About how much does it cost to have your air conditioning recharged in a van?

[HelenePA]

Mine is not blowing very cold we are calling out mechanic tomorrow I'm just wondering how much this should run us.

 

[AKL_Megs]

My dad does HVAC on the side.

He re-charges our A/C at home and on cars when needed.

A charge of Freon will run you anywhere between $20-$50 a pound, depending on where you live. You'll also have the service charge from whoever does it for you, obviously.

 

[Magic Mom]

You can buy a kit and do it yourself. I had to last year because DH was gone AGAIN so he couldn't , and if I recall (that's not easy lately) it wasn't that hard or expensive.

 

[HelenePA]

Oh that doesn't sound too bad! I never had to do it before so I wasn't sure of how much to expect

 

[HelenePA]

You can buy a kit and do it yourself. I had to last year because DH was gone AGAIN so he couldn't , and if I recall (that's not easy lately) it wasn't that hard or expensive.

I thought you couldn't buy them anymore! Oh that's even better! I will go google it! Thanks!

 

[mrodgers]

Go to the store and buy a can of refrigerant. Read the directions.

It's as simple as starting your car, turn AC on high, connect the hose to the AC line under the hood, depress the tab on the can to fill the refrigerant.

Costs anywhere from $10-20 for a can of refrigerant. Most also have a lubricant and can also seal minor leaks. I have always had old used cars and I charge them up every year, though why you need AC now is beyond me.

 

[HelenePA]

Go to the store and buy a can of refrigerant. Read the directions.

It's as simple as starting your car, turn AC on high, connect the hose to the AC line under the hood, depress the tab on the can to fill the refrigerant.

Costs anywhere from $10-20 for a can of refrigerant. Most also have a lubricant and can also seal minor leaks. I have always had old used cars and I charge them up every year, though why you need AC now is beyond me.

I am looking it up on autozone now! I really thought they did away with freon to buy looks like I will be doing this myself! thank you for saving me money Magic Mom & mrodgers!

 

[N.Bailey]

Get estimates if you're having it done at a garage. The Chrysler dealership where we bought the vehicle was charging literally hundreds over the Pontiac dealership that did the work (I think we paid less than $100, but cannot really remember now).

You can do it yourself (I just spoke to my son). He says go into Auto Zone (or like store) and buy a can of R134A if the vehicle is newer than 1990, or R12 before '89. He said this will be under $4 a can. He then said you'd need to buy a $15 tool (depending on which product you buy). From here, talk to the guy at the store because I don't know the specifics (I didn't ask my son the process, but he said anyone could do it). In this case, that would probably be, anyone but me!!!!

 

[manning]

Get estimates if you're having it done at a garage. The Chrysler dealership where we bought the vehicle was charging literally hundreds over the Pontiac dealership that did the work (I think we paid less than $100, but cannot really remember now).

You can do it yourself (I just spoke to my son). He says go into Auto Zone (or like store) and buy a can of R134A if the vehicle is newer than 1990, or R12 before '89. He said this will be under $4 a can. He then said you'd need to buy a $15 tool (depending on which product you buy). From here, talk to the guy at the store because I don't know the specifics (I didn't ask my son the process, but he said anyone could do it). In this case, that would probably be, anyone but me!!!!

My 1993 Lincoln had R-12. It was one of the last cars. Even was a sticker on the window advising to use R-12. I still have the car and had to have it retrofitted with R-134 as the dealer didn't have R-12 anymore and was cheaper. Mixing the two is not a no-no.

I don't know how they handle R-134 but with R-12 (and this is expensive) it has to be pumped out into a containment. Gone are the days of venting into the atmosphere. Also R-12 isn't made/sold anymore making it expensive.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

A car shouldn't need additional refrigerant, it's not something that gets depleted from use; if you need to add refrigerant you have a leak somewhere.

 

[N.Bailey]

My 1993 Lincoln had R-12. It was one of the last cars. Even was a sticker on the window advising to use R-12. I still have the car and had to have it retrofitted with R-134 as the dealer didn't have R-12 anymore and was cheaper. Mixing the two is not a no-no.

I don't know how they handle R-134 but with R-12 (and this is expensive) it has to be pumped out into a containment. Gone are the days of venting into the atmosphere. Also R-12 isn't made/sold anymore making it expensive.

Well, my son knows a lot more than me, that's all I'm sayin. He's been going to school for it for the past 3 years, and he has more experience in doing it than most who are not professional mechanics (I think he did about 8 or 9 automobiles last summer alone - friends). He will attend the University of Northwestern Ohio in the fall, so he's not had his, "formal" training yet, but the school will qualify him to work on a Nascar pit crew if he's good enough.

EDIT: Oh, and he finds out tomorrow if he passed the testing to be qualified to do state inspections.

 

[Hyonlyf]

My family owns a garage and we charge $25 flat fee for hooking up to machine and inspection of system, then $1.50 an ounce. Most people leave with a bill of +/- $50 - $60 dollars.

 

[HelenePA]

A car shouldn't need additional refrigerant, it's not something that gets depleted from use; if you need to add refrigerant you have a leak somewhere.

Well they have a stop/fix leak kit out there for the ac I'll try that and see if that works.. if not off to the shop we go.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

Well they have a stop/fix leak kit out there for the ac I'll try that and see if that works.. if not off to the shop we go.

Since you live in a Northern climate like I do, it's not uncommon for the seals to start to go bad in between the line connections due to the temperature changes over time. Unfortunately A/C work is almost never cheap, but if you don't take care of it, it could cost more later.

 

[manning]

Well, my son knows a lot more than me, that's all I'm sayin. He's been going to school for it for the past 3 years, and he has more experience in doing it than most who are not professional mechanics (I think he did about 8 or 9 automobiles last summer alone - friends). He will attend the University of Northwestern Ohio in the fall, so he's not had his, "formal" training yet, but the school will qualify him to work on a Nascar pit crew if he's good enough.

EDIT: Oh, and he finds out tomorrow if he passed the testing to be qualified to do state inspections.

Just pointing out that 1990 date is not firm. The last of the R-12 that went into a ford product was summer of 1993. My car was one of the last ones to get it. I believe June of 1993 was the last for them. My car came off the line in June.

Also if you have to go with R-134 the best way is to retrofit. R-134 is not as efficient as R-12.