AC Does not work well

[jasonck08]

Last summer when I was given my 89 camry from my grandfather, the AC worked very well. It would blow very cold air out rather quickly. This summer, it does little to nothing, and takes forever to even git a slight bit cool. What do I need to do to make it work better? Recharge the freon?

Thanks!

[txturbo]

you are probably low on freon. Is the compressor still coming on?

[DAT RICE]

hi, i have the same issue, mine worked fine last year. what is freon? i'm a noob cake. I have a 87 camry.

[txturbo]

its the refrigerant in the a/c system that performs the cooling action.

[jasonck08]

Whats the best way to get freon? A particular auto shop? Aproximate price? Or is it easy to DIY? And yes the compressor is comming on. The AC just hardly does anything but blows a small amount of semi-cool air. It does not get cold like it use to..

[txturbo]

auto parts store......if you don't know what it is or where to get it, its best you take it to a mechanic and have it chrged.

[jasonck08]

Can someone show me where I put the freon in, if I were to purchase one of those bottle things from walmart for like $12 with the pressure gage and all that... Thanks in advance!

[nuron]

I'm pretty sure those bottles are r134, whereas our old systems are r12.

[jasonck08]

Shit... I heard in California you have to have a special license to do handel r12?

What do you think is the easiest / cheapest way to get this issue resolved?

Also, I was just reading about R12 Alternatives such as Freeze 12. Anyone have any experience with this?

Having a good working AC is a must, as where I live it can get up to 115F in the summer!

[atobe]

pay to have it refilled ??? i paid 60$ a few months ago cold ac again yay !

[jasonck08]

All the shops around here require a "AC checkup" and that costs like $40 for them to run there checks for leaks and stuff. And then I don't know how much it costs for R12...

Atobe, where did you get yours refilled... at a franchise? Also does your car use R12?

[atobe]

no a small shop where i always take my car.. of course it's R12 if it was r134 i would done it myself instead and save 40$

[malayan]

Do not do it yourself. If you go to a mechanic of radiator shop they will tell you if your system hs been converted to r134a.

* Note...always check LOW SIDES pressure with gauges while engine is running..... if you connect the can to a line with too much pressure the can will burst and you will end up in the hospital (hope they have AC)
*** Never attempt to charge freon yourself without gauges...OK I warned you

If it needs converting a TRAINED mechanic does the following

This requires new R134a hose fittings that go over your old ones.
if it needs retro fitting....they add the fittings....
....Then you need new "O" rings on your compressor connections and R134a compressor oil put in your compressor per specs in manual.
.
...Then the whole old R12( if any) and remaining trapped air and moisture need to be removed from system by a special machine.


......Then using that special machine a vaccum is created to see if it holds the vaccum before adding freon ( if you do not do this step, you will have moisure & air in the system and the freon will just leak back out). After the vaccum is created , let it sit for 10-20 minutes while the gauges are still hooked up and come back to see if the vaccum is still where you left it....If so then they ad freon ( in yet another special way ) not allowing the pressure to go over 45lbs. (These Camry's 2.0 about 12-20 oz is plenty) Then you drive arond for a couple of weeks . If it still gets cold then you are lucky...no slow leaks Otherwise you re now looking for a sllloooowww leak.

* Note...always check LOW SIDES pressure with gauges while engine is running..... if you connect the can to a line with too much pressure the can will burst and you will end up in the hospital (hope they have AC)
*** Never attempt to charge freon yourself without gauges...OK I warned you

if your system has been retro fitted already then I recomend that they instll new "O" rings in the compressor , Vaccumm the system then charge with more R134a. again hope you still have cold air after a month or you have a slow leak which was the cause in the first place.

Hope this helps and

BE SAFE..... LET A TRAINED PERSON HELP YOU WITH THIS ONE!

[jasonck08]

Converting it to use R134 is too expensive... If they won't put R12 directly in there, I think the best and cheapest solution would to have them take out the last little bit of R12, and then put in Freeze 12 (works better than r134 I hear).

[Justin727]

The only reason why I'll be converting is because the compressor just started making noises hence a replacement is needed..
Very fortunate I have access to a R134 machine.