I have a 2005 TL and was wondering if I can use the A/C recharge kits from store shelves or do I have to bring my vehicle in to get this done. Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks all!

 

I was down that aisle of the store today wondering the same thing myself

 

Sure anyone can use it, but you've got to make certain what the problem is rather than just throwing refrigerant into the system. If you overcharge the system the a/c won't function properly, similar to an undercharge condition. The sytem is not designed to leak any gas, so if it's low there is a problem. I'd have someone put gauges on the system to check.

 

^yeah what he said

you can do 1 of 2 things

1. add dye and see where it leaks out and then make repairs
2. have someone diag it and make repairs


overcharge will result in compressor kicking on and off constantly and undercharge = no compressor action at all

 

Thanks for answering me guys but How often does your car need to be recharged because I've owned my TL for 4 years now. My A/C is working fine considering I only use it maybe 1 to 2 months out of the whole year and that's not using it at a constant use. Thanks again

 

my 8 year old accord never needed it and my CL didn;t need it at 8 years. I then had the car repaired after an accident and they used an aftermarket part (condensor) and now I am doing the repair with acura parts

 

It's like any "sealed" system; hypothetically it should never need any refrigerant added. I have a 23 year old RX7, A/C works perfect and has never needed any refrigerant and I'm the original owner.

 

Just a thought, you may want to run your A/C more often to lubricate the seals in the system.

I make it a point to run it 15 minutes at least once a week during one drive since it pretty much sits 5 days out of the week.

 

I manually charged mine a few weeks ago and inadvertently overcharged it because of the gauge on the bottle. This has caused my compressor to engage/disengage constantly and the A/C to not work.

Like everyone said, just use caution. Luckily I have a friend with some real A/C gauges and we are going to get the levels equalized. If you know anyone with the actual gauges you might try that first, before you use the bottle.

I even work for a major auto parts retailer (probably shouldn't say who), but I can remember customers complaining about those things constantly when I worked at the store.

 

To comment on this further, it is a "sealed" system yes, but so are the tires on your car. The difference between R134A and R-12 is the size of the actual molecules themselves. R134A has much smaller molecules, thus it cools much more efficiently. A side effect to this is that those smaller molecules are much harder to keep in a "closed" system. So they DO gradually escape via seals, and even the rubber portions of the A/C hose itself.

Your 1990 (if original) is most likely still using R-12 (if you never changed it, it would be right? Because you never retrofitted) then you are correct in that you probably never have had to service it, because R-12 was known for longevity as long as the closed system remained closed. Larger molecules also account for less escape in the system.

 

A little more info in that when R134a is retrofitted into a R12 system, and as the hoses are not of the proper construction, the R134 will leak out, but in factory R134a system the hoses are specifically designed to retain the refrigerant. Got a 2k Mazima with well over 200k miles and not a problem.

My son in law has my wife's old '96 Grand Cherokee and in 2001 the evap rotted out, so did a replacement, normal for those SUV's, 2008 he took the Jeep and to this day with 290k miles, same hoses, compressor, etc. and same charge.

They shouldn't leak.

 

I just got done servicing mine with some actual gauges.

The "quick can" I got showed 45psi, the actual gauge showed me at 125psi.

Vented a ton of it, topped it off and equalized and now my compressor isn't cycling every 30 seconds. So, lesson learned, I didn't need to add any and I shouldn't have.

@Turbo- I know what you're saying, it shouldn't leak and generally won't, but it is not 100% perfect. Your tires also shouldn't leak, antifreeze shouldn't be consumed or need to be filled, but the honest truth is that all of that stuff does occasionally need to be serviced, it needs to be checked at the very least. That's the only point I was trying to make. You also have to remember, you live in N.J., I'm sure you don't get too many 110 degree summers with 80% humidity (present summer excluded, I feel bad for you guys on the east coast). In areas where the A/C is ran for 6 months out of the year during 80 degrees +, servicing them becomes a bit more of a needed thing.

