refilling freon, it's federally regulated, so...

[Chokets]

Last summer my A/C stopped working, i took ma ride to get it serviced and they said "your low pressure hose is broken, we'll fix it for $120 plus $20/lb for freon" i thought that was steep, so i changed the hose myself, $30... but now i need freon... every place i've called has told me that I needed to pay for them to inspect my A/C and see what's wrong before they will refill the freon, and they want $49.99 for the inspection, plus $20/lb for freon, I tell them "i know what was wrong, it had a broken hose, now it doesn't, i just need the freon refilled" but they wont do it because they want to squeeze as much money out of me as they can... does anyone know a place that will just gimme a refill with out the inspection? or anyone that can do it themselves? preferably in the DC Metro area?


(don't tell me to take the A/C system out because it's added weight, i drive this daily, so I don't want to get to work, or even go on a date and be sweating like a pig :D )

[95silvia]

Get a coupon from the sunday's news paper or whatever and than have em fill you up...usually they have to pressurize the system to check for leaks. Freon is expensive, if there is a leak, obviously you will have to fix it before they fill you up, otherwise it be of no use and they can't charge you since the work hasn't been done...

in my case....i had my high pressure line fixed...after fixing it, they went and presurrised and everything was fine. so they filled it all up and it was firing cold air...when they took out the valve off the low pressure line...HELL BROKE LOSE....all the freeon leaked out since there was no valve stem in the valve to stop the leak when they took their cap off the valve. I went and got a new valve put on and we went thru the whole thing again from pressurizing the system to the fillup. Everything worked, obviously they didn't charge me for twice the freon because they were satisfied after presurizing the system that it is ok to fill....so it is not a bad idea to make sure your system has no leaks. There is a lot of pressure in the system, a small leak can be devastating making the life of a/c shortlived. I also suggest you put some dye in it....usually 30-40 bucks but its worth it if you get your lines fixed because it will be easy to catch the leak this way...

my .02 cents

i spend about 130ish for the refill/ac lubricant/dye/system check

RINKU

[M.Piedlourde]

Wouldn't it just be less of a hassle to convert your system to use R134 instead of freon? I've heard stories that you can do this using those "A/C conversion kits" that you can get in any autoparts store.

Of course, I've also heard stories that sometimes you need to switch out bigger components, like compressors, etc.

Either way, once you take the time to convert the system, you wouldn't have to worry about freon ever again.

[95silvia]

In my case its a S14 sr in a 95 240sx...its already R134a....i used the term freon in my previous post....just clarifying...i meant R134a..i hear that conversion like that to R134a is worth it for the most part....but reliability is somewhat of a factor on some conversions. Initial cost will be high ofcourse....but you'll save down the road....

RINKU

[Ozone240]

If you want you can do it yourself. Go here and take a look. You can take an online test and get certified and then you can buy all the freon/r12, r134a you want. http://www.epatest.com/

But since yours was completely drained, then you will need to get all the air out first. Call a couple more places, try smaller shops. Just explian what happened, another shop checked it out and you fixed the problem. I would imagine there is a shop out there that will help you. Good luck.


kevin

[Chokets]

thanks!

[Got Sileighty?]

what year did our cars switch to r134a?

[THX1138]

The switch was made either before or during the 1993 model year. My FSM is for a 92, and talks about R12. My car, a 93 built near the end of the model year (either July or August, I can't remember) uses R134A.

[misnomer]

These places are rarely just trying to screw you out of your money. It's worth more to them to fill your freon than for you to walk away, but there is the potential for a lot of hassle. Main thing most shops on these sorts of issues are worried about is whether or not things are actually fixed. How much sense does it make for them to top off your freon when they don't know if it was repaired correctly?

. . .Just tryin to get you guys to look at it from a different angle.