Aircon charging question

Right - on going hunt for aircon problem. 156 JTD Sportwagon 2001 2.4

Could someone tell me which is the high pressure valve, and which is the low pressure. See picture below.

Which do you use when filling the system?

Heres my aircon thread

http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/alfa-...ng-thread.html (Apologies in Advance - Air Conditioning Thread!)




PS - if anyone knows where I can get a compressor like that in the picture ( which I believe is JTD specific and different from the TS one ) please let me know!!

: Do you think the compressor is defunct then mate? Hope you can get it sorted.:

The low pressure port is the smallest one. Thats the one you top up the gas with.

If you are going to DIY top up then make sure the aircon is switched on using the coldest setting and the engine is running.

DIY top-up can are actually illegal .. the one in Halfords etc are probably old stock, and because the EU/Uk government are useless when it comes to backdating things (except obviously our road tax), these seem to have slipped through the net. You are better off paying a local a/c guy to do that for you. I paid a local guy £50 on Saturday, which isn't much more that a can in Halfords and I had a guarantee for the future if it failed again. Besides there isn't much R134 refridgerant in the cans ... most of it is propellant! He drained what remained of the old refridgerant, recharged it and tested for leaks, etc.

They vacuum all the old stuff out and weigh it, then work out how much extra to add to give you the correct amount. Aircon regassing is done by weight and not by pressure hence the halfords kits are a bit iffy. You don't need to know which connector it is as the can will only fit on one of them.

Wasn't planning a DIY top-up.

I took it to KWIK FIT yesterday - and had it hooked up to machine, which sucked out old stuff ( fine ), weighed it ( 420g out of 500g required ), tested for leak ( none ), and then went on to refill.

This is where it encountered a problem, that it was refilling at a snails pace ( would have taken the better part of the day to do it ). It got to about 150g when the guy called it a day.

Someone suggested on my other thread that they may have connected to the wrong port. But as per their promise they didn't charge me anything.

And yes - I'm beginning to suspect my compressor - so need to find a good second hand one asap.

You need to take it to someone who knows what they are doing. Kwikfit just plug it into the automatic machine and is that doesn't work they haven't got a clue what to do.

If you never let the seals dry out through lack of use, and do an occasional check with the canister, they should run properly for years?

Read up on some of the American forums, for first rate in car refrigeration care, for great advice and tips?: