nioted

I have a 2002 C240 and my a/c stopped working. I checked the manual and I need to recharge the freon. So I bought a can and read the directions. It says I need to connect it to the low valve. I found the high valve next to the break lines and ESP device, but I cant seem to find the low valve. Anyone recharged their c-class? I spent about an hour and a half trying to find it. I saw a label right above the battery that lists A/C R-134a and corrrect pressure. It contains the filter but I didnt see any valve. Any help is greatly appreciated.

aecasasus

I don't recommend you charging the system if you haven't done it before. You might put too much and it could blow a seal or blow your compressor. If you have a/c gauges and have done it before, just follow manufacturers recommendations and preassures and you should be set!!!

Good Luck!!!

Buellwinkle

That reminds me of -

A penguin had to take his car for engine repair.

The mechanic told the penguin to leave his car with him for about two hours, to find out whats wrong.

The penguin goes across the street to a grocery store, climbs into a freezer and ate vanilla ice cream.

When the two hours was up the penguin went back to the garage to find out what happened to his car.

When the penguin entered the garage, the mechanic looked at him and said, "Looks like you blew a seal."

The penguin replied, "NO way, thats vanilla ice-cream!"

aecasasus

Good one!!!!

Buellwinkle

OK, with the penguins aside, what you need is some learnin and I happen to have some in the howto section of my website. It's there under W203 HVAC. Save it on your PC and enjoy the hours of entertainment learning how to fix that bugger.

nioted

Buellwinkle,

You are a golden god! Thank you for the pdf. you are the man!

Buellwinkle

Here, it sounds better when the bar monkey tells the story -

http://www.bolt.com/mmichlnk/video/9...ew_today_PAGE1

nioted

Buellwinkle,

I was looking at the diagram where the high and low valves are and I was actaully using the low valve. I connected the freon can to it and followed the directions. I pressed the button to allow the freon to flow in the system and the pressure was too high and forced whatever I was trying to put in the system out. Does this sound normal? If the pressure is this high on the low valve, does this mean I still have a lot of freon? I need to buy pressure valve gauges tomorrow to see the exact pressure. I'm dumbfounded.

Buellwinkle

How do you know you need to recharge the system? This is how it works, the lubricant and freon work together to keep the compressor spinning. If the compressor runs dry it will fry itself. There's a low pressure switch that senses when pressure is low and shuts off the compressor. If you check pressure and it's good, the good news is that you don't need more freon, the bad news is that the sensor when bad or your compressor is shot. If your pressure is low, then the good news is you may not need a compressor but you may have a leak to find so get leak detection kit from Pep Boys that has a dye that's introduced through the low pressure side.

nioted

It sounds like the sensor is bad. The EC light went on in the car and I tried to turn it off but couldnt. The manual says that the EC light goes on when the refigerent is gone and stays on so not to damage the compressor. But if the pressure is so high that I couldnt introduce more freon, then it must be a bad sensor that is shutting off the system.

Buellwinkle

It's shows where it is on page 35. I've never replaced this but I would imagine that if you take the sensor out, all the goo inside the AC will come out and freeze your hands or maybe it's self sealing like the high/low side valves.

nioted

The weird thing is when I was installing the cap to the low valve, a lot of stuff was coming out but it was never cold. I think it was the PEG lubriant because it was very oily. I was wearing gloves but it never felt cold at all.

rrpnow

holy sh|t... thats a nice website... did you make that yourself? i use to be a flash kid, but NEVER at that level...

[180]

I'd suggest that you evacuate the AC and do a deep vacuum before adding the new freon, this will ensure that you don't have any moisture or clogs in the lines.
If you've lost freon, chances are one of your AC lines is leaking or the valves are broken/jammed (most common).

Just take your car to a mechanic and pay them to evacuate the AC, they will hook it up to a machine that sucks out all the old freon and pressure tests the system... should only cost about $50.