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I have my son's 2006 XC90 for the week while he is out of town. When he bought the car the seller noted he had replaced the air conditioner compressor (new) but never went through the process of getting it charged with refrigerant and working. I offered to do that for him.
I have a vacuum pump and a manifold gauge set. In the past I've been able to successfully vacuum an a/c system and recharged....but not on a Volvo. A brief search online of "step by step" suggestions for what I'm proposing to do with the Volvo has come up empty.
I would appreciate any help you could provide, to include the type of PAG oil and how much to put in, how many cans of refrigerant to put in, etc, step by step stuff, etc.
Thank you in advance for your help.
PS: I spent not much more than 10 minutes under the hood tonight looking for the A/C service ports. Low pressure; no problem. Where the heck is the high pressure port?
I thought of something else in terms of PAG oil. My son does not know if the new compressor installed (and not charged) came with the appropriate amount of oil in it.
I think I figured it out. Its connected to the receiver/drier, correct?
Correct, right on top of the condenser assembly.
There should be a sticker under the hood with the correct fill amount.
Then it's pretty standard to pull a vacuum for at least 15 minutes (the longer, the better) and recharge with the appropriate amount of refrigerant.
As for the oil, no way to know if there was oil or how much in the compressor. A proper refrigerant recovery machine has the ability to remove oil during recovery and measure it. I don't know if there's a way to do that with your setup.
While I wait for s new receiver drier to arrive, I decided to pull a vacuum down to 28. In less than an hour it was back up to zero. So, I suspect there is a leak somewhere. It's possible that there may be a leak in the gauges. I made sure they were nice and snug.
Should I wait for the new receiver drier to arrive and install before putting in some dye to hunt for the leak?
I pulled a vacuum for about a half hour. After shutting off the low and high side gauges the needle was up to zero in less than an hour, so there is a leak. I decided to replace the Schrader valve cores. Prior to that I added UV detection solution through the low side. I decided to charge it with refrigerant to get the solution going to help find the leak following recommended procedures.
Problem:. Low end pressure is near 30 and moves down when the compressor cycles. (By the way the vehicle has rear AC.) High end however is extremely low.
Old-ish thread, similar issues here, looking for a little help.
Bought my 2011 3.2AWD with a damaged condenser radiator... Damaged, as in; a hole punched completely through it, (pic attached) so I knew I was going to need to fix it at some point. Previous owner disconnected the compressor harness to prevent the clutch from engaging and thus seizing because the oil might leak out before repairing it. Glad they had the foresight to do so because I think it has been at least several months to a year since it was damaged.
Weather is getting warmer so I just replaced the condenser last weekend and now need to recharge the system. I've been doing a bunch of reading/ YouTube video watching and I'm confident I can do it with the appropriate vacuum/manifold/gauge setup. (I'm a DIYer with a very high level of mechanical competence.) Probably going to grab everything from Harbor Freight or Amazon.
So I'll have access to all the procedures/ tools/ consumables, and I know from the sticker in the engine bay that it takes 2.2lbs of refrigerant, but what I don't know is how much oil... Sticker says "Volvo-PAG" oil, but not the volume. Anyone know how much to add, assuming I'm going to vacuum out any/all remaining oil in the system?
Follow up question; When I enter the vehicle info on AutoZone, it brings up the following product... Is PAG 46 correct for our vehicles? Also - should one add dye separately or use an oil with dye?
The compressor only holds a few ounces of oil. When you replace a major component you add a small amount. There's a chart in VIDA somewhere with recommendations for how much for each part replaced. But It's usually no more than an ounce for each major component. A compressor usually comes with the oil in it (if replaced.)
Your first picture is a pressurized can - what I would call "oil charge". It's a couple ounces of 134 with a couple of ounces of pag oil. I would not choose that brand - it's got ICE32 (whatever that is) in it. Just find a plain oil charge, 134 with a little oil. That method would be a good choice.
Second picture is 8 ounces of oil with uv dye. You will never use that much. And to get it into the system - you would suck it up using the vacuum you pulled in the system before you put any 134 in. Or you could pour an ounce in the condenser before installation. You could put it in your inline oil or dye injector - if you had one.
You do need to put a small amount of dye - I think 1/4 ounce is appropriate. Correct me if I'm wrong - it's been a few years.
1 kilo is approximately 35 ounces. So you'll need ~3 12 ounce cans, plus the oil method you choose.
