Recharging the A/C

The high pressure line on my 2007 Prius must have gotten loose, backed out or took a hike. So I lost all my refrigerant/oil. How much oil do I add before adding the refrigerant and does it go in the same place I add the refrigerant?

 

If you lost the whole charge, it is likely that you will need to vacuum the system out, and maybe replace the drier as well, before adding anything else.

 

A

Already done...I just need info on oil.

 

NO!

 

ND-11 for for $9.95 !!!! WOW . Lets see? I get 20% discount from Toyota to buy 8oz of ND-11 and it cost me $170. for 8oz. and if it sound to good to be true ( what do you think ?)
#2: Yes the oil can go in to the low side injected with a oil injector vary slowly as the compressor is running.
#3: As for how much oil?. The bolt probably backed out slowly releasing the refrigerant vary slowly not much loss of oil.
#4: As nh7o said you should (if you like your car, MUST! GET) get a new dryer sock this will require more oil. back to question 3, with the new dryer sock I would say about 40 to no more then 50 ml.
#5; as for vacuum? down to 700 to 500 microns, 500 would be better

 

I could not agree more. Some people are big spenders when its not their money. I thought the whole purpose of this site was to try to help other DIY'ers and to keep the stealerships out of our pockets.

 

Maybe this helps, my 04' Prius is my cheap 200k mile daily driver I bought cheap. The AC didn't ever work and I figured out the compressor was shot. I put a used eBay AC compressor on mine in my driveway for about $80. Though maybe I could my AC sorted myself on the cheep. Flushed the system and pulled vacuum and found a pretty decent leak. Put some trace dye in (yes, Robinair makes hybrid approved trace dye) I had a leak in the SAME place as in your pic! Already $120 into this project, I was losing my enthusiasm. JB Weld to the rescue! I cleaned the joint with brake-kleen, wire brushed it to rough it up a bit, and cleaned it one more time for good measure. I used the slow setting original as I'm told it bonds and holds up better. Several months later and my AC is crispy-cool! Give it a shot. Don't spend more money than the car is worth if you can just open a window. It's a easy AC system to work with, special ND11 oil and pure R134 and your set. Oh, and the bubbles are likely a result of your leaky joint. I'll bet if you seal the leak and pull it down to vacuum and let it pull for about 30 minutes to dry everything out you'll be good to go. Don't sweat the haters. You can do this!

 

I highly approve of the slow setting JB Weld.

But as a shop with a reputation in every now and in the occasional failures. We cannot perform that task professionally.
But I personally know when the JB Weld is applied to a perfectly clean and roughed up surface it works really good.

But being a license paid professional shop making that repair especially on a condenser and the customer runs low again on refrigerant every time you run low on refrigerant you have that risk of burning up the compressor. And for a shop to do a repair that fails and results in a burnt up compressor the financial responsibility and liability falls on the shop.
So you can understand why I shop will steer clear of that kind of repair method to avoid that financial liability for what would be considered rolling the dice.

I work in California so the rules laws and regulations towards repairs and reimbursement to customers and liability for heavily on the consumers side which is really good for the consumer you the customer.
And I am a consumer advocate for the customers rights not to get ripped off.

Sometimes at the same time some of these rules and regulations have gone and taking it so far to the extreme this is one of the reasons shops have stopped rebuilding many items on cars anymore and will only replace.

Using wrecking yard parts from Selvage arts is a big money saver but also falls into one of those gambling and rolling the dice scenarios.
But at the price of these compressors brand new I too would go to salvage yard we’re out because as a DYI person the labor lost an expense is not that bad.

But where are the other man shoes and walking them on the side of a shop where the liability for purchasing a salvage yard compressor if it fails. And burns that that means it will litter the new condenser with metal flake from the burnt up presser and now that will also have to be replaced again and flushing the lines.
Some people take the risk and do not change the expansion valve that’s a personal choice of risk but to do it properly if it was a brand new compressor the expansion valve must be replaced with no exceptions to get the warranty.

But the shop has to eat the labor again replacing another compressor replacing another condenser the shop owner hast to pay the mechanic again for free all because of gambling off of a used mechanical part high speed close tolerance piney bearings that are high precision. Also a high voltage high current electrical device at the same time.
In the majority of salvage yards just rip these compressors off without plugging the openings and throw them into a large 55 gallon barrel at the end of the yard leaving them open and exposed to the atmosphere.

I love JB Weld it’s The miracle fix all I’ve used on air conditioning I used it on emergency repairs on radiators and I’ve used it on emergency busted open aluminum oil pan on the side of the road emergency repair.