Tech Tip - fix your own car’s A/C

July 27, 2005 on 8:41 am | In Tech Tips |

My car’s A/C has been going downhill gradually for years.  I mentioned needing to take it to the shop (but being too busy to do so) to my Dad.  In typical Dad fashion, he said “what’s a matter with you, go to the parts store and get a can of the refill stuff.”  “You can do it yourself?” I replied.

[Note:  my car is newer (1997)…having R-134a refrigerant.  If your car doesn’t have R-134a (there is usually a sticker inside your hood), then you’ll likely need professional help.]

So…I went to my local auto parts store.  I told the clerk what I was looking for and she took me to the appropriate aisle.  There were various ways of doing it, some of which entailed buying valve kits, etc.  I settled on a ~$25 can with a built in gauge (and covered with detailed instructions on how to do it).  Talk with the parts monger…they’ll make sure you buy the right kit/materials.  [of course, if you don’t know what you are doing…don’t do it yourself, I’m not responsible, yada yada yada].

Following the instructions on the can it took about 5 minutes to bring by A/C back from blowing warm air to blowing really cold air (as cold as I ever remember it).

Additional resources:  http://wiki.ehow.com/Fix-Cars-Air-Conditioning

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2 Comments

  1. On an older car with “Freon” I had a shop suck out the freon. He kept the freon and I did not get charged for the removal. You can then get a conversion kit to reload it with r-134a which you can do quickly and easily with the ability to do future refills yourself. Worked nicely and recouped an older system for less than the cost of freon which is expensive now. At the time I did this for my truck and my wife’s car.

    Comment by Lan Brooks — July 27, 2005 #

  2. Addendum: I didn’t even use that much of the can. I brought the half(?) used can into work and one of the other attorneys in the office used it on his car (with some to spare). 2 for < $25.

    I wonder if automechanic blogs talk about how to do pro se legal work… ;)

    Comment by nipper — July 27, 2005 #

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