Air conditioning question

[J. Olenko]

The air conditioning on my '02 ST doesn't seem cool enough. I know they are kind of supposed to act like a dehumidifier inside a vehicle but just very simply it just doesn't seem cold enough. I suspect it may just need a recharge. Has anyone tried one of those do it yourself recharge kits? (I believe one brand name is Redtek). Did it work, and was it easy to use?

 

[Kevin Palmer]

Several here have and if you have ONLY a minor leak, they work well.



They have both refrigerant as well as oil in them and the oil seems to somewhat plug the minor leak and often brings things back to what was normal.



Over time, you will need to do it again, but cheaper than replacing components...

 

[Brad Schultz 2]

I would do more research on anything I added to my system. I heard the Redtec uses propane which will dry out factory seals. I will have to ask my AC teck again, but if I remember correctly, he said only to use as last ditch effort to sell vehicle or just before it goes to scrap.

 

[Jim parnell]

some of the diy kits have leak sealant included, which may or may not be helpful depending on your situation.

 

[scott degroot]

Do yourself a favor and leave the DIY kit on the shelf for the next unsuspecting fool to buy and have a trusted professional look at it. Chances are that's all it needs is a recharge. The oil that is in them more than likely is not compatible with what is in your system even though they claim it is, the amount of oil that is in the can will more than likely put your system over the top for the amount of oil it is supposed to have which can hurt cooling performance. The sealant that they add is and never will be approved by any auto manufacturer and can destroy ac components. We test for sealanat in the system where I work and if any is present we have an old junk machine that we use to recover the system before working on it becuase it can mess up our machines as well.



Too many people think ac is just putting a can or 2 of refrigerant in and presto you have cold air....wrong. Some say that using the recharge kits is a cheaper alternative to having a system repaired, while that may be true what if all you needed in the first place was a 35 cent o-ring but refused to have it looked at by a professional and the oil that was in the recharge kit didn't mix well with your exsisting oil and coroded the system away from the inside out and now you need $1500 in repairs...think this sounds far fetched but it happens more than you think.

 

[James Kerr]

Also, those kits that contain oil may not be good either because your system may have leaked gas but not oil then you end up having too much oil which can damage your compressor.

 

[EddieS'04]

+2 on the over oiling issue. Even units that you see alot of oil smudge, at the leak. May still have enough oil left in the system. I learned the hard way years ago about too much oil. Busted the compressor.

 

[Ed Fenwick]

You guys are probably all correct, however, unless there is a huge leak, I have always added freon to my cars. If it needs a second can. I will add some oil. NEVER any sealant though. This $10 repair will last maybe a year. That is good for me. I just had my wife's Jeep A/C repaired for about $900.

Kewlthing, if your A/C is even a little cool, then the system still has pressure. I would give it a try.

Good luck Ed