ToddA1
Top Post Dawg
I finally decided to do something about my abysmal air conditioning on my B4V, due to tomorrow's 90° forecast. Easy enough, right? The car that I bought, last year, just for functional air conditioning...
Went to Autozone Friday night and picked up a flush kit, manifold gauge set, vacuum pump, PAG 46, and 2 o-ring kits. Saturday morning, I hook up the gauge set and the port connections are defective. I need to push and hold them to have the pins depress the port valves. Screw it, I know the system works somewhat and it holds pressure, I don't need to see the actual pressures. I'll go back when I'm ready to charge the system.
I decide to pull everything apart to start flushing. Everything is coming apart easily and I'm making good time. I encounter one bolt that's stripped and it's probably the toughest one to get to. It's the lower 4mm allen bolt on the TXV, tucked up nicely under the rain tray. I'm not willing to pull the dash to get the parts on a bench.
I cut a slot in the head making a flathead screw... no luck. I can't drill the head off because the slot, so I grind the entire head off. Still can't get it off because of the corrosion... I'm sure it's along the entire bolt. I end up breaking a screwdriver trying to pry the clamp away from the TXV. I finally decide to use a rotary tool to cut along the bolt, front to back. I end up burning out a newer B&D rotary tool. I go back with a die grinder and cut off wheel. After cutting, I'm finally able to separate the parts. I lost close to 2 hours on this...
I spend a few hours flushing all the parts and decide to run back to Autozone to exchange the gauge set. I had to go to a couple before I found one in stock. I keep flushing and start hooking everything up before quitting for the night.
Today, I'm pulling vacuum (30 minutes) by early afternoon; shut it down and it holds 30hg for over an hour. I decide to continue the deep vacuum while I replace the front end... maybe another 1.5 hours.
Off topic, but I also decided to clean out the intercooler since I had easy access. This is how I dried it out. I let the blower run on 3/4 throttle for about 30 minutes.
The car is back together and I start charging. The pedal is propped to 1200 rpm. 75°F ambient temperature, a/c is set to max and recirculate; the vents are putting out a steady 50°F during the charge, but after the last can is empty, the temperature rises to 52°.
I used 4 (12 oz.) cans, because I couldn't figure out a good way to determine how much freon I was adding. Every time I disconnected a can, it wasn't 100% empty, although it felt like it was. I was also losing freon when I was purging the charge line. I guessed that 2 oz was lost with each can swap/purge.
The low side eventually stabilized to 26 lbs, but the high side read 105 lbs. I can't find anything via Google regarding a low high side port pressure, so I'm thinking the gauge set is defective. I'll get another gauge set and verify.
I remove the low side quick connect, then the high side. A geyser of freon and oil erupt from the high side and I can't get it to stop... the valve is stuck open! F*CK, I just lost about 15 hours in time and $60 in freon and oil. I put the port caps back on, and go get fuel.
I really don't want to go through the ordeal of flushing everything again. OK, now the questions:
Went to Autozone Friday night and picked up a flush kit, manifold gauge set, vacuum pump, PAG 46, and 2 o-ring kits. Saturday morning, I hook up the gauge set and the port connections are defective. I need to push and hold them to have the pins depress the port valves. Screw it, I know the system works somewhat and it holds pressure, I don't need to see the actual pressures. I'll go back when I'm ready to charge the system.
I decide to pull everything apart to start flushing. Everything is coming apart easily and I'm making good time. I encounter one bolt that's stripped and it's probably the toughest one to get to. It's the lower 4mm allen bolt on the TXV, tucked up nicely under the rain tray. I'm not willing to pull the dash to get the parts on a bench.
I cut a slot in the head making a flathead screw... no luck. I can't drill the head off because the slot, so I grind the entire head off. Still can't get it off because of the corrosion... I'm sure it's along the entire bolt. I end up breaking a screwdriver trying to pry the clamp away from the TXV. I finally decide to use a rotary tool to cut along the bolt, front to back. I end up burning out a newer B&D rotary tool. I go back with a die grinder and cut off wheel. After cutting, I'm finally able to separate the parts. I lost close to 2 hours on this...
I spend a few hours flushing all the parts and decide to run back to Autozone to exchange the gauge set. I had to go to a couple before I found one in stock. I keep flushing and start hooking everything up before quitting for the night.
Today, I'm pulling vacuum (30 minutes) by early afternoon; shut it down and it holds 30hg for over an hour. I decide to continue the deep vacuum while I replace the front end... maybe another 1.5 hours.
Off topic, but I also decided to clean out the intercooler since I had easy access. This is how I dried it out. I let the blower run on 3/4 throttle for about 30 minutes.
The car is back together and I start charging. The pedal is propped to 1200 rpm. 75°F ambient temperature, a/c is set to max and recirculate; the vents are putting out a steady 50°F during the charge, but after the last can is empty, the temperature rises to 52°.
I used 4 (12 oz.) cans, because I couldn't figure out a good way to determine how much freon I was adding. Every time I disconnected a can, it wasn't 100% empty, although it felt like it was. I was also losing freon when I was purging the charge line. I guessed that 2 oz was lost with each can swap/purge.
The low side eventually stabilized to 26 lbs, but the high side read 105 lbs. I can't find anything via Google regarding a low high side port pressure, so I'm thinking the gauge set is defective. I'll get another gauge set and verify.
I remove the low side quick connect, then the high side. A geyser of freon and oil erupt from the high side and I can't get it to stop... the valve is stuck open! F*CK, I just lost about 15 hours in time and $60 in freon and oil. I put the port caps back on, and go get fuel.
I really don't want to go through the ordeal of flushing everything again. OK, now the questions:
- How do you determine freon weight when using individual cans?
- Any ideas on the low, high side pressure? The compressor has yellow writing on it, like it's a junkyard part. Think it's going out?
- Should the vent temperature have been lower considering the 75° ambient temperature? I was hoping to see low to mid 40°s.
- I plan on swapping the port valves, deep vacuuming and recharging. How do I determine how much oil was lost? I was planning on adding a couple more ounces. Is too much oil a bad thing?
- I'm thinking the drier will still be in a sealed system, so it won't need to be replaced... opinions?