Pontiac Body Kits

Do R134 air conditioning recharge kits work if your car is completely out of cool air?

My car hasn't had cool air for about 4 years. The car is a '97 Pontiac Firebird and I tried to charge it once with a recharge kit, but only used 1 can. You could barely feel cool air after the charge.

Public Comments

1. Does a 97 use R134? anyway recharges "no matter which type" do work. If your didn't then you have another issue. Bad compressor or leak in hose. If it did not take a charge than you need to have it serviced.
2. The reason for that is simple. Why isn't cooling in the first place? Compressor on? did coolant leak out? If It did maybe I got a leak and constant filling won't do any good? Remember friend you don't achieve cooling with more. You need acurate pressure. Ther are many things you need to know before recharging. Take it to an a/c tech.
3. It must first be hooked up to a vacuum pump and tested for leaks. If no leaks then it must be charged from vacuum so no air is in syatem.
4. you need to run some dye through the system to see if it has any leaks before you try and re-charge it,if it has air in the system re-charging it will not help it too much,and it may leak it all back out again,they make a dye that can be added to it to see if it will leak,that would be the best to do with it first,that might save you from wasting a few cans of freon in it, then it may charge up and work fine you never know until you try it,good luck.
5. No not at all!! heres why. This is an A/C primer paper before you even start to work on your car. http://www.aa1car.com/library/2003/cm50352.htm
6. Yes, as long as your A/C system is in good repair. Since you're low on refrigerant, R134, I suggest you have your system vacuum checked for leaks. have fun.
7. The real answer to your question is yes, the kit may work. Here is why you shouldn't use a recharge kit: Theoretically, your vehicle's refrigerant (R134a) should last forever. Your AC system is a sealed unit and the refrigerant never gets used up. The only way you can lose refrigerant is by it leaking out of the system. However, if your refrigerant can leak out then air and contaminates can get in. This is bad. A recharge kit simply injects refrigerant into the system. It doesn't evacuate the system of any air and contaminates. This is critical. Your AC system should be hooked up to an AC machine in order to evacuate out all of the air and contaminates in the system. The machine will then hold a vacuum on the system to verify its integrity. Finally, the machine is able to inject new compressor oil that also contains a dye that will enable the leak to be located. If you use that recharge kit, you stand the chance of over pressurizing the AC system and causing premature compressor failure. This can be very expensive. Paying a reputable shop to evacuate and recharge your AC system is much less expensive. Seeing as how your AC system hasn't operated in over four years, it's especially critical that you have the repair to your AC system performed correctly. Your AC system's seals will have dried out and the new compressor oil will be critical in helping to recondition those seals. Good luck.