1. Welcome to TRD Forums! A community for Toyota, Lexus, and Scion Enthusiasts. To enjoy all the benefits of the site, we invite you to signup.

Need help on Air Condition Refrigerant (ran out on both cars!?)

Discussion in 'Care & Maintenance' started by wasabinuts2go, Jun 28, 2011.

  1. Offline

    wasabinuts2go BeeP BEEP!

    Message Count:
    224
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Location:
    Norcal
    So my bro told me that my corolla's a/c is not working. I'm assuming that I need to refill the refrigerant.
    How often does it need to be recharged? I'm asking because my corolla hasn't reached 90,000 mile yet.
    Is there a corolla DIY on air condition refrigerant refill?

    Also this really sucks because my van ran out of a/c refrigerant as well. The thing is that my dad brought it(the Chevy Van) into a shop and they charged $90 to get it recharged etc. Everything worked fine, until the next morning, turns out the a/c wasn't working again. So i brought it back to the shop and told them that the a/c is refrigerant is probably leaking. They recharge it again, look around for leaks and they can't find any leaks. and once again the a/c is not working because it's probably leaking somewhere. I am trying to figure out what to do, the guy at the shop keeps saying it's this a/c pump? I'm not sure if he's correct. My other friend told me that I need to get a Dye and fill it into the a/c pipe to see where it is leaking, I'm not sure how to do this either... I have a feeling this won't be a cheap fix either. My van is a 97 Chevy Venture and it only has 93,000 miles on it. Engine is still running strong, but to figure out where the leak is would be a pain in the butt because the engine bay is really small.

    Just wanted to see if anyone has any similar experience with air conditioning system, diy, etc. Kinda sucks that I have to drive in 95-100 degree weather. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
  2. Offline

    MacktasticSlick TRD whore with 36,000 posts, bitch

    Administrator
    Message Count:
    36,593
    Likes Received:
    2,274
    Trophy Points:
    61,368
    Bump for you, I'm having a similar problem, my AC doesn't work at all, when I push the button, I don't hear it come on anymore, which leads me to think that it's not just low on the r134 or whatever the numbers are... that I need to replace the compressor/pump whatever. My weather has been way above 100 as well the past few weeks.
  3. Offline

    its_ikon FIRST widebody

    Message Count:
    1,716
    Likes Received:
    31
    Trophy Points:
    498
    Location:
    Henderson, NV
    adding the dye is the way to test if there's a leak. if there's no leak then you have other problems. there is no diy that i know of because you need the machine to recharge the ac.
  4. Offline

    MovieSTAR i hurd u liek?

    Message Count:
    3,771
    Likes Received:
    16
    Trophy Points:
    318
    Location:
    Lakewood, CO
    you could have a crappy thermostat....you could have a bad compressor...you could've run out of fluid n shit...also i think if the heater control circuit blows our or has a fault you can lose your AC as well.
  5. Offline

    MacktasticSlick TRD whore with 36,000 posts, bitch

    Administrator
    Message Count:
    36,593
    Likes Received:
    2,274
    Trophy Points:
    61,368
    So if the compressor is bad (in my car) I could change that myself but I would still have to go to a shop to get it filled? Sorry noob here.
  6. Offline

    wasabinuts2go BeeP BEEP!

    Message Count:
    224
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Location:
    Norcal
    My van actually has a leak. It's because I already brought it back to the shop twice, and the day after I bring it in, the A/C doesn't work (No cold air). So all the refrigerant and leaking somewhere. So I'm wondering what kind of dye would people use to put it in the a/c to test where the leak is? I'm asking about this because the shop I go to looks like they don't know what they're doing.
  7. Offline

    MovieSTAR i hurd u liek?

    Message Count:
    3,771
    Likes Received:
    16
    Trophy Points:
    318
    Location:
    Lakewood, CO
    you can buy the refilling stuff at walmart and DIY.

Share This Page