How do you recharge the air conditioner on a 2001 Chevy Metro?

Answer 1

Air Conditioning/Refrigeration service, be it auto, residential, commercial, or industrial has become an expensive and tricky proposition as the Montreal Protocol restrictions on refrigerant manufacture, use, and recovery take effect worldwide. Any auto a/c system that needs refrigerant added, is assumed to have a leak, and in some cases will require expensive repair rather than a simple top-off of refrigerant gas, in some cases however, one can add or charge in a small amount that took maybe a year or so to leak out, (microscopic hose leaks possibly etc.) but adding gas to a leaky system is usually a waste of time and it will leak out in a short time anyway, putting the expensive a/c compressor at risk due to overheat and a lack of lubrication. Having said all that, a top-off of refrigerant for the 2001 metro, which I also own, can be done by purchasing a R-134a refrigerant recharge kit (from your auto supply) with an attached hose and fitting designed to fit the suction line access valve, and then carefully following the directions supplied (you must use extreme caution and be technically competent to perform this task to avoid a dangerous overcharge, or bursting of the can which can cause great bodily injury). Also keep in mind that the only accurate way to charge an auto a/c system is to safely and legally recover and evacuate all the existing gas from the system, then hopefully after a successful leak repair, carefully weigh-in an the exact amount listed on the a/c factory specification label placed under the hood by the factory to assist the service technician, which, again may leak-out if the needed repair is not performed properly. I had to charge my system this warm Spring already, with approx 12OZ, so I will be pulling out my trusty H-10 detector and chasing another of the zillion leaks I've chased atop walk-in's, in house attics, all over super markets, in floors, etc, etc. A/C&R is not the cheap luxury we use to enjoy since someone discovered that the CFC's in the old refrigerants has all but destroyed our world............LOL : ) . Hope that helps to convince you to buy a new car, or hand the headache over to a qualified repair facility. Just watch your wallet, these qualified repair facilities are not "FREON PARTS & LABOR" by any means. GOOD LUCK! JLeeSki in So. Ca.