chungmeow

OK!

So i've went ahead and replaced the following parts:

- Evaporator
- Expansion Valve
- Condenser
- Compressor
- Drier

I've flushed all AC lines that would come into contact with any of these components. I've also reinstalled all the parts along with the appropriate amount of pag46 oil, vacuumed the lines, tested for leaks and then applied r134a refrigerant.

When applying refrigerant, i'm using a generic autozone can with the generic gauge that display the amount of pressure present when applying refrigerant through the low pressure valve.

Concerns:

- NO A/C

- When I turn the A/C on, I hear a gas noise from under the dash (possibly near/at the expansion valve)

- When applying the refrigerant to the low pressure valve, the gauge displays 'good' levels of r134a (althought i hardly applied any refrigerant) however, when i attempt to apply more refrigerant the gauge needle would move rapidly to 'dangerously' high levels up until the moment i let go of the application button and then it would resort back to the 'good' level.

- When removing the gauge from the low pressure valve, i believe some pag oil appeared on the gauge where the male connector is applied

- The looking glass near the high pressure valve while applying 1500 rpms and with the A/C at full blast would display small bubbles which only means a lack of refrigerant (cause i've already ruled out leaks)

- I may have applied too much pag oil to my compressor but wasn't entirely sure. I applied the specified amount however spilled some by accident while reattaching the damn thing. So being an over achiever, I attempted to drain the compressor again and apply the appropriate amount of pag oil. It seemed like much of the pag oil remains trapped inside the compressor but i continued to apply the 'specified' amount back into the compressor.

- When replacing the expansion valve, I noticed the ENTIRE component was wrapped in weather strip/packing. I found the same packing at autozone and applied it to the new expansion valve HOWEVER, after reading what an expansion valve actually DOES.. i'm wondering if i messed up.. Denso Part# 475-0506

Do i need to add a temperature sensor to the end of the expansion valve..? Is my expansion valve not working? Does the drain hose connected to the evaporator have anything to to with my issues? Did i put in too much pag oil into the compressor? am i going crazy? lol..

**UPDATE**

So i guess its normal for the hissing noise to be present when a system is low on refrigerant. In addition, apparently having too much pressure in a compressor may cause the hissing as well. When too much pag oil is added to a compressor, could that result in your compressor having too much pressure? Even when you hardly added any refrigerant?

shwalker07

The hissing will usually mean that you are low on freon and yes too much pag oil will cause high pressure readings. The problem which I have seen with those store bought a/c freon cans is that there is not enough pressure to fully open up the expansion valve (vs. a professional a/c recharge machine or using a large refrigerant cylinder) and you also don't get the proper amount of freon (which I believe is 1.32 Lbs of freon) for a good recharge. In other vehicles that use a orifice valve instead of a expansion valve those store bought a/c freon cans work slightly better in but it is still good to recharge to the proper amount of freon. It sounds like you got too much pag oil in the system. I know you said you refilled the compressor with pag oil but originally were you going to use only 4oz of the pag oil?

chungmeow

yes, I only used 4 oz of pag oil as the compressor was delivered dry. When I attempted to reapply pag oil to make up for the amount i spilled, I turned the compressor upside down to drain the pag oil along with turning the clutch making sure all oil was removed before reapplying.

So from what you're telling me... because there isn't enough pressure from those refill cans, the pag oil hasn't circulated into my evaporator yet? That kinda sucks. lol

shwalker07

That is good that you were turning the compressor to remove the pag oil because those barrels inside there can hold a good amount of oil.

On the can of freon you bought, how many oz was in that can or how many oz of freon did you add total? Also on the gauge that is on the can, does it show a difference for the outside temperature and for what the low side psi reading should be for when you are charging the system?

chungmeow

Even after turning the clutch, I feel like there was pag oil stuck in there but thats just me being paranoid.

It was a 12oz can of freon. I probably added 1/2 an ounce of freon before the needle from the inline pressure gauge shot up into the redzone. When I let go, the level of pressure displayed on the gauge is in the green area referring to a good level from the low pressure valve despite the small amount I had actually added.

I believe I noticed some pag oil on the dispensing hose connected to the freon can when I released it from the low pressure valve.

I would have to check the gauge and the details it provides when I get off work.

As a side note, I purchased all Denso components and made sure all parts had the proper amounts of pag oil.

On a paranoid note, I believe the new expansion valve I installed looked "closed" and would validate your theory where not enough pressure isn't present in order to fully open... but shouldn't it open at some point during the vacuum/AC/adding freon process?

bonesnj0

remove "all oil you added" Pull vacuum add recommended oil fill, Charge system by weighing in the charge liquid in Low side wait while adding do not add all at once take your time Make sure bulb for TXV is attached properly very very important. You also need a good set of gauges to see what high and low side is once system is settled. GL.

bilgen

iTrader: (3)

Use POE oil

marshun

did you adjust the expansion valve?

chungmeow

I'm not entirely sure what the use cases for Poe oil are...

Adjust the expansion valve???? I looked over the denso specs and instructions and never encountered any adjustment requirements.. Even after inspecting the the valve, it did not look like any type of manual adjustment was possible...

chungmeow

So i ended up adjusting the expansion valve and troubleshooting my issue via the following pdf:
http://densoautoparts.com/sites/defa...ing%20tips.pdf

Under the 'Diagnostic Process' diagram, I realized my expansion valve was loose and wide open xD

Tightened it up using a 9mm allen key and charged the system with R134a. BOOM. Air conditioning just in time for the hot weather. Unfortunately, it only gets down to 65 F degrees.

Thanks everyone.

bilgen

iTrader: (3)

Hopefully you evacuated the system (vacuum) before you charged it.

SenecaRex

had hissing noise once, just needed refrigerant.

chungmeow

You were right. After replacing the entire AC system, I was just afraid to ruin anything. I went ahead and applied the entire can and the AC works great. Thanks

Airwalk161

So on another thread somewhere else I read you can use PUSH the radiator forward to slide the condenser out. I have a cold air intake so there's room. But I don't think it's possible. The hose won't allow you the room needed. Amy recommendations?