 

Can't say that units never need service, but never need any maintenance unless there is a problem, but if the refrigerant is low there is a leak. I have an electronic leak detector and have seen many leaks, seals, gaskets, "O" rings, Schrader valves, hoses, etc, but in all my years of driving and the millions of miles driven there has only be a few times I've needed to do work on the A/C system of our cars, 2 Grand Cherokees with rotted evaps, 1 GC with a blend door problem, and a compressor replacement because of bad reed valves causing the compressor to lock up. Have worked on many A/C systems that have lost the complete or partial charge due to a problem within the system, but comparing the refrigerant to air pressure and/or anti freeze is really not a great analogy, but how about trying a refrigerator or freezer and we see that they will last for decades without recharge, unless something goes awry.

Nothing takes the place of evacuating the system, leave the pump run for an hour to boil off the water vapor, then charge by weight and gauges as the do it yourself cans are hit and miss, but most people just want to be cool in their vehicle and save the money a pro would charge.

 

Just had my a/c system evacuated and recharged.

10 year old car, first time the a/c system was serviced. The a/c system just wasn't performing as well...it was cool air, not super cold like it used to be. Plus it would take a while before the air became cool in 90+ degree weather.

Anyways, went to an independent local shop. Charged $70 total for evacuate and recharge. They had one of those all-in-one automated a/c machines. Pop the hood, make the connection to the refrigeration ports, hit the button on the a/c machine to evacuate the system, then come back in 10 minutes. Tech comes back, looks at the info under the hood for amount of refrigerant, enters that info into the a/c machine, and hits the button to recharge the system. 10 minutes later, comes back, disconnects the connections to the refrigeration ports, and that's it. Simple, done in less than 30 minutes, while waited. At that price, why even bother trying to DIY, and possibly screw it up!

Now it works great! Cold air, and gets cold quickly like it did when new!

 

I have a Snap-On A/C recharging station, the machine makes the job easy and keeps the refrigerant out of the atmosphere.

 

My 05 TL isn't cooling like it used to! How much have people been paying at the dealer to recharge? Since the car is 15 years old... is it safe to assume it needs a recharge? TY

 

Take it to an independent shop. It will be cheaper. About $65 for a recharge.

 

It should never "need" a recharge based on age. If it needs a recharge it is because there is a leak.

 

As above, if refrigerant is low there's a leak.
I've got a 31 year old vehicle that we purchased new and has never needed a recharge thank
goodness, as it contains R12 refrigerant.

 

Ended up recharging it myself yesterday - got the AC Pro Extreme kit at Autozone for $35 after rebate. My psi was down to 9! With AC on blast the temp of the cold air went from 80 down to 50! 10 minutes to do and the AC Pro Extreme has a digital screen to walk you through it.

 

Guess we'll wait and see how long it will last, leaks once will leak again.

 

I would take it to a mechanic if I were you to make sure there aren’t any underlying issues. I used AC Pro on my 2006 TL when the compressor clutch was not engaging and the built up “leak sealer” they put it that stuff almost ruined my entire system. They had to flush it all out and put fresh coolant in after replacing the clutch, which was the reason it wasn’t blowing cold in the first place.

 

Just a couple of things
- Sometimes, it's not the Freon being low, it's the actuators inside of the car that don't close the baffle for the heater core. You can tell when one side (driver/passenger) is cooler than the other.
- Also, I find that the newer cars are very sensitive on the amount of freon used. Many times around 18 ounces (depending on individual specs). Depending on the outside temp, the pressure will be different (hotter-higher pressure). I love the shops that use the all-in-one systems because they put in exactly what your car calls for.

I live in new orleans so I use the a/c all the time. Keep in mind that when you use your defroster, it also runs the a/c to reduce humidity so the a/c also runs in cold climates (referring to an earlier comment that they only use the a/c two months out of the year).