pulled an A/C hose and replaced it...now the system won't take a charge...it took about half of the first 12 Oz. can... system was working before I pulled the hose off. holds a vac. compressor pumping trinary switch working any ideas??? ...not ...
Are you using a manifold gauge set or just a home charge kit? I'm guessing you pulled a vacuum and are charging from the low side port, engine running? If so, you might have a restriction in the hose or charge port valve, or the compressor isn't pumping.
If you turn the comressor on, does the suction line get cool at all. If the compressor is moving refrigerant, you should have a slight temp difference between the lines even with a low charge. You might have to feel the suction line coming out of the evaporator with such a small amount of refrigerant in the system. If you are using a manifold gauge set, you can see a pressure differential high to low side, that will tell you the same thing. And just to verify, you are charging from the low side charge port, correct?
Not necessarily. When I first installed the AC and charged it, one of the fittings wasn't tight. It held a vacuum -- I think the vacuum was pulling the fitting together enough. But it leaked like crazy when the pressure came up -- I think the pressure was pushing the fitting apart. Could be an o-ring issue.
pulled the hose and checked the O-rings...they were good. put the vac. pump on and did a 7hr. pull down on the system. closed the valve and will check tomorrow and see if it leaks down...if good I will try to charge the system.
If you have a blockage in the system, pulling a vacuum will tell you nothing, it'll pull down to where the blockage is, plus using a vacuum as a leak test doesn't work well. Do you have a full manifold set? (high and low gauges) Either your drier could be plugged, or the expansion valve.
Yupers, I did the same thing once. Hand tighted a fitting and forgot to go back with the wrenches. It held vacuum great, but when I put the first can in, it leaked right out. You said you replaced a hose, did you get it custom made? I had a friend that had a power steering hose custom made, and when they crimped the end on, somehow the rubber got mashed closed inside. It would just barely flow. Carried it back and had another one made , solved his problem.
Hey Frank...have you tried the ol' trick of putting the R-134 can in hot water as you charge the system? I don't know what the capacity of your system is, but depending on the ambient temperature it is sometimes hard to get the entire charge to go in once you get the initial charge in the system. Another trick is to wet down the condenser with a hose as you are charging it. My van gave me trouble like this, and I used a combination of the can in a bucket of hot water and raising the RPMs a bit to eventually get it to take the full charge... It seems kind unlikely to me that you've had catastrophic failures when the system worked fine before, but of course it is always possible, no matter how unlikely.
