![]() Just like the pressure gauges, blue for the LP side, red for the HP side and yellow for charging or evacuating. The manifold has a gauge glass at the centre which shows the flow of refrigerant while charging the setup.Ĭolor coded hoses are used to connect the manifold to the system. While charging the refrigerant, the valve next to the LP side is opened and the refrigerant flows from the refrigerant can (stored under high pressure just like your LPG cylinder) to the system (low pressure side) in the liquid phase. There is a valve mounted on either side which controls the flow of refrigerant through the 3 threaded ports on the manifold. It has a brass manifold with 2 pressure gauges - one for the low pressure side marked in blue (marked from 0 - 220 psi) and the other for the high pressure side marked in red (marked from 0 - 500 psi). The AC manifold setup is used to recharge or evacuate the refrigerant from the system and measure the pressures at the low-pressure (LP) and high-pressure (HP) lines. The type of refrigerant used in the car and and the quantity is indicated in a sticker stuck on the engine bay or on the hood. R-134a refrigerant can - 450g (costs Rs 430 for a can sufficient for a hatchback).Probe thermometer or the one in your digital multimeter (DMM) if you have the option.But at this stage, I do not know if there are any leaks in the system. Over all these years, I have never had an AC refrigerant recharge. But if the car is over 6-8 years old and the AC’s cooling effect has reduced over time, there’s a good chance this is due to the lack of refrigerant in the system as it turned out to be in my case. Sometimes, gas leaks out from the schrader valves present in the charging ports of the car in extremely minor quantities. If there is a puncture in the metal tubes or hoses, or the condenser coil due to a nasty stone hit, the refrigerant would again leak out. Despite being completely sealed systems, refrigerant levels drop over time as the rubber seals/o-rings in the connectors of the rubber hoses and metal tubes wear out and causes the refrigerant to gradually leak out over time. ![]() The lack of refrigerant in the system can result in ineffective cooling. The last thing left to check was the refrigerant in the system. It was changed during the last service 5 months back and the recirculation mode is set to ON at all times so the car doesn’t draw fresh air from outside and therefore does not contaminate the filter quickly. Dust and pollen filter - relatively clean.Spins at different speeds depending on the setting so the blower resistor had no complaints either. The expansion valve is installed outside the firewall/plenum chamber bulkhead. Expansion valve - assumed to be working fine.I use the compressed air from these service centres and garages to clean the fins. The fins were not clogged or dirtier than usual. Condenser - assumed to be working fine.No visible frosting observed when viewed from the cabin air filter cavity. I did not see any water collected in the footwell or a clogged drain outlet. Evaporator - assumed to be working fine.No other noise related to the pulley or bearing. It was also replaced during the timing belt service. Upon physical inspection, there were no issues with the drive belt driving the compressor. Compressor - turns on when I press the AC button and I could hear a distinctive ‘click’ from the relay.When the issue cropped up, I did a quick check on all the related components of the HVAC system: ![]() I am not an HVAC expert and whatever I did was purely for the learning and experience. Putting up a dedicated, detailed DIY thread to our repository for reference. I decided to read up more on this, how the refrigerant on car’s AC systems are recharged and figured out that if the system is running low on refrigerant and there are no other issues with the other components of the system, topping it up is pretty simple and restores the cooling performance. I began hearing a strange hissing noise from the vents which wasn’t there before. The AC’s cooling effect in my car had noticeably reduced and I could feel it during my daily drives. I recharged the refrigerant in my Polo’s AC system some time back.
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