sebapl21

Looking to recharge my a/c...can I do it my self ?(meaning will one of those autozone recharge ac cans do it ?) A/c works fine but its not blowing cold enough so time to recharge that bad boy. Just looking to see if that can be done at home ?

IDFWU

I dont see why not, as far as what kind of Freon our cars use, I dont know if its standard 134a, if it is, find the plug and refill.

Unless you want to go to the stealership and pay with your first born for payment lol

wallyp

It can be done, but low refrigerant is only one of many possible causes for your problem.

DrDoe

Bringing this thread back from the dead.

Searching for A/C recharge and it looks to be a very simple procedure but there isn't much info on W220 chassis. Most threads mentioned A/C recharge isn't a DIY job.
Under filled and over filled R134a refrigerant will cause problems. And there's questions on PAG 46 oil.
Just for kicks, I asked the auto part store on how much R134a I need for the S600 and the answer was 32.4oz. This is why I don't trust the oil change places either.
Looking up WIS, 950g R134a for W220 without 582 and 1050g R134a with 582 but I can't find anything on PAG 46 oil. Does anyone have info on how much PAG 46 oil to add?

tusabes

it depends if you're going to evacuate the system , pull a vaccuum and refill or just add a bit to the existing charge

as I suggested in the other thread , you may just be a bit low on refrigerant and one of those $30 cans with the gauge and the hose will work fine to top it off , I've done that many times ,it takes 3 minutes .

Ive never done the ful evacuation and refill

DrDoe

I actually want to do a professional job with emptying and replacing with new refrigerant.

trustz

That is the correct way to do it, that's why the shop charge more than $200 to do it. Dealer charge even more than that !!

DrDoe

WIS talk about replacing the drier every 5 years and 10cm3 oil refill. Is this what's needed on PAG 46?

Welwynnick

Here in the UK at least you have to have a license to do that, and top-ups apart, you can't buy Freon without the license.

I've used top-ups before and they work fine as long as the AC is still pressurized and working OK. Therefore air won't get in and add moisture.

Once the refrigeration is gone, you need to replace the receiver/drier, evacuate, and refill. Not a DIY job - and I'm the first to advocate DIY everything. .

Nick

DrDoe

I just looked up the price for A/C receiver drier. It's $180 for MB and $65 for Behr.
The 10cm3 compression oil equates to 0.34oz?

wallyp

Some generalizations - YMMV.

If you lose the refrigerant from a slow leak, you will lose very little of the oil, will probably not need to add any.

If you lose the refrigerant from a very fast leak (e.g., blown hose), you will lose much of the oil, and will need to add an unknown amount.

If you change components, you will lose some oil with each component, and will need to add some oil. This is what is referred to in the WIS page shown - and yes, 0.034 US ounces is the approximately correct conversion. (As an example ONLY -do not use for the W220! Porsche says that on a 928, the oil is approximately distributed: compressor - 40%; evaporator - 35%; condenser - 15%; receiver/dryer & lines 10%.

Only if you change the compressor and flush the rest of the system will you need to add the total amount of oil. You must determine how much oil is included in the compressor that you procured!

In the USA, a certification is required to purchase most refrigerants, but not R-134a.

DrDoe

The procedure for replacing the receiver drier looks simple but I decided to push it out to the later date.
I went ahead with 3 cans of 12oz and 25cc of PAG 46 last night. It was a fast leak and I didn't know how much were lost. Don't ask me how I knew about the leak.
Here's the pressure level before the pump down

It took about 6oz of refrigerants for the compressor to kick in and I got 42F air blowing by the time the 1st can went empty.
People don't normally respond to AC refills until the system is no longer blowing cold air. With 1/3 of capacity, the system works much harder and that isn't good.