air-conditioning stopped kicking out hot air and cold air...logical guess is that it needs freon so does anyone here know of anywhere i can get that done with my broke-kid-college-budget still in mind...for any helpful info i would like to thank you in advance...

7/9/2006 5:45:30 PM

just go siphon it out of another car.

7/9/2006 5:58:33 PM

any other dumb jokes??...

7/9/2006 6:03:42 PM

I've done this before, actually. It doesn't work the best in the world, though.

7/9/2006 6:11:22 PM

if it has r-134 you can do it yourself. for R-12 you'll have to pay someone a lot to fix it or convert it to 134.

7/9/2006 7:24:04 PM

you CAN do it yourself (if it's R-134a) if it's a beater and doesn't really justify anything other than a MacGyver-fix, but the right way to do it is to use a set of high and low side gauges.

if it's R-12, you have to have a license to buy the refridgerant. you can either refill it with R-12, or you can convert it to R-134a. it might be almost as cheap to just convert it to 134-a as it would be to buy the R-12. either way, you're supposed to have a license to even empty the system of R-12.

7/9/2006 8:17:56 PM

yeah, theres only bout 10 or 12 major things that can cause that, but just putting more freon in there is a great idea

7/9/2006 8:44:12 PM

If it's an older car w/ R-12 and you don't really care about it too much and just want some cold air you can release the freon thats still in there and then go buy a lowside retrofit valve. You will need to buy a pin removal tool or if you are good you can rig it out, but you have to remove that pin to put on the new valve.

Then go buy one of those R-134a cans that has a hose already on top. Usually around $15-$20 - Hook it up to the low side valve that you just installed. Then turn your AC on high and push the button on the can to release the yummy shit into your ride.

Remember - I never said this was the CORRECT way to even begin to do this. You just asked how to get cold air and I told you. Again, this is assuming you have an older car w/ R-12 and just want cool air for this summer.

wait... hot and cold air???

[Edited on July 9, 2006 at 8:55 PM. Reason : rigged to hell way]

7/9/2006 8:53:55 PM