mess with the back? If I don't will that effect the performance of the whole unit. Also went to WalMart and Auto Zone they had a can with the meter gauge on it for $33/ WM and AZ $30 but WM had a small can $6 is the meter important?

 

[stamp11127]

Lets see, those of us that work on ac systems spend $250-350 for a set of stand alone pressure gauges, $4,000-$7000 on just one recovery unit that also has built in gauges. So I think being able to know what the low and high side pressures are might be important.

It would be prudent to change the service ports and pull a vacuum on the system to check for leaks before dumping in the refrigerant.

Those gauge cans are a joke. They are made for the uneducated in ac operation and take your money. You recharge an automotive ac system by weight of refrigerant while monitoring the pressure readings. You just don't toss a few cans in and say its good. The gauge is a cheap china guess gauge. You may get it to cool but what is the high side pressure?
Also stay away from any that contain ac system sealer. They do more damage to the system.

Hey Moose, have you checked the cost of 10lbs of yf1234?

 

[1955moose]

No I haven't. Do they make a set of gauges I can hook up to me? I'm pumping in 3, 25 oz Budweiser beers right now! Oh yeah that's my blood pressure tester back at the house. Ted, listen to stamp, he's done more AC work than probably every one here combined. Don't cheap out on the cans with the gauge. If you overfill the AC by more than 10 ounces, it can come out everywhere and damage the system. I once over filled my Datsun 280zx, it looked like Christmas under the hood. As to your question can you fill just the front, I thought their was one charge point, and it took 62 ounces. When you charge it, it's for front, and back. You should have settings front and rear at coldest, and fans on high, with doors open. Any of the others want to confirm/deny. I personally haven't had to charge mine. You should be able to rent the R134a gauges from one of the major auto parts tool rent programs. It's free once you return them unharmed.

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[TobyU]

Don't waste the money on the large cans or gauge cans. Sales gimmick.
Get a 10-12.00 charging hose and buy the 12 oz cans. Get 3-4 cans.
You didn't give us much info about it. Does it cool at all? Does the compressor clutch kick on at all?
Did it work previously or have you had it that long?

Most just get low and kick on and off and stop getting cold. Some get a fast leak or catch a rock in the condenser and leak out quickly and stop coming on altogether.

Walmart has cans for 4.88 Rural King for 3.99 and they are the old good style ones. You will need an adapter for the new self sealing cans that walmart sells.
It is only about $3.

Your fill port is on the accumulator/dryer near the firewall on pass side.
Should have a black screw on cap on it.
You can push the inside valve core down with a small screwdriver carefully and if it has any pressure it will blow out a little.
That;s a good thing as you don't want to find an empty system = big leak unless someone had it open to replace a compressor or something else and didn't recharge it.
Either way bad.
If you have pressure hook the charging hose to the can and pierce the top (if using old style can) and hook to fill port on car.
open valve on hose and shake the can as it goes in.
You might hear a little click when the pressure switch kicks in.
Then you can start the car and turn ac on max hi fan recirc.

It should suck the can in and you will be able to tell when it is empty and no thing left sloshing around in it.
Then take hose off of port and reload another can and repeat.

If you see or hear any hissing leaking then you have a bad leak and can stop without wasting any more r-134a.

As pressure comes up the compressor will come on for 3-4 seconds then off again. As more goes in it will stay on longer. Then it will stay on all the time.

2-3 cans should get you cycling nice or even staying on most of time.
The large aluminum (usually silver metal) line will get cold and sweaty when you are getting close to correct charge.

It is nice to have gauges to see the pressures before you start and watch the high side go up and low side go down, but you can get by with this basic way as many did for decades.

I grew up in the time of $.88 cans of Freon R-12 every year in a whole endcap display at K-Mart.

 

[Mr.Ted]

THANKS guys now I have to make up my mind what to do. I don't have $250.00 or $350. 00 too have it done, however I don't want too blow the darn thing up and it cost even more to repair. Living on Social Security and pension sucks not like when I was working .Thanks for your help.

 

[1955moose]

Ted, I feel your pain. I too am on real limited $ these days too. Do like Toby said, pick up about 4, 12 oz cans and the hose to put each in. That's the cheap way, and you know your doing it 12 oz at a time. Do a few, feel how cold the AC is. It's not the right way, but hey, got to do what you gotta do. With out evacuation of old freon, your guessing how much is in there. Is your AC blowing cold at all? Is the AC clutch on compressor clicking on/off when AC is engaged. 12 oz at a time is your safest bet. Just make sure to wear safety glasses, and gloves. Those little cans get cold once you puncture the top. Good luck.

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[TobyU]

You can't hurt or blow anything up by simply adding one can to it. Even if it was fully charged that wouldn't be enough to blow the line.
Being an older car most likely thing is it's low on charge so when you open up the can of freon and let it go into the accumulator bottle the pressure will rise and the clutch will kick on for at least a few seconds. This tells you it's low so you know it's not over charged. Then you can add two cans and see how cold it gets.

 

[rjdelp7]

I charged my 1999 Town Car, with a $20 Walmart freon/gauge can. It was a slow process, but worked(temp fix). My Expedition(in 2014) had a coating of oil mist on the engine. The compressor was making noise and warm air. $900 later, it needed a new line(leak), compressor, condenser(leaks), and a accumulator. The shop saved about 2.5lbs of freon(holds 3.5lbs), with there machine. Just adding a can of freon, would been a waste in my case.

 

[crazyjerry]

I have a 97 expedition, my front air works fine, my rear air works when it wants to. cannot find the reyay for it. can you help me plesse.