Mechanics Tool Supply

Although during the winter months, your mind may not dwell on your vehicle’s air condition system much, it is a life saver during the summer months - that is, of course, if it is running well.  There are ways that you can be proactive in keeping your system running in optimal condition.

By keeping an eye on your vehicle’s drive belt, you can prevent it from becoming too worn and affecting other areas, like your air condition system.  The air condition’s compressor is turned via these belts, so logic would tell you that if the belt is worn, the compressor is not going to turn as well as it should.  If the compressor is not turning well, the refrigerant that circulates through the system will not cool the vehicle as well.  Worse case scenario, the belt breaks, the compressor will not turn at all, meaning no air.

The condenser is another area you should watch out for.  The refrigerant runs through the condenser and then the air flows across the cooling fins.  This process takes the heat from the refrigerant that is being circulated.  It is quite the intricate process when it is working well.  However, if the fins became damaged or clogged and the air flow becomes restricted, and the whole intricate process because disrupted.  Heat can no longer be removed in the way it should.  This can then cause the vehicle to overheat.

If your find that the carpet on the vehicle is wet on the days that are really hot and humid, check the air conditioner drain because the drain can get clogged.  What you want to see is the water under your vehicle after you part, not inside the vehicle.  If you are like me, you notice every new sound or vibration going on in your vehicle.  This is a good thing.  If you find that hear an “abnormal” sound when you are running your fan, you may have a mouse who has taken up residency in your system’s fan. 

Another thing you may notice is that less and less air is coming out of the vents.  If this occurs, there is a pretty good chance your evaporator may be freezing up on you.  This last thing I mentioned in a post a couple of weeks ago but I will go ahead and reiterate it again.  That nasty, mildew smell emitting into your vehicle.  This could occur as a short burst when the fan is initially turned on, or it could be an ongoing smell that stays with you as long as you have the system operating.  Check the evaporator box because what has likely happened is that mold and milder is growing in there.

When your air conditioning system is malfunctioning, it is often due to a lack of refrigerant.  If this is the case, in order to get it back so that is operates efficiently, you will usually have two choices.  You can either opt to top off the system or you can evacuate and recharge it. 

What is a top off?

When you top off your air condition system, you are simply charging refrigerant into the system.  This is the less costly of the two options.  However, because the technician really has no way of knowing the precise amount of refrigerant that your system needs, his previous experience is usually relied on.  This could mean, though, that either not enough or too much refrigerant is charged into your vehicle.  This will definitely affect how your vehicle operates.

What is evacuating and recharging?

The option of evacuation and recharge does much more than the top off.  The left over refrigerant, if any, is first removed from the air condition system.  Then it is recycled in order to make sure the impurities are taken out of it.  It is then recharged back into your vehicle.  Because the technician has taken the refrigerant that was in your system out, he will know the amount needed to add in order to bring it to its proper level. 

Although the second option is definitely more thorough, either of these options will work.  If you are on a tight budget and the only service you can afford is a top off, go that route.  Otherwise, spend the extra money to ensure your air condition system receives a thorough servicing.

The refrigerants that are used to assist in efficiently operating a vehicle’s air condition system contain greenhouse gases that have the potential to be very dangerous for the environment.  In 1998, 3 entities, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Society of Automotive Engineers and the Mobile Air Conditioning Society Worldwide joined together to see what could be done about the harms that air conditioning was doing to the atmosphere.

The Mobile Air Conditioning Society Worldwide assisted in the development of various new recycling materials, as well as electronic leak detectors, in order to reduce the emission of refrigerant into the air.  The recycling materials have helped to ensure, if used correctly, that refrigerant is not leaked during an air condition recovery or repair.  The electronic leak detectors help to find if there is a leak, and if there is, they help locate where it is at.

In addition to emissions of refrigerant into the atmosphere, fuel consumption was another major concern that this partnership shared.  The operation of vehicle air condition systems used a great deal of fuel in order to cool the vehicle.  They had hopes that their efforts would reduce the amount of fuel by 30 percent, and this goal was met through the use of new technologies. 

These two areas, fuels consumption and greenhouse gas emissions due to refrigerants, among several other initiatives by the team, have been consistently focused on and improved since the onset of the partnership in 1998.  The 3 areas will continue to exert effort in cleaning up the air quality that is contaminated through vehicle air conditions.

