Hi.

My AC is dead. a Mechanic looked at it and said it would be very expensive to fix.... ho well.

I would like to add some gas myself and try to squeeze a few weeks out of it for this summer... I could buy a AC gas DIY kit for about $60.00

can someone tell me where is located the plug for filling it up please ?

and do you have good , or bad experiences you like to share on this? did it help you car ?

thanks for the help

stef.

 

Stef, what did the mechanic say was wrong with it? I assume you are referring to R135 Freon which is a liquid, not gas. Yes you can service it yourself if the system is LOW. If it's not now your problem would cause your servicing to be in vain.

 

rspi, thanks for your interest

well it 's a long story.
I bought the car from my dad's estate. he passed aways... I gave it to a young guy that works ( presumably as a mechanic ) at a Volvo dealer. the kid did an inspection on the car and all.. between other things to change, he said the condenser ( small metal bottle in the lower front of the engine ) was all rusted and had to be changed. So , me not knowing **** about mechanic, I said OK. paid $100 to have this part changed...next thing the kid say OK now all you have to do is filling up the liquid ( not gas....) how much I said, he said $60 usually but he wouldn't do this kind of work. so I called a Volvo garage , they said no it's not 60 , it 's 140 for an inspection and fill up... ho lala...

the same day I went to a tire garage to buy tires. I asked the owner if he do ACs, he said yes. he's got a specialiste for that and its onw garage bay...he took a look at it for free , and came back with the bad new... everything has to be changed ( but the new condenser...) he said compressor, something else, and the lines, and he couldn't tell about the part inside the car in the dash. he said around 1500 for the job...

I am very disappointed at me spending $100 for changing a part from a dead AC system anyway.
I was hoping by putting liquid in the system, this thing would magically get back to work...of course I will not spend 1500 on the ac on this 13yo car...
I have no way of knowing if the car has been AC dead for long or not....

basically I am willing to put a $60 bet on the AC

what do you think?

is everything regarding AC cooked on a 1998 Volvo ?

stef.

 

I have never heard of an entire system being bad. Maybe if system was open and rusted out inside. You can get a couple of cans of the freon, service it and see what happens. The worse that could happen is that the stuff leak out in a day or two and the compressor never kick on.

It isn't that hard to put the stuff in. You should get the gauge and 2 or 3 cans of the freon (get the freon with leak detection dye in it). Only install it with the car running, the AC turned on full blast. There is a connection beside the computer modual holder just behind the dryer that was installed. If you follow the lines from the firewall you will see a bolt on the line, remove it, just a valve stem cover. Shouldn't be on that tight but for some reason people tighten those up. The gauge will slip on with the quick release and will the system on full blast you should add the freon until you have about 45 to 50 psi. Do read the directions on the can and fillow them.

 

thank you .

will try that.

regards

stef

 

I have never had luck with the cans you buy from the auto parts store, I bought my car almost 3 years ago, and tried that route many times. Last week when my mobile mechanic was doing my timing belt, I asked him to check it, he used a can, maybe 3-5 gallons, bout the size of a small helium tank for a party. It works just like a new car, the small cans just dont have enough pressure to fill the system is what he said.

 

I have used cans and have never had a problem. There is different quality stuff out there.

I'm sure he didn't put 3 to 5 gallons in your system. It only holds about 1.5 lbs.

 

no **** sherlock, I only meant the smaller cans don't have very much pressure, not to mention its a pain in the *** to shake it while filling with the 6 inch hose they come with

 

My hose is about 12" long so it's not as bad. Sad to say, everyone can not afford to pay $70 to $120 to get their AC serviced. A water bill might be more important.

 

I use them all the time in 3 different cars, not the volvo yet, knock on wood

 

There is so much BS out there about AC work. It is not that complicated. As a shop owner, I use a lot of cans because it is easy to store, easy to handle and easy to measure. The cans have plenty of pressure to go into an AC system on the low side. The person who told you otherwise is, well...stupid.

The only way to do this "right" is to recover the entire charge and leak test via vacuum. Then, add some recycled refrigerant for a pressure leak test. Replace what leaks.

When you are satisifed that the leaks are fixed, vacuum for 30 minutes and add refrigerant oil, and then 3 cans of 12 oz R134a. It will cool like a refrigerator.

 

I guess that is what this Saturn needs. It's 100+ here and this system is just cool enough to stop me from sweating.