I tried to change My leaky ac stem valve. I used the tool and the took out the stem. The remaining fluid shot out along with the high pressure. Can I just go ahead and replace the valve with a good one I bought and recharge the system?
If the system fully discharges and is left unsealed for any length of time it must be vacuumed down to 0.0Bar before recharging. Air will enter the system and cause problems…
3 Likes
If you would have brought your car to an AC shop, they would have used one of these tools to replace the valve core.
This allows replacement of the core without letting any refrigerant to escape nor let air into the system.
This would have taken about five minutes to do and would have cost about $20.
Now, you have to pay a shop to evacuate the system and recharge it.
Tester
5 Likes
Yep, time to take it to an a/c shop. I never work on mine, even though I have the equipment. Let the pros handle it.
You’re lucky you didn’t injure yourself.
Which can cost around how much?
Depends on where you live and who you know.
Tester
One thing that no one has mentioned is that some of the compressor oil was lost, and if it is not replaced when the system is ultimately recharged, the compressor could fail.
The amount of refrigerant oil that was lost would be about one ounce.
But if the OP explains what they did, the AC shop will know how much oil to add.
Tester