The evaporator of your vehicle’s air condition system plays the role of absorbing the heat inside the vehicle.  In addition, the evaporator “dehumidifies.”  Because moisture throughout the air condenses, something is needed to counteract this moisture.  There may come a time when the evaporator stops doing the job it was meant to do, and it becomes time to replace it with a new one.  Sounds easy, right?

Well, it would be if all evaporators were made alike.  However, many aftermarket evaporators are smaller than the OEM evaporators that you are trying to replace them with.  Because of this, more care is needed when performing the replacement in order to ensure the complete system works the way it needs to. 

One detail that could present as problematic is air flowing around the core due to the smaller size.  In addition, when placing the tubes, attention needs to be made or there may be problems when it comes time to reseal the case.  These are just a few of the problems that mechanics may find as they attempt to replace the original evaporator core with an aftermarket variety.

Be aware of these discrepancies when purchasing a new evaporator.  Ideally, you should get one that is the same size as the original.  If this is not possible, take into consideration the adjustments you may have to make in order to install the new one in a way that results in optimal performance.

Friday has rolled around again and that brings us to our last post in our series “Troubleshooting Your Air Conditioning.”  Throughout this week we have learned various reasons why your vehicle’s air condition system could be going haywire.  If, as you troubleshoot all of these possible issues, you find that you may need to replace the compressor, condenser or evaporator, and you own a late model vehicle that is still using R12, you may consider retrofitting the system.  This will transform your R12 system into R134a.  There are two types of retrofitting: Type 1 and Type 2.

 Type 1

Type 1 is the more costly and time consuming method of retrofitting.  First the old mineral oil needs to be removed from the system.  Then the accumulator (or the receiver-drier) needs to be replaced with a desiccant that is compatible with R134a.  R134a fittings need to be installed to reduce any cross-contamination between the R12 and the R134a.  These should be installed on both the high and low service ports. 

Type 2

Type 2 is much simpler and cheaper.  Basically the R12 in the system should first be recovered.  The next step here is to add a POE oil that is compatible with both R12 and R134a.  Lastly, the air condition system needs to be recharged with R134a.

And that is it.  Keep in mind when retrofitting your air condition system that it is against the law to vent refrigerant into the air.  Happy Friday!

Yesterday we looked into refrigerant leaks and some helpful tips in trying to find and repair them.  Today, we will continue with this and look at intermittent cooling.

I do not know what is worse - when you go to turn on your air condition and it simply has decided to completely malfunction, or when it intermittently works and then doesn’t work, given you false hope in between that you may get a cool blast on a terribly hot summer day.  The likely cause of the latter is that your system is freezing up.  This is a relatively easy problem to fix, so do not be alarmed.

Air and moisture has collected in the air condition system and, with the coldness within, has formed into ice and subsequently has blocked the orifice tube.  Using a vacuum pump will most likely do the job of clearing this excess air and moisture out.  You want to make sure the air in the system is only at about 2%.  If you have a leak in the system, air can more easily seep through.  You can use a refrigerant identifier to determine if there is air or other contaminants in the system.  Besides air being in the system, various electrical problems can also result in the issue of intermittent cooling.

Stay tuned tomorrow as we continue with the series with a focus on air condition flushing.

As promised yesterday, this week we are focused on troubleshooting your air condition system.  Today and tomorrow we will be looking at the issue of refrigerant leaks.

Back in the day, you could determine whether your vehicle was leaking refrigerant through the oily residue that R12 left behind.  This made it easier to tell when your car had a refrigerant leak.  If you still have an older vehicle, you are in luck.  However, if you do not, locating a leak if it is there requires a little more investigation.

In automobiles that run on R134a, a specific dye that is meant for this type of servicing can be added to the system.  Another method for detecting leaks is through the use of an electronic leak detector.  Leaks can be found in many different places within the system, such as the O-rings, evaporator or condenser.  Only when you have located and repaired the leak should you recharge the air condition system.

A manifold gauge should be attached to the system’s high and low pressure service fittings in order to determine more specifically what is causing the system’s cooling malfunction.  The chart to the right helps to see what various pressure readings from the gauge may mean.

