Recharging Air Conditioning Coolant

How to Recharge Your Car Air Conditioning System at Home

Max. D Gray
By Max. D Gray. Updated: January 20, 2017
How to Recharge Your Car Air Conditioning System at Home

To recharge the air conditioning in the car yourself (much cheaper than taking it to a garage) we need several devices that we can rent or buy. It is a relatively complicated operation, but you can do it yourself if you don't want to leave your car in the shop and pay a lot of money that could be better spent. At OneHowTo.com we explain how to recharge your car's air conditioning system.

You'll need:
  • recharging kit, coolant, goggles, gloves
You may also be interested in: How to Clean your Car's Air Conditioning System
Steps to follow:
1

Let's assume that you've realized that the air conditioning system in your car is dead an needs to be recharged. The first thing to do is get a pair of goggles and some gloves.

2

Before putting the coolant in, check that the condensing coils are clean. Also, somewhere in the engine compartment, there should be a sticker where the manufacturer indicates the amount of oil and coolant type needed.

3

Connect the recharging kit in the two system ports, of high and low pressure (the latter is the thickest) and empty the ac system, including the charging hose, so that it will work. Connect the bottle of refrigerant to the charge hose and open the low pressure valve, which will charge the system.

4

When the system is empty, start to suck the refrigerant. When you finish doing so, turn on the car and the air conditioning so the gas from the bottle will continue to enter the system.

5

Check the levels of high and low pressure and compare them with those indicated by the manufacturer to know if the bottle has already drained the coolant. If so, remove the first bottle, empty the charging hose and attach the new bottle to complete the process.

6

Remove the recharging kit, close the hood and check that the air conditioning now works correctly - and that's it.

For more car maintenance and repair advice and money saving ideas, check out our motoring section.

Or if you have your own money saving tips please let us know in the comments section below!

How to Recharge Your Car Air Conditioning System at Home - Step 6

If you want to read similar articles to How to Recharge Your Car Air Conditioning System at Home, we recommend you visit our Car Maintenance and Repair category.

Tips
  • If you do not have the necessary knowledge, it is better for you to go to a shop to avoid accidents or damages to the system.

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How to Recharge Your Car Air Conditioning System at Home