So all season i could feel my a/c losing it's freezing cold bite and about a month ago it was taking longer for it to get cold when your first running it for about two miles,now it is blowing slightly over warm,I here my compressor turning on and off and checked the freon with a guage that my refill can came with and it says it is full and does not need to be charged so I asked my mechanic and he said on the fire wall there is a little aluminum canister and it has a filter in it and he said since the new cars cant run on freon anymore the new refrigerant gets gummy and clogs up the filters after a few years so im not getting the optimum cooling,he told me to wait till next season to evacuate the system and re-charge it? do you think that is what it needs because it is still humid here in Pennsylvania and the defroster is a year round need....

 

Put a real manifold gauge set on it and check the pressures, high and low side. It's the only way to know what's going on.

I've not heard of R134 getting gummy. It's a sealed system. Now, if the can has sealer in it, or the wrong oil (shouldn't need to top off system) then that's a different story.

I'd fix it before winter.

 

If the pressure is lower than normal it means tehre is aleak somewhere in the system. If the compressor is cycling on and off more often than ususal that is a dead giveaway you have a leak somewhere. A shop can inject dye into the AC and check for leaks with a black light to find the problem. There are also leak "sniffer" tools that can point you to the general area of the leak, but the dye will show exactly what is leaking and where. I would say get it fixed because in winter the heater/defroster stilll has to use the AC system to remove humidity from the cab and defrost the windshield and windows. Maybe let a different shop check it if your mechanic is not willing. I have never heard of refrigerant gumming up. It is a liquid.

Jimmy

 

Thanks,im going to look into testing the system a little better.

 

Your riight,we use the defroster year round and it's annoying now to wait for the humidity to blow off the windows when it's raining,im going to look into this issue a little better before winter,thanks....