Tomorrow we will continue focusing on “Troubleshooting Your Air Conditioning” and look at what it may mean when intermittent cooling is the issue at hand.

Here we are back at Monday again!  Am I the only one who thinks the weekend goes way too fast?  Either way, it is back. 

I thought this week we could look at various air condition system issues, as well as troubleshooting the problems that could arise when it comes to the air conditioning.  I think it never fails - it is the hottest day of summer, you get into your car after a long day at work, turn on the air condition to get some nice, cool relief, and what happens?  Nothing.  That anticipated relief is instead met by, if anything, a blast of warm, stuffy air.  Realistically speaking, the problem has been going on for a while, possibly off and on, but it never fails to completely die on what seems like the hottest day of the year.

Air conditioners do get low or completely run out of refrigerant after continued use, and this is probably your most likely culprit.  This could be due to many various reasons that we will look at throughout the week.  One possible reason, a refrigerant leak, could cause the refrigerant to escape from the condenser or the evaporator via a hole as small as a pin. 

Another issue that you may find yourself troubleshooting when it comes to your air conditioning system is odor.  Take that same scenario above of the “hottest day of the year,” turn on your car that has been sitting in the blaring sun all day, and you may find a not so pleasant smell emitting from the vents.  Not exactly how you had planned to spend the car ride home. 

We will look at both issues this week and hopefully give you some good knowledge to go on when you set to the task of troubleshooting and repair these common air condition issues.  Stay tuned throughout the week in order to get all applicable information for each issue!

Throughout the week we have talked about the “how to” of recharging the refrigerant in your vehicle’s air condition system.  In the first post in this series I mentioned the importance of only using the refrigerant that is designated for your vehicle.  This may be easier said than done, however, in cars that date back before 1994.

R12 is becoming a member of the endangered species list, and it is becoming more difficult and more costly to recharge a system that uses R12.  There are many sellers on the market who assert claims about various alternative refrigerants that can simply be dropped in with the R12, but this is simply not true.  In fact, Federal law will actually tell you the exact opposite. 

R134a is the only alternative refrigerant that has been approved by the Environmental Protection Agency.  The EPA has certain guidelines that refrigerants must follow in order for the agency to approve them to be used in vehicles.  Below, we will end the week with a list of alternative refrigerants that are either approved by the EPA or are at least being reviewed.

• Free Zone (RB-276)
• Freeze 12
• FRIGC (FR-12)
• GHG-X4 (Autofrost and McCool Chill-It)
• GHG-HP
• Hot Shot/Kar Kool

Remember, by trying to save money with alternative refrigerants that are not approved, you are going against what Federal law dictates, and you could cause more damage to your system in the long run.  Have a great weekend!

For the past couple of posts we have been looking at the steps that you need to take in order to recharge your air condition system.  When we left off yesterday, we had just started the engine and turned the air up to the maximum setting.  The engine either ran the cool air on its own, or you had to manually run it by running the power to the clutch. 

The next thing you will want to do is get the vapor moving to the air condition system from the can of refrigerant.  You do this by opening the valve on the service hose.  Give it at least 10 minutes for each can that you will be using to empty into the system. 

Watch the manifold gauge during this process.  The LOW pressure gauge should read between 25 and 40 PSI - if it goes over 50 PSI, too much refrigerant has entered the system and it is overcharged.  Once it gets to appropriate level of pressure, stop the procedure.  On the other hand, the HIGH pressure gauge should read between 200 and 225 PSI.  You should also check the specifications that the manufacturer has laid out to get the pressure reading that is specific for the vehicle you are recharging.

Next, close the valve on the service hose and disconnect it from the empty can.  If you need to use another can to fill the system more, follow the above steps again.  If not, turn the engine off and close the valve on the refrigerant can.  Disconnect the service hose from the LOW pressure fitting.  There will likely be more refrigerant left if you use a second can.  If this is the case, keep the service hose connected to the can with the valve closed so you do not leak any leftover refrigerant from the can between this service and the next time you use it again.  Replace the plastic caps over the service fittings.

And that’s pretty much it.  Over the last 3 posts you have learned how to recharge the system of your vehicle.  Hope this was helpful to some or all.