About 7 months ago or so I had to swap out the evap case. So of course the whole dash had to come out and as a result, the A/C had to be evacuated and disconnected. After this was done (professionally), I buttoned everything back together and just never recharged the system myself. Seeing that the system is totally dry of both the oil and the "freon", what special precautions, if any, need to be taken to get the system to accept the recharge kits from AutoZone or what have you? Seems like doing this without any oil in the system is going to do nothing but lock up a compressor.

-Tyler

 

I would probably leave it up to a pro.. if there was a problem with the system previously, such as contamination, other parts may need to be replaced. I looked into AC work on mine, and to do it myself wasn't much cheaper than having it done.
**If you ARE going to do it yourself, I'd suggest you do a lot of research first. I know you can get the oil anywhere you get the gas, but you need to know how much to use. Also, the system SHOULD be evacuated before recharging if you expect it to last. Most DIY'ers don't have the proper equipment/experience and it's gonna cost you MORE later on. Just my 2 cents.

 

you have to put it under a vacuum before you can add freon. The oil goes in the compressor, if you didn't change the compressor it should be ok oil wise. Coach

 

The system may be dry of oil and refrigerant but its probably full of air/moisture from being open. As mentioned, a vacuum needs to be pulled to remove air/moisture from the system and check for leaks elsewhere. Most of the sources I read recommended to also replace the accumulator/dryer and liquid line/orifice tube as they are both filters. The condenser and rubber hose/manifold should be cleaned out with a/c flush (they probably still have some oil in them) and blown out with compressed air.

R134a systems are finicky about the amount of oil in the system.....too much, poor cooling performance....too little, bye bye compressor. In order to accurately fill with oil, u need to know how many ozs. of oil for your specific year model. There's always oil remaining in the compressor so it should be removed, turned upside down and drained. Add 1/2 of the correct amount of oil to the new dryer and the other 1/2 to the compressor. Button it up with new o-rings everywhere and take it to a pro to have a vacuum pulled and the system charged with the correct amount of refrigerant. Piece of cake, nothing to it. LOL

 

Mine hadn't worked in years. Then partly because of that dog there, during a hot spell I tried a kit deal from Napa. Was $45 and actually worked! Not 100%, and now three years later it's pretty weak, but still I use it. Idk what a shop would want, but evacuated is better.

 

Good man......dogs rule!