Ok, I've spent hours in the last few weeks reading the forums here and seriously appreciate all the knowledge you all share here.
The AC in my 2003 Focus SE has been out for a little over a year. I traced the problem to the evaporator core which I replaced. (if you are searching the forum for information on replacing the evaporator, I'll say it's doable but you will literally gut your car down to the firewall - the only thing left will be seats. NOT for the faint of heart!) After replacing the evaporator, I talked to a local shop about recharging it and they reccomended replacing the accumulator first (made sense). So I have replace the evaporator, accumulator, suction line, orrifice tube, the section of the liquid tube that connects to the condensor and various o-rings. Phew...
According to chiltons, I added about 3 oz of AC oil to both the accumulator and the evaporator when installing them.
So now I'm contemplating having it recharged or buying a pump and doing it myself. I'm leaning towards the latter as the cost is about equal and I'm worried that after a year if being down, the compressor or another component may give me trouble. If I own the tools, I can repair and revac without dropping the $120 service charge each time.
Ok, so here is where I am lost, I have followed the AC thread, but since I've added so much oil to both of those components, I'm wondering how in the world I figure out how much oil is in the system and if it's the correct amount. (the stickers are worn off my engine bay) Does the vacuum process remove all the oil I added?
Any advice would seriously be appreciated. And if you find this post down the road, please feel free to contact me about the evaporator replacement process - I'll see if I can talk you out of it ;-)
Ed
The AC in my 2003 Focus SE has been out for a little over a year. I traced the problem to the evaporator core which I replaced. (if you are searching the forum for information on replacing the evaporator, I'll say it's doable but you will literally gut your car down to the firewall - the only thing left will be seats. NOT for the faint of heart!) After replacing the evaporator, I talked to a local shop about recharging it and they reccomended replacing the accumulator first (made sense). So I have replace the evaporator, accumulator, suction line, orrifice tube, the section of the liquid tube that connects to the condensor and various o-rings. Phew...
According to chiltons, I added about 3 oz of AC oil to both the accumulator and the evaporator when installing them.
So now I'm contemplating having it recharged or buying a pump and doing it myself. I'm leaning towards the latter as the cost is about equal and I'm worried that after a year if being down, the compressor or another component may give me trouble. If I own the tools, I can repair and revac without dropping the $120 service charge each time.
Ok, so here is where I am lost, I have followed the AC thread, but since I've added so much oil to both of those components, I'm wondering how in the world I figure out how much oil is in the system and if it's the correct amount. (the stickers are worn off my engine bay) Does the vacuum process remove all the oil I added?
Any advice would seriously be appreciated. And if you find this post down the road, please feel free to contact me about the evaporator replacement process - I'll see if I can talk you out of it ;-)
Ed