Can i do it?

[steve from staten island]

I have a aftermarket AC unit from Classic air on my car. Its all installed and I'm wanting advise if i can charge it myself. I have availability to a vacuum pump, gauges and freon. Im a little confused with adding oil. Any suggestions.

 

[snakeoil24]

The oil is in the freon. You can do it.

 

[65-440]

The oil is in the freon. You can do it.

not always .....

 

[snakeoil24]

True so buy with Oil.

 

[69L48Z27]

Yes you can!

 

[Frank Mopar]

Oil should be in the compressor already. Check with classic air to be sure

 

[67GTX440]

My classic under hood kit said not to add oil in the instructions as it was added to the new Sandin compressor. On first charge I had a hose connection leak on one of the crimps on a hose that had to be cut and lost charge. Bought and installed new hose. Charged again and AC shop said they thought the evaporator was leaking. Removed and had Classic nitrogen test the evaporator and they found no leak. Reinstalled and charged again and lost charge. Shop said it was my new condensor from Classic. Replaced with new one and checked all o-rings and it seems to be holding a charge and blowing at 40 degrees.

Holding a vacuum means you probably have no big leaks. If I had it to do over again I would have a reputable shop charge the system who had sophisticated sniff test equipment. This will supposedly detect a leak of under an ounce a year. Adding dye and chasing leaks from dye is a mickey mouse way to go about it. It is hard to tell old dye from new dye and even dye remover does not remove old dye well. I ended up removing the evaporator core for no reason (a pain in the *** job) just because the installer disconnected a hose and let it blow around the firewall connection. I had so much dye everywhere after the first charge and leaks, that it was really hard to tell if it was still leaking or not.

I ended up charging the system 4-5 times by three shops over the course of 3-4 months before I got it tight. The center vent now blows 40 degrees, but it took three AC shops with supposedly experienced AC guys to get it done. Classic says most connection leaks are from o-rings not greased and/or over tightened.

My system is a rebuilt factory air under dash box rebuilt by Classic with all new underhood components from Classic with the Sandin compressor. The car is an original factory air car.

 

[snakeoil24]

Steve so look abocve all tghe experts and the guy still got screwed. So rett he vacuum pump, and a sniffer and get it done.

 

[65wgn440]

If you do need to add oil on an uncharged system, you can open any connection to add the oil. Usually best at suction port (larger line) of compressor if easily accessible. Good idea to rotate pump by hand 20-25 times before activating it to clear some oil out of cylinder(s). If adding elsewhere, try to stay away from adding very close to service ports, as you may end up sucking it all back out during vacuuming process. I like to use oil that contains dye, as it is usually not as potentially messy as it could be with refrigerant/dye charging, and I can be absolutely sure of measurement. Vacuum (hopefully close to) at 30" for about 20 minutes. Let system set for roughly 10 minutes and monitor vacuum for loss. Charge the system as much as you can with engine off, using vacuum to pull refrigerant in, then start engine, AC high, and finish charging through low-side port only. Did Classic provide you with a charge capacity ? Be careful of overcharging if they didn't.