V 70 A/C

[Andy Mann]

This is the first car I have owned with A/C.
Do I need to add any fluids A/C

 

[Rob Guenther]

Nope... A/Cs are suppose to be the most sealed for life system in your
car... The gases inside them are pretty nasty for the environment too... so
you don't want them to get out (even the newer stuff that's not too bad for
the environment isn't the best for it either, according to the HVAC guys
i've talked to).

That being said the gases do eventually leak out - give it 10-12 years and
it probably wont work anymore... sometimes less, sometimes more. At this
point you will have to add more refrigerant, and probably replace
pipes/fittings maybe even the compressor or evaporator.

Enjoy the A/C, you'll wonder how you did without on those hot summers days.
Remember to run it all year round so the seals get exercised - you can blend
the A/C with the heater in most cars... A/C's seem to last longer if you use
them consistently - at least once a week I've heard.

 

[James Sweet]

This is the first car I have owned with A/C.
Do I need to add any fluids A/C

The sealed part of the A/C is maintenance free, it's very high pressure so
be careful with the hoses and fittings, don't mess with it unless it stops
working. The only thing requring regular maintenance is the belt that drives
it. Also it's possible to get mold growing on the evaporator which requires
disinfecting but there's ways to prevent this,

 

[Michael Pardee]

Nope... A/Cs are suppose to be the most sealed for life system in your
car... The gases inside them are pretty nasty for the environment too...
so you don't want them to get out (even the newer stuff that's not too bad
for the environment isn't the best for it either, according to the HVAC
guys i've talked to).

The old rule about running the A/C at least once a week in the winter -
usually in the form of running the defroster - still applies. The idea is to
keep the O-rings oiled.

The A/C guys' info is out of date. NASA and NOAA teamed up for a mission in
1997 to determine the exact cause of seasonal ozone depletion. The mission
was called POLARIS, for Photochemistry of Ozone Loss in Arctic Regions In
Summer. (When we hear about Antarctic ozone loss in winter, it refers to
northern hemisphere winter - Antarctic summer.) U2 flights in the affected
region carried an instrumentation package aloft to avoid the contamination
problems that led to the scare in the first place. Their conclusions,
summarized in the end-of-mission statement
(http://cloud1.arc.nasa.gov/polaris/polaris.ems.html) identify extended
hours of sunlight as the primary cause of the depletion that caused the
uproar. Too late for R12, though, the manufacture of which was banned under
the Montreal Protocol ten years earlier.

Mike

 

[Tim..]

This is the first car I have owned with A/C.
Do I need to add any fluids A/C

Mostly all A/c-ed cars will need a topup of gas after abotu 3-4 years due to
natural loss on a system in good order.

The most important thing to remember is to exercise the a/c once a week all
year around for 10mins or so to keep the seals moist via the lube oil
circulating. This can be abit tricky in the winter as it is disabled below
around 4 deg C, but you can get it to run if you heat the cabin with the
heater first, then switch to recirc and let the heater suck in warm air.


Tim..