Air Con Refrigerant Point

peter212693 · 6 Apr 2007 at 16:52

Hi all,

I have a can of air con refrigerant top up stuff for my focus, now I cant find a point anywhere to top it up (think its the low pressure point ? :confused:

) can anyone show me or guide me to where about it is on a 1.8 Focus Engine.

Thanks

[Death] · 6 Apr 2007 at 18:46

well it depends on the year, 2001 etc 1 is under the wheel arch under the inner arch cover, 1 is right at front of bonnet, new 1s normaly both on left side of engine down under bonnet by the left arch

peter212693 · 6 Apr 2007 at 19:24

[Death] said:
well it depends on the year, 2001 etc 1 is under the wheel arch under the inner arch cover, 1 is right at front of bonnet, new 1s normaly both on left side of engine down under bonnet by the left arch

its a 2003 facelift

[Death] · 6 Apr 2007 at 20:12

let me check my autodata records, see what i can find

[Death] · 6 Apr 2007 at 20:28

well its showing that the 1.8 (depending on engine code), low pressure is left hand side of the engine pocking right up, the high pressure is to the right of the radiator

peter212693 · 6 Apr 2007 at 22:02

[Death] said:
well its showing that the 1.8 (depending on engine code), low pressure is left hand side of the engine pocking right up, the high pressure is to the right of the radiator

cheers mate i wil have a look in the morning

JamesRJ · 6 Apr 2007 at 22:03

You cant use the refill cans on Ford Focus.

peter212693 · 7 Apr 2007 at 11:31

JamesRJ said:
You cant use the refill cans on Ford Focus.

How come?

RJC · 7 Apr 2007 at 12:15

Becareful when charging, you dont over charge the system other wise you will be tripping out on high pressure.

Rob

peter212693 · 7 Apr 2007 at 16:37

Just tryed to charge my system and it didnt seem to work. Followed the instructions on the can but nothing.....

spaz · 7 Apr 2007 at 16:54

I wouldn't want to charge a system up from a can (although I'm not sure what it looks like, imagining it as a sort of aerosol can?). Your car almost certainly uses R134a as the refrigerant, which I believe is a blend, so should only be charged as a liquid otherwise the properties change and make the the system run inefficiently.

As has also been said you don't want to over charge it otherwise it will cause higher pressures, which could cause damage but more likely just trip out on HP.

The only way I'd recommend doing it is getting a professional to recover and charge it back up for you, but is gunna cost you a bit (probably around 40/50quid).

However if you do want to try the can route still, connect the can to the high pressure point safely and turn on the air con to make the compressor suck the refrigerant out the can into the system.

RJC · 7 Apr 2007 at 17:19

spaz said:
I wouldn't want to charge a system up from a can (although I'm not sure what it looks like, imagining it as a sort of aerosol can?). Your car almost certainly uses R134a as the refrigerant, which I believe is a blend, so should only be charged as a liquid otherwise the properties change and make the the system run inefficiently.

As has also been said you don't want to over charge it otherwise it will cause higher pressures, which could cause damage but more likely just trip out on HP.

The only way I'd recommend doing it is getting a professional to recover and charge it back up for you, but is gunna cost you a bit (probably around 40/50quid).

However if you do want to try the can route still, connect the can to the high pressure point safely and turn on the air con to make the compressor suck the refrigerant out the can into the system.

R134A is a pure refrigerant so can be charged liquid or vapour, he will need the suction gas port, suction pressure will be around 1.5 to 2.5 bar (approx) with the system running, he will not be able to put the can on the discharge side due to different size fitting (in saying that I do not know what fittings the can comes with)

Rob

[Death] · 7 Apr 2007 at 17:21

be carefull to, wear gloves, the boiling point in normal air for r134a is -26.3 , so thats some serious cold burn

spaz · 7 Apr 2007 at 17:22

RJC said:
R134A is a pure refrigerant so can be charged liquid or vapour, he will need the suction gas port, suction pressure will be around 1.5 to 2.5 bar (approx) with the system running, he will not be able to put the can on the discharge side due to different size fitting (in saying that I do not know what fittings the can comes with)

Rob

Fair enough, I did try to google to see whether it was a blend or not first but couldn't find anything definate so went with my gut instinct, which as per usual was wrong

peter212693 · 7 Apr 2007 at 17:24

RJC said:
R134A is a pure refrigerant so can be charged liquid or vapour, he will need the suction gas port, suction pressure will be around 1.5 to 2.5 bar (approx) with the system running, he will not be able to put the can on the discharge side due to different size fitting (in saying that I do not know what fittings the can comes with)

Rob

I tryed it today using this guide:

CLICK

And it didnt seem to charge the system, nothing was coming out of the can when i was pressing it...

I think I used the low pressure thing, did someone mention the high pressure point? Not too sure :confused:

RJC · 7 Apr 2007 at 17:25

peter212693 said:
Just tryed to charge my system and it didnt seem to work. Followed the instructions on the can but nothing.....

Did not see your reply, can you post what the instructions on the can say!

Out of curiosity what was wrong with your AC.

Rob

EDIT: To slow seen reply above.

RJC · 7 Apr 2007 at 17:32

The problem could have been the standing pressure of the can was to low, you need a pressure differance.

Higher pressure in the can is needed so the refrigerant flows into the device you want to charge, if your AC system did not start then your standing pressure could have been higher, especially as its been a warm day.

Rob

peter212693 · 7 Apr 2007 at 18:12

RJC said:
Did not see your reply, can you post what the instructions on the can say!

Out of curiosity what was wrong with your AC.

Rob

EDIT: To slow seen reply above.

Something along the lines of...

Unscrew the cap from the point,
Connect the end of the tube to the piont,
Shake can a lot and turn on the engine and the A/C full and full cold,
Press top of the can fully keep stopping and checking the pressure level on the gague.

But nothing was happening when i was pressing the top of the can.

JamesRJ · 7 Apr 2007 at 21:39

I did try and warn you, you cant use the cans to refill focus's

peter212693 · 7 Apr 2007 at 22:19

JamesRJ said:
I did try and warn you, you cant use the cans to refill focus's

Yes but why.... :confused: