my AC hasn't been getting cold for years now, so I finally bought the Arctic Freeze do-it-yourself coolant from the store and followed directions correctly. everything seemed to work fine, the car started blowing cool air like it should. but when I turned off the car the there was a small hissing noise near the drivers side windshield where the coolant pipes entered the cab of the car, it continued for about 10 seconds after the car was turned off and eventually stopped. I never noticed it before, but i've also never really listened for it either. Is this normal or do I have something loose somewhere?

 

I need to recharge my AC. Arctic Freeze DIY... is that healthy for our cars?

 

I think it's normal to hear an 'internal' hiss where the AC pipes go in the car near the cabin filter. I hear it when my AC was running and I stop the car.

 

That hiss is normal, but you are likely loosing refrigerant from somewhere since it hasnt been blowing cold...

 

If you have a leak, that charge might only last a couple of weeks. Try some stop-leak refrigerant if you notice that the air gets noticeably warmer in the near future.

 

cAN u show a pic of where the bottle hooks up? ooh and our cars use 134 refrigerant right? my ac hasnt worked since i bought the car (blower works just needs recharged)... i would really like ac lol

 

Sigh......The A/C system is completely sealed, meaning it should "NEVER" lose it's refrigerant. If you have to recharge it, its just gonna leak out again, it may not even make it to the end of summer depending on how big the leak is. If you really don't care just throw a can of 134-a in there and hope it lasts, if you want to fix it take it to any A/C repair shop and have some dye put in there. The dye reacts with a black light so its easy to find after its been run.
You may also run into another problem here, if the leak was a substantial one the A/C system now has air in the lines and it will never cool even if you put a full can of refrigerant in it, or the A/C control unit won't let you turn it on no matter what you do.

P.S. Most manufactures haven't used R-12 (aka freon) since the early 90's, honda was the last one to get on the bandwagon in the mid 90's.

 

well the previous owner told me it was taken to the dealership and checked and they said the lines were fine (no leaks or cracks) it just needed to be recharged and what not, but it would be 3 hours labor plus freon so he didnt do it.... i wanna do it myself but i dont know where the recharge point on the 2.8 is... does anyone have a pic?

 

I know that in the 01 it's near the firewall on the passenger side.

 

Its under the cowl next to the battery. Freon is R-12, don't call 134-a freon.
I really don't care if it was taken to the dealer, i never said there were intellegent people working at all dealerships. Refrigerant doesn't leak, end of story.