Further to 2001 Dodge TD A/C recharge

From : charles

Q: i posted this earlier and never got much in the way of constructive advice. now that i got things working i thought i would post my positive experience. i have a 2001 2500 cummins td with 6-speed manual. a/c worked last fall now it does not. about a year ago a/c was repaired by previous owner some hoses replaced and recharged. clutch did not engage indicating low pressure. i have the manifold guages and an adapter to tap the can of r-134a. i connected it up and the pressure was low and the same on high and low side. i tried to charge with a can of refrigerant and the clutch on the compressor then engaged for very short periods - a few seconds but it did not seem to want to take a charge. i tried again later without the guages using one of those short 12 recharge hoses. did not seem to take much of the charge. i filled a plastic container with warm tap water and stuck the can in that. it took the charge. compressor still engaged for very short periods. but now it did seem to be blowing cool air! i figured this problem is beyond me. of course most of you said leave this to the professionals... called my mechanic. he doesnt do a/c or diesel work. they recommended someone local. i called him. he said if the compressor engages for very short periods and then disengages it is too low on refrigerant. he wanted $135 to recharge. said probably com

Replies:

From : ed

yes defrost will use the ac compressor to dry out the air but where i live i usually only need ac for 1 month of the year heat for about the same and rarely defrost. but those rough numbers dont include taking the dogs with me in the truck - they totally skew my environment or running out to the desert. i also like to exercise the vacuum actuated air flow valves to help prevent them from sticking - not only do i run the ac once a week or so i also use the various air outlet settings feet face feet and face -this may also run the ac defrost feet and defrost as well as change the temperature dial as often as conditions allow and i think about it. the only setting i dont use is off. that is correct scott ed wrote my 1999 ram 1500 107000 miles has never had a problem with the ac either. its a good idea to run the a/c occasionally even if you dont need it to keep everything moving lubed etc. i make sure to run mine about once a week. im not 100% sure but i think the ac compressor runs in the defrost mode. if you frequently use the defroster it shouldnt be necessary to run the ac in the winter. -- ken .

From : coasty uscgret at comcast dot net

as far as chrysler ac systems they are no better or worse than any other makers ac system. i can state that i have a 94 and 98 dodge and never had to add or do anything to it and it is all relative. if you persist on do-it-yourself then get a leak detector and find the leak it is all guess work until the leak is found. most of the time it is the o-ring seals on the disconnects not the compressor. i have a high dollar ultrasonic leak detector made by ue it will pin point any leak in seconds on anything in any condition. coasty i posted this earlier and never got much in the way of constructive advice. now that i got things working i thought i would post my positive experience. i have a 2001 2500 cummins td with 6-speed manual. a/c worked last fall now it does not. about a year ago a/c was repaired by previous owner some hoses replaced and recharged. clutch did not engage indicating low pressure. i have the manifold guages and an adapter to tap the can of r-134a. i connected it up and the pressure was low and the same on high and low side. i tried to charge with a can of refrigerant and the clutch on the compressor then engaged for very short periods - a few seconds but it did not seem to want to take a charge. i tried again later without the guages using one of those short 12 recharge hoses. did not seem to take much of the charge. i filled a plastic container with warm tap water and stuck the can in that. it took the charge. compressor still engaged for very short periods. but now it did seem to be blowing cool air! i figured this problem is beyond me. of course most of you said leave this to the professionals... called my mechanic. he doesnt do a/c or diesel work. they recommended someone local. i called him. he said if the compressor engages for very short periods and then disengages it is too low on refrigerant. he wanted $135 to recharge. said probably compressor seal is leaking and they dont replace those you replace the compressor. $400 just for the part. probably around $600 plus for the job. probably more. did not chide me for putting in refrigerant myself. so i put in most of another can. now it works. i bought these two cans at wal-mart for around $8 each. guess id better carry some spares. funny. my 1986 saab 900 turbo i bought in december 1994 from the first owner came with all the service records. no sign of a/c repair. two years later it blew warm and i had the hoses recrimped and refilled with r-12 for $150. this worked for about another 6 years and then it failed again. i put in gasp hydrocarbon substitute and recharged it again the next year after it blew warm and it is still working! is it the dodge or the r-134a system that is so failure prone this truck is only 5 years old! charles .

From : nosey

bassman wrote i went over everything and before i disconnected wires i followed them where they reconnect so all the wires are back together as per color codebut still no power is the starter completely dead or does it crank but not start ive installed a few dei alarms. what model number viper do you have -- ken .

From : tbone

and what are you going to do with all that r-134a that you just pulled from the system -- if at first you dont succeed youre not cut out for skydiving charles wrote further to my update i went to walmart yesterday to replenish my r-134a supply. they now have refill units with built in guages. the instructions say basically that a running system needs at least 25 psi but no more than 45 psi on the low side. no indication yet on what the high side should read or if that is diagnostic of problems or what. charles there is a real easy way to tell if you have a proper charge and its the only proper way to do it... its soooo simple.... look on the info decal for the unit...if it says it takes 2.5lbs it takes 39oz of refrigerant and you just pull the sucker to a vac and recharge to the proper capacity and you dont have to worry about the gauge readings since if you cant read the gauge you have no idea what its telling you since pressure means nothing. its all about temp. .

From : js

tbone wrote and what are you going to do with all that r-134a that you just pulled from the system fill tires on treehuggers cars o js .

From : charles

charles wrote further to my update i went to walmart yesterday to replenish my r-134a supply. they now have refill units with built in guages. the instructions say basically that a running system needs at least 25 psi but no more than 45 psi on the low side. no indication yet on what the high side should read or if that is diagnostic of problems or what. charles .

From : scott s

or mike could park in the sun down here in the south. those seats will warm up nicely -- -chris 05 ctd 06 liberty crd david reston wrote where do you folks get replacement seats i was thinking about something like a hi-back bucket. maybe with a swivel base. recaro what do you folks use 2 milk crates and a chunk of 3/4 plywood. stack the crates and use exhaust clamps to hold the plywood seat-back on. if you want to go all-out go to the dump and find a nice scrap of old shag rug that someone threw away. cut it to size and use dry-wall screws to attach it to your new plywood seat-back. if you see a pillow at the dump grab it too. it works great on top of the milk crate. it doesnt look very nice but it will wear much better than the cushy heated leather fancy-schmancy seats that mike has. ;^ or you could look here http//tinyurl.com/r69zq -- ken .

From : akasbm

charles wrote further to my update i went to walmart yesterday to replenish my r-134a supply. they now have refill units with built in guages. the instructions say basically that a running system needs at least 25 psi but no more than 45 psi on the low side. no indication yet on what the high side should read or if that is diagnostic of problems or what. charles there is a real easy way to tell if you have a proper charge and its the only proper way to do it... its soooo simple.... look on the info decal for the unit...if it says it takes 2.5lbs it takes 39oz of refrigerant and you just pull the sucker to a vac and recharge to the proper capacity and you dont have to worry about the gauge readings since if you cant read the gauge you have no idea what its telling you since pressure means nothing. its all about temp. .