Hi everyone. I'm having issues adding the R134 coolant to my 98 blazer. I'm hoping it's just a matter of user error. This is what I've done so maybe someone can tell me where I've gone wrong. I grabbed my hose/gauge thing that already had a partially used can of coolant attached to it. The handle is turned all the way clockwise so that the gas isn't coming out. I then attached the other end to the low pressure port on my car. I'm assuming it's the low pressure port because it's the one on the long cylindracal part and not on the thin diameter tubing. Also, of the two ports, it's the only one that the hose fits on. As soon as I hook up the hose, the need on the gauge goes all the way from low (0) to Red, which is the other end of the guage. On my guage, it says Red = Warning. Still, I assumed it had something with the car not being turned on. So I start the car, turn the A/C on high and go look at the guage. The guage is still in the red. I turn the handle on the coolant all the way clockwise and nothing. The can isn't getting cold so I know it's not transferring. Am I doing something wrong? I pretty sure this is the way I recharged my other car.

A little back ground here, my air blend actuator motor gear cracked, so I took out the unit to see if I could just jam the door somehow NOT going through the heating core. I was able to figure out that door all the way clock wise = heat, and all the way counter-clockwise = AC....except that there appears to be not enough coolant because all though the air coming out is not burning like a hairdryer, its not coming out cold,.....but i can tell it's not the heat. So I'm trying to add coolant. 98 degrees and the heater blaring is not fun

 

Is your compressor running?

 

Yes, the compressor is running :-(

 

Those inexpensive gauges are known to fail, lie and be a pita. For the few buck, get a new gauge and full can of gas. Add only enough that the 'silver cylinder' (the accumulator/dryer) gets cold. An over fill of 134 won't cool well.

 

I will try the new guage, but even if the guage is wrong, the coolant wasn't leaving the can. With the compressor running and the pressuer low, should the coolant started flowing into the system and the can started to get cold?

 

Sounds like the system is overfull. Get a good gauge with numbers on it. Pressure on the low side should be around 40psi with the HVAC running full blast. Any more than that and it will not cool properly

 

For 1 thing if our compressor is running you probably don't need any R134A. You have probably over charged it and that is just as bad as having no freon at all. Take it to a Professional and let them do it properly.

 

Hi guys, I was hoping I could piggyback off this thread since it is the same problem I am having with my Bravada. I had a huge crack in the line that went from the accumulator to the compressor, and I just finished installing that line. Because of the huge hole, I figured that the freon was gone out of the system, so I hooked up a can of freon, cranked the truck up, turned the a/c on full blast, and it doesn't seem to be taking a charge. After about 2 minutes, the compressor came on, but it was making a noise sort of similar to a blown engine, with a lot of tapping coming from it. I would like to think that the compressor is still good, because it is only about a year and a half old... Is there any special way I need to go about filling this truck with freon? I'm doing it the same I've done on every other vehicle, hooked it up to low side, turned the **** in to pierce the can, and then back it out so it can flow. The line attached to the can gets cool, but the accumulator just doesn't seem to be taking a charge...

Please help!

 

It can take a while to fill the system. If you are only waiting 2 minutes, you aren't waiting long enough. The only thing that is allowing the flow of refrigerant is the difference in pressure between the system & the can. As the pressure builds in the system, it takes longer and longer to drain a can. Once you get to the point that the compressor will run continuously, it should empty faster.

As far as the vibration goes, it could be the compressor going bad or could be that the cracked line blew out a lot of oil, taking it away from the compressor making it noisy... I have seen some aftermarket pumps fail prematurely, but they often fail because of lack of lubrication.

 

I just refilled mine, and I did it with the a/c off. I hooked it up, and let the freon flow until the gauge was in the green. Then I shut the valve to the can and turned on the a/c and watched to verify the running pressure. It should be at 38-40 psi when the compressor is running. I tried filling it with the compressor running, but I guess the pressure trying to get out was greater than the can pushing in?