A/c Recharge - Adding Freon

[GoldenStateSilverSport]

Hi Guys,

I hope you all are doing well. I had a question about the A/C system in my vehicle I am hoping you all might be able to help with. I'm at about 85,000 miles and I've recently noticed that my car's A/C system is not as cold as it used to be. It still blows air out but I've recently noticed, it's not as cold as it used to be. Ever since I've owned my vehicle, I haven't taken it in for A/C service. I've done all the oil changes, but have neglected the A/C for the most part. I am wondering if recharging the A/C (ie. what i believe to be adding freon) should do the trick, however I literally have no clue how to do this. I've tried to search in the General Maintenance forum to no luck and I've seen R-134a kits mentioned a few times on this forum with no real DIY detail. Is this something that I should leave up to the local auto shop/dealer or is this a DIY undertaking that's not too difficult. The last thing I want to do is take it to the dealership and realize it's something I could have done pretty easily (similar to cleaning your cabin A/C filter =P. Some dealerships charge $75 to clean it when it's a 5 minute task that's sitting in your glove compartment). Is the R-134 recharge kit "compatible" with our A/C system or is the freon something I could easily buy from the dealership and do it myself?

Thanks for your thoughts!

GoldenStateSilverSport

[gabep]

First, you probably have R-134a. If you have freon you are out of luck unless you are a licensed tech.

If you are asking these questions in the first place I suggest you take it to a reputable local shop. You can destroy the system if you don't know what you are doing.

[lenore]

The RX300 are definetly R134, Buy maybe your air mixture valve is hanging up and giving some heated air from the Heater core instead of the condensor. Could just be a matter of cleaning the servo on this valve...Do a search, there is some info on taking the servo apart and cleaning. Just cant remember where....