Air Con

FuntimePhil · April 6, 2011

Hi All, i have just regassed my partners Aircon using the halford EZ Chill stuff, very impressd with the ease and end result. My question is, where is the refill valve on a IS200? anyone know?

The Transporter · April 6, 2011

Looking down on the engine to the right, have a look just below the alternator. The service port will have a light grey plastic cap with "L" on it... That is the port that you want. I think that you need about 600grammes of R134a... Don't use nthe stuff with leak stop or oil in as it will give you problems long term... But I would say that you'd be best off going to a decent aircon guy who knows what he's on...

NEVER try to connect to the port with the "H" on with the engine running or you could well find yourself trying to remove bits of exploded can from your face.... Once it defrosts.

Jus out of curiosity, what makes you think that your cars aircon needs recharging?

kiddy · April 7, 2011

Without the proper equiptment to remove the gas allready in the system the chances are that you will overfill the system and cause damage. The main purpose of an ac service isnt to replenish gas as a properly functioning system shouldnt lose much gas (no more than 40 grams a year). The main purpose is to remove moisture from the system by keeping a vaccum in the system causing any water to boil off and also to check for leaks. If ur ac isnt working then putting gas in it isnt going to fix the underlying proplem and that gas will leak out and into the atmosphere. If ur just wanting to top it up as a maintenence routine i would just leave it alone untill you can afford a ac service.

And on second thought i cant imagine Halfords sell r134a (the correct refridgerant) as it is against the law to handle it without training so i dont know if its legal to just sell r134a labelled ez chill.

The Transporter · April 7, 2011

The moisture getting to an aircon system thing is a myth.. In all my years in the trade, I have never seen an R134a system fail due to moisture or corroding from the inside out, always from the outside in or cheap connections allowing leaks and the compressor to run with inadequate lubrication... Other causes of failure include leak sealer setting in the drier pack or failed expansion valves.

It is essential for the system to be evacuated to remove non condensibles but this of no great importance to the average DIYer and I have given up trying to explain it

FuntimePhil · April 13, 2011

hiya, it does work, just thought i should do it as dont think its been done before, and after doing my partners stilo the results were impressive.

yeh Halfords sell EZ Chill, it has R134a on the label too. I did read an article that they were trying to stop it but for now they are still selling it and giving you a £10 refund if you take the used can in store for recycling,

ormi · April 13, 2011

by law you need to be licenced to touch a a/c system.....

on average a a/c system takes from 350 to 1200g lets say your cars never been done in 6 years(lets face it most people see it as an extra cost so dont do it)youll prob have lost approx half thats a hell of a lot of wee bottles to top up...a a/c service is only £40

also their is an other danger..... just say you have been lucky and you've not lost a thing youve just pumped too much gas in which can cause failure of the compressor or poss burst the condensor...

so my question is how did you know how much to put in with out a guage to mesure how much you lost?

and yes im licenced to work on a/c systems...

The Transporter · April 13, 2011

Ormi, unless the trinary switch has been bypassed or is otherwise duff, then the chances of damaging something through overpressure is slim, most aircons have a dump valve, not sure about the IS.. the main issue with these kits is that they add either extra lubricant to the system which if has been topped up several times will leave too much lube in the system which can "Slug" the compressor with liquid lubricant and wreck the reed valves. These kits can also introduce a leak sealer which in the case of the ID stuff causes the seals and O rings to swell to stop leaks due to corrosion.. the side effect od this is that the seals eventually decompose and crumble. DIY kits also help to add air into the system as the connection pipe doesn't get purged correctly.

Just had a heart attack at the price of R134a as I have just come to the end of the two pallets of the stuff that I bought three years ago...

ormi · April 13, 2011

the lex/toyota dont have any release.....the apprentice over filled a landcruiser and that burnt the compressor clutch out.........he got his nuts chewed for that....

The Transporter · April 13, 2011

the lex/toyota dont have any release.....the apprentice over filled a landcruiser and that burnt the compressor clutch out.........he got his nuts chewed for that....

Ah! In which case, take him out to the back of the workshop and apply liberal quantities of grease to him...