Hi Guys,

AC was not cold so I hooked up my guages to test my pressure. I attached pictures of my readings .....looks to me like 12psi on low side & 105psi on High side.

I ran it for about ten minutes & it remained the same. What should my readings be when fully charge & how do I know how much R134a to use for a full charge?

Now the air is blowing Hot!

Do I assume the system is completely empty & check system capacity?

My 4Runner is a 2002 w/ 203k miles

Thanks,
Paul

 

First of all, quit running the AC.
You're going to ruin the compressor.

There is probably a leak somewhere in the system, they don't just "stop working."
Have a shop evacuate the system and do a recharge.

 

Shoot man, googles my best friend with this stuff. I dumped a whole bottle of freon in my ac last time I recharged it

 

I did mine last year when I replaced my compressor (bad clutch magnet thing), the shop charged me $175 just to evacuate and recharge. You can buy your own machine for that price and do it for the cost of freon forever after, my recommendation and next AC job includes my own machine...

 

You have a leak. Guaranteed. A/C systems operate 100% sealed do not require service unless something is damaged/leaking. You need to either have a shop use a leak detector, or add UV dye yourself and find it with a UV lamp. If you don't see anything glowing externally, chances are the leak is in the evaporator, which requires you to open the system to access.

Compressor will not function below a certain pressure, so don't worry about damaging it.

Recharging requires a new receiver/drier, and a new T/X valve wouldn't hurt if you have to install a new evaporator. Replace the Schrader valve cores and caps on the high and low side, too. You'll need to add a small amount of PAG36 oil depending on which components you replace; see FSM for the appropriate amounts, they're very minute, but details count. A/C systems are delicate.

Some Autozones rent pumps and quality Mastercool manifold gauges. Those Harbor Freight gauges are total garbage. Find a good write up on how to recharge if you have never tried it. You can blow you hand off if you crack the high side with a can of refrigerant attached to the gauges. Definitely wear eye protection, too.

With the system empty, it will take two whole cans (~22 oz) of R134a to recharge. If you just want to partial charge now (which will obviously discharge quickly), see the FSM for the correct High/Low side pressures at a given ambient temp/humidity level. Ball park ranges is all you're shooting for. I think it was around 45psi low and 220 psi high, but not 100% sure.

 

Thanks for the replies! I will recharge the system w/R134a w stop leak & maybe that will seal up the leak if its small enough.

Will keep you posted on results!

 

If you do take it to a shop, tell them you put stop-leak in it to save them the trouble of messing up their ac machine.