- 1). Open your vehicle's hood and locate the air-conditioner lines, or the metal lines that run from the front of the vehicle to the air-conditioning compressor. Each vehicle has two main lines, high pressure and low pressure, the low-pressure line is the thicker of the two lines.
- 2). Trace the low-pressure line until you reach the service port, which is the capped valve protruding from the line. The cap covering this port is typically either black or blue in color. Loosen and remove this cap by twisting it counterclockwise with your hand.
- 3). Attach the connector on the R134a recharge hose to the low-pressure service port by pressing it onto the port until it clicks. Some connectors require an outer ring to be pulled to connect to the valve.
- 4). Read the gauge on the hose. It has three levels: one indicating it needs charging, one indicating the R134a level is correct and another indicating it is overfilled. If the gauge reads the correct level or overfilled, your system may have additional problems that need further diagnostics.
- 5). Follow the instructions listed on the refill kit as to adding R134a to the system. Most kits require the vehicle to be running with the air-conditioning turned on, then a trigger is pulled to start the flow of R134a. Stop and recheck the R134a charge level on the gauge after every 10 seconds of charging.
- 6). Remove the connector from the service port once the charge reaches the correct level on the gauge. Recap the service port, close the vehicle's hood and check that cold air is flowing from the vents inside the vehicle. If cold air is not flowing, there may be additional problems that require diagnostics.
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