frankjake

When I bought my 92 4Runner the A/C was not blowing cold air. I took it to a place that still recharged the R-12 systems. The mechanic told me it had already been converted to R134. So I asked him if it could be recharged or if there was another problem with it.

First he told me it would cost about $125 to do a recharge and I said go ahead. This is for an hours labor and 2 pounds of R134.

He connects the hoses and then tell me the system seems in good condition as he is holding a vacuum, then continues.

After about an hour he says it's up to 20 lbs pressure and that's about all he can do. It's seems to be blowing colder than before but still not COLD like it should. He says that's just the way it is when you do a conversion.

So I drive around for the past 2 weeks with a partially cooling A/C and then decided to go to Wal-Mart and buy a can and guage and put in some more.

When I connect the guage, it shows only about 10 lbs pressure, not 20 like the guy said. Then in reading the directions, it says the pressure should be about 25 for proper operation. So I connect the can pull the trigger. Slowly the pressure rises up to 25 lbs which took almost the entire can. You do this while the A/C in running. When I finished, the inside of the 4runner was nice and cool. It's now blowing like it should.

I think I just got screwed by this mechanic. I don't know if he put in ANY R134 or not.

The entire process took me about 15 minutes to do. It's very easy to connect the guage and hose to the inlet on the vehicle. The can of R134 and the guage was less than $20 and it's working fine now. Anyone with a little mechanical knowledge should try this before paying someone $125 to connect a hose and then go work on someone elses vehicle for an hour.

Paul H.

Thanks for the tip.

wiseguymmiv

"I think I just got screwed by this mechanic."

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