When charging - be sure to bleed the air from the charging hose, after the can is connected but before you open the valve to let it into the system. Simply loosen the hose at the gauge manifold until freon comes out.
Thanks for the reply... So if the hole in the condenser exposed the system to the atmosphere for several months, is it likely water condensed in the system over time and thus contaminated the oil in the compressor? Would pulling vacuum on the system for an hour evacuate the oil too? How does one determine how much oil is still in the system?
I found this video by ChrisFix which looks pretty comprehensive. @hoonk Would you say it's accurate?
1. So if the hole in the condenser exposed the system to the atmosphere for several months, is it likely water condensed in the system over time and thus contaminated the oil in the compressor?
2. Would pulling vacuum on the system for an hour evacuate the oil too?
3. How does one determine how much oil is still in the system?
1. No, if there's moisture in the system (and there is) That's what the vacuum pump is for. Water boils in a complete vacuum - So any that is there will evaporate if your vacuum pump is strong enough and it's left on for perhaps an hour or so.
2. No, just the air and the moisture.
3. Drain the oil from the compressor and guess how much is left in other components. So - no practical way. Add an oil charge. But don't go crazy and add more. Too much oil is bad.
I trust you be replacing the drier since the system has been open for a while.
1. No, if there's moisture in the system (and there is) That's what the vacuum pump is for. Water boils in a complete vacuum - So any that is there will evaporate if your vacuum pump is strong enough and it's left on for perhaps an hour or so.
2. No, just the air and the moisture.
3. Drain the oil from the compressor and guess how much is left in other components. So - no practical way. Add an oil charge. But don't go crazy and add more. Too much oil is bad.
Thanks. So assuming the only damage to the system was the condenser coils, the oil in the rest of the system should not have changed, thus I only need to add enough oil for the condenser/drier - correct?
I trust you be replacing the drier since the system has been open for a while.
Guess I never followed up to say I finished recharging the system, though my pressures seem lower than typical. On an 80 degree day (this past Saturday,) pressures are supposed to be 40-50psi on the low side and 175-210psi on the high side with the AC on for a few minutes. Mine held pretty steadily around 35 low and 150 to just under 175 high. AC was cold, but not as cold as my other cars at the vents.
I’m certain I put enough Freon in it. In fact, I was worried I over-charged it because I ended up needing more cans than I calculated just to get it up to those numbers. I’m sure I wasted a little when purging the supply (yellow) line of air, but it ended up requiring five 12oz cans. Three 12oz cans would’ve been almost exactly the right amount (2.2lbs = 35.2oz.)
Any thoughts on why the pressures would be low? Everything I’ve read online says low pressures on both sides = not enough refrigerant.
I’m certain I put enough Freon in it. In fact, I was worried I over-charged it because I ended up needing more cans than I calculated just to get it up to those numbers. I’m sure I wasted a little when purging the supply (yellow) line of air, but it ended up requiring five 12oz cans.
If you put 60 ounces of freon in - you have overcharged the system. 60 ounces equals ~ 1.7 kilos.
The 3.2 compressors are variable displacement. There is a valve that controls the angle of the swash plate, controlling pressure and the cooling ability. With your "new" compressor I would not expect there to be a problem with your "new" compressor displacement valve - But who knows? Is it connected? (there are two leads plugged into the compressor. One for the clutch another for the valve)
I would start from scratch. Properly recycle your freon, evacuate and recharge with 1.0 kilos (or whatever your spec is)
If still not cold or pressure are not correct you might have a problem with the variable displacement valve.
R 134 is very picky about volume - too much or too little is the same thing - it's not cold enough!
And yes for a normal compressor low pressure can mean low freon. With a variable displacement - low pressure can mean bad valve or another problem. (many manufacturers use variable displacement compressors. VW is one of them.)
If the system were overcharged, wouldn’t that register a higher pressure on both the high and low sides? Or is the lower, 150-175psi pressure a result of the variable displacement feature? Not all of the 60oz were added; in purging the fill tube at the beginning of each can I probably wasted at least12oz. When I finished adding Freon, the pressures were very low - like under 30psi low and under 125psi high. That’s why I added more.
Also - I didn’t replace the compressor; only the condenser and dryer.
Sorry I confused you with the OP, his first post in this thread states it was replaced.
In that case, I'd bet you have a bad/clogged compressor displacement valve. If so your problem should be solved with replacement. That does require an empty system and is a reasonable DIY repair.
06-02-2019, 10:39 PM
Service Air Conditioning
