I did a search, and didn't find anything on this...

But, i picked one up tonight (for $20), and before I use it, I was wondering if anyone had anything good or bad to say about these.

Also, it was too dark for me to really see, but I made a cursory look for the low pressure fitting for the AC system, and it appears to be right in front of the passenger side firewall. I assume it's easy to find... but does anyone know specifically where this would be on a 1999 4-cylinder Malibu?

7/5/2006 8:44:13 PM

wow, umm yeah, take it to someone who has real guages and can diagnose your problem first, i could do it someitme next week and i'm sure there are plenty other people on here that could do it for you, had a guy come in to the shop today that bought one of those kits, turns out it wasnt cold because of a vacuum switch problem on the heater door, and he broke the compressor shaft from overcharging, i recovered 6.72 pounds of freon from a system rated for 1.8

[Edited on July 5, 2006 at 9:17 PM. Reason : and make damn sure it isn't the high side fitting, unless you want a can to blow up in your hand]

7/5/2006 9:16:30 PM

I'm reasonably certain that my system needs some more freon-a in it. I think it also has a slow leak too, because I took it to some place about a year ago, and they couldn't find it, but they put more freon in. I would do so again, but I don't really have time, and don't want to spend the money now to pay someone to look at it. I'll consider taking it to someone though if this turns out to be more of a PITA than its worth.

Also, maybe you can help me with this... there's another problem where the AC light blinks on and off intermittently (every 5-10 minutes), and when it's off, it doesn't cool at all, but when it's on, it barely cools (which is why I think i need more freon). This is the problem I took it in for a year ago, and the technician said he didn't observe the same behavior, but it had been doing this for about 2 years after the car was bought. The problem seems to go away after freon is added. I searched online, and this was a common problem with malibus where the contacts on the switches in the dash got dirty, but supposedly, the 99s were suppose to be fixed.

[Edited on July 5, 2006 at 11:16 PM. Reason : ]

7/5/2006 11:10:41 PM

You need to return that kit.

They have no business selling those damn kits to your average, run-of-the-mill automotive consumer. I agree with 69...you need to let somebody who has a clue and the right equipment take a look at it.

He or I can do it.

7/6/2006 12:19:13 AM

just make sure you dont over change it or you have wasted the 20 bucks and your time and possibly have mad a leak some where. take it to a shop so they can get it right or fuck it up. or let zxappeal work on it

7/6/2006 12:27:46 AM

I used one of those last year, and my car stayed cool most of the summer. I used another about three weeks ago hoping for similar results, and it lasted about a day. Based on that very limited information, what do you experts diagnose and how much am I looking at spending to keep a '94 grand cherokee cool?

7/6/2006 12:30:56 AM

I diagnose you got a goddam refrigerant leak, and it could be anywhere.

I don't like that special oil with seal conditioners they have in them kits. I think the shit softens up o-rings to the point that they eventually shit the bed.

Wonder if it's your compressor's front seal.

7/6/2006 2:57:06 AM

sounds like a bad front seal, or a nice hole in something.

i HAVE to fix the bonneville front seal this weekend, ugh.

7/6/2006 7:59:22 AM

UPDATE:

I finally got around to hooking up the pressure gauge thing, and I don't think refrigerant is the problem. The pressure is fine, and it even reads too high after the pump is running for a while, so I didn't add any of the r134. I guess I'll have to take it to an AC person now.

But, the problem is that it doesn't cool well (obviously) and the compressor cuts on and off sporadically and repeatedly. What do you think would cause this?

8/5/2006 7:54:07 PM

compressor valve?

8/5/2006 9:46:04 PM

^^ did you hook up actual manifodl gauges? Did you look up a temperature/pressure chart to see if the system was in spec based on ambient temperature?

8/6/2006 2:35:51 AM

Frequent cycling on one of these systems with pressures on the high side is a PRIME indicator of OVERCHARGING.

I stopped in Advance in Knightdale one day last summer; fella was fixing to put ANOTHER can of refrigerant in his Saturd. He said it wasn't cooling very well at all. Clutch was cycling like mad. I says to myself...he's overcharged it. Sure enough, I pull out my manifold and hook up to it and it was shooting over 55 psi on the low side when the clutch kicked in...and the high side was out of sight.

It never fails.

8/6/2006 3:39:08 AM

Mine didn't top 45psi though.

It was actually running well (not cooling too well, but still cool) for a minute at 45, then it shot up to 65 and started cycling and remained there. I don't know how it would have gotten overcharged, because it hasn't been serviced in at least 2 years, and I didn't add any. Unless the last tech to service it didn't know what he was doing...

Should I try just releasing some freon somehow before getting it looked at? Is this easy to do?

^^ No, I just used this $20 guage I bought at the store that hooks up to the low pressure fitting. But, the chart it came with was calibrated to 75degree temps, and it was about that at the time I was doing this.

[Edited on August 6, 2006 at 9:27 PM. Reason : ]

8/6/2006 9:25:25 PM

best way to know for sure is to recover it and charge it with the correct amount

8/6/2006 10:15:48 PM

Bingo. By weight, not volume...cuz you don't get a full 12 ounces out of a 12 ounce can of refrigerant.

And you really need a manifold to really accurately check system pressures. You want to see how high the high side is getting...low side pressure can actually be in a fairly wide range (depending on the compressor's pressure ratio; the newer scroll types are more efficient, for example, and will produce pretty high high side values at a given low side pressure). The most important thing is for high side pressure to be within an acceptable range for proper condensation of the refrigerant.


[Edited on August 6, 2006 at 10:26 PM. Reason : more shit..]

8/6/2006 10:19:55 PM