system won't take refrigerant
 

after replacing my compressor....drier.... and expansion valve... (cleaning out the lines before hooked up)...

...and then having a leak in the system (i forgot the o-rings on the back side of my expansion valve) i now have my system back together....

1989CE

i tried vaccuuming with my compressor , vaccuum hoses, and a vaccuum pump...

not sure if i did it right...

anyway, the system won't take refrigerant...

i would like to see if this is fixable, before i take it to someone to have it vaccuumed and re-charged....

i figure the hard part is out of the way.....

Make sure your charging hose(s) have the little depressor in them and are adequately depressing the schrader valve in the fittings.

When vacuuming system did you open both fittings on you car, i.e., high and low pressure, like above post says. At the same time you should have the yellow hose from your gauges hooked up to your vacuum pump. Once vacuum is pulled you connect yellow hose to freon and begin filling. If you have a 30lbs tank it's easier to get the gas to flow and you can put in the proper charge you weight.

vacuum was hooked up as you said.... however when i put the compressor on it....the gauges really didn't move at all.....

i am unsure if it actually pulled vacuum... i left it on for about 90 minutes...

i hooked up teh yellow hose to a harbor freight vaccuum pump..and the other end to the compressor....

no 30 gallon tank....

I have had an issue before where the hose that I connected to the car would not depress the scrader valve fitting thus not allowing me to put any refrigerant in the car.

Just as a side note, my experience with the venturi type pumps is rather disappointing. It's better than no vacuum at all, and if it's about 100 degrees out (and low humidity) you probably don't need much vacuum to boil moisture. I suggest letting the vehicle idle for about 2 hours while vacuuming and lowering the hood to capture as much heat under there as possible in order to assist the weak vacuum in removing moisture.

You can get a 2-stage pump off eBay brand new for $150 and you'll surely get your money's worth on refrigerators, home A/C units, friends' cars, etc. You can also just rent one for free at AutoZone. I highly recommend you get a hold of one of these and do it right the first time. Any moisture in your system will turn acidic and start corroding things from the inside out. But I'm sure you know all that already.