993 DIY a/c recharge.

[Rick Lee]

The Rennlist guys have a thread going 9 pages on this, so I don't want to get into it there. Recently, it seems that my a/c is just not as cold as it used to be. If I keep the top button on arctic blast, then it's ok, but not icy cold and it's too loud that way. When I put the bottom button on and top one off, I have to turn the fan on 4 to get it to stay comfortably cold. I think it was colder last summer.

I have not yet installed my new a/c ballast resistor, but plan to soon. Is it safe and easy to DIY a recharge? I don't want to get into "you need a new evaporator, you can't check the high pressure line yourself", blah, blah. I just wonder if I can do a cheap, easy fix here. Thanks.

[john_colasante]

Try the cheap recharge first, and then go for the nine page thread. Maybe you just have a slow leak or something. My guess is you'll be doing some reading...

[Trent P.]

You can actually buy a recharging kit at Wal-Mart from a company called InterDynamics for around $25. It contains freon and lubricant, but the best part is it has an inline gauge to keep you from overfilling the system (bad!). They actually also sell a R-134a conversion kit there, too, believe it or not. CAVEAT: I have not used this, so no experience, but there was actually a write-up on it in Popular Mechanics a few months ago, and they don't normally talk about crappy products. Good luck!

Trent

[project935]

I used the InterDynamics R134A kit on my '92 Mustang a year ago after I had to crack open my A/C system because and intake upgrade forced me to modify the A/C lines. Even with my hack-job modifying the lines, once I had it back together it charged up fine and has held the charge ever since - the coldest A/C I've ever had in the car (even since new).
Worked for me ... I recommend it for the cost.