air conditioner charging

[mmtphoto]

we have owned our fusion hybrid (2010) since january of 2017 and it has been a great car, now has 135,000 miles and still gets great gas mileage, no leaks, and minimal maintenance required.  now that it is getting hot in south carolina, the mrs. is complaining about the temp at the vents (about 50F) so i went on line to see if there was anything special about this system.  it has an electric compressor but according to the label it takes 134a.  i found sparse on line information about charging it, and did see that the oil has to be specific to this system, but all i want to do is add enough to get it down to around 40F.  i have gauges and know what my high and low should be at todays ambient temp, so i added 12 oz. (first time i have had to do anything to it) and it dropped down like i had hoped to around 40F while driving.  i only had the one can, and low pressure readings were around the low thirties in spite of the fact today was 87F and charts i saw on line said i should be somewhere near 40-45.  for now i plan on just leaving it alone, since it seems like it's fine now.  i would be interested in thoughts and experiences with this system, thanks in advance.

[mmtphoto]

nothing?

[WKelley]

Very few people work on A/C because of the complexity and the fact that it is not considered a do-it-yourself job in any way.  You're supposed to be licensed to even handle this work.

 

That being said, I'm not waving my finger at you.  If you have the understanding and can get it working then you're further ahead than most.  Most mechanics here (Lindsay, Ontario) will not touch A/C work unless you do it 100% by the book.  

 

TL/DR:  People almost never fix their own A/c.

[MikeFusionH]

On 5/9/2024 at 9:34 PM, WKelley said:

Very few people work on A/C because of the complexity and the fact that it is not considered a do-it-yourself job in any way.  You're supposed to be licensed to even handle this work.

 

That being said, I'm not waving my finger at you.  If you have the understanding and can get it working then you're further ahead than most.  Most mechanics here (Lindsay, Ontario) will not touch A/C work unless you do it 100% by the book.  

 

TL/DR:  People almost never fix their own A/c.

134a gauges still work on these cars and using an ambient temp chart you can get accurate indications of what needs to be done to properly charge and maintain these systems.  the only thing you need to be careful of is overcharging (like any 134a system) but if you vacuum the system you need new gauges that are pristine so that you do not contaminate the compressor with the wrong oil (NOT PAG) which causes a dangerous condition that makes the compressor electrically live and dangerous due to the high voltage requirements.