Dean_Fuller

Okay...I picked up a set of gauges from Harbor Freight to have when doing A/C work. Problem is the instructions are in broken English at best. I need to verify if I can before I blow myself up. I have the blue hose attached to low side. Red hose attached to high side. ( This much I am very sure of.) The yellow hose will go into pressurized refrigerant. The ***** under each gauge face are CLOSED. I THINK what I do is start the car...turn A/C on....open refrigerent to yellow hose...open low side all the way.( Turn blue **** at hose not under gauge....open high side all the way. ( Turn red **** at hose not at gauge) ...and this should cycle refrigernt...when can is empty. Close low, the high the yellow...new can starts again. Is this right????

michaelathome

Dean,

Is that a golf club holding up your hood? I wish that I had an answer for you other than hood struts but that is all I have exxperience with changing out

Good luck,

Michael

Dean_Fuller

Yep....the gauges and hoses are too much for my hood shocks....will change soon. They hold the hood fine, just not much extra weight.

Tampa 928s

DO NOT OPEN THE HIGH SIDE PERIOD THE r-134 WILL BLOW UP IN YOUR FACE.

Bill Ball

You have the basic procedure correct. BUT I think you may have the hoses hooked up to the wrong ports. Take the quick-release fittings off the side ports and take a look into the manifold. Notice anything interesting? One my gauge set, those are NOT ports. They are blocked off and are just used to store the quick-release fittings. If so, you are not going to use those. So, take the hoses off the fittings off the car first so you don't lose whatever charge you have, then remove the quick-release fittings fromn the hose and attach the hoses to the other red and blue ports on the manifold that are capped off in the picture. Anyway, mine is an R-134 set, so it could be different. I use the quick-release fittings on the ports in the car in the case of R-134. My R-12 gauge set is totally different. The high-side (red) **** on the manifold is always closed when charging with gaseous refrigerant, since that controls the communication with the center (yellow) port and you want gas to go into the low-side only.

Rob Edwards

Dean-

Your hoses are connected correctly, but the low-side gauge in the pic shows no vacuum. If you try to add freon you'll be pushing a crapload of air into the system and you'll get no/little cooling.

If you DID pull a vacuum, then the trick is to completely evacuate the system with both valves on the gauge set OPEN so that there's no air in any of the hoses. WITH THE ENGINE OFF close both the low and high sides at the gauge set, connect your freon to the yellow hose, let some in through the high side till it stops flowing, then CLOSE the high side, open the low side, THEN turn on the A/C, and fill the rest of the way (by weight, preferably) through the low side. To monitor system pressures on the gauges WHILE THE ENGINE IS RUNNING, close both valves at the gauge set, and you'll get an indication of high and low side pressures while the engine is running.

Tampa 928s

You have it hooked up correctly your pressure readings will show with the gage closed. When your ready to charge with the yellow hose hooked up unloosen the hose a little and purge any air first.
Then open the LOW BLUE side and start you car run it around 1.5 K until the can is empty. You can feel the temp go down get a good temp do not go beyond this point. Run your motor about 2-k ,have someone hold the pedal down look at your receiver-dryer and you want to see a few bubbles, at that point you are fully charged. This is not the best way to do this!

Tampa 928s

Good eye's it's hanging off of the side !

Tampa 928s

It took me to purchase a scale, pump, gauges and a 30 Lb can of R-134 before I got mine to work right. I used the small cans and it adds a lot of air to the system, purging the can is the best you can do.

Bill Ball

Are you guys sure those are connected correctly? What are the screw ports on the bottom of the manifold for? That's where my hoses connect on my set of HF R-134 gauges. If I open the *****, those ports are active.

Tampa 928s

He needs to connect the hoses to the bottom, the ones that have the caps on them.
Is this an R-12 or R-134 system?

Dean_Fuller

BILL....you are right! Those side mounts are dead ends. You would never know it reading the "manual" as it was....Okay new pic!

It shows AFTER I have pulled vacuum on low side. I closed low side valve.

NOW...I'm using some old R-12 I have...not R-134a. The system has not been converted.

NOW..with vacuum drawns...yellow to R-12. Do I open Just low side??? Both sides????

Dean_Fuller

Opps...forgot the new pic.

medipedicman

I have three extra cans of R12 if you want me to bring them up Sat.

Dean_Fuller

I see one of my problems...The compressor is not pulling the charge even though it was tested along with the clutch with a "hammer" tool.....How do I make the compressor pull in the r-12???? Jump somehow???