"Overcharged" Air Conditioner/ Too Much Freon?

Question

A mechanic told me the air conditioner in my Honda Civic is "overcharged" but Im having my doubts. In the 3 years I've had the car, I've never done anything with the freon nor have I had any problems with the AC. How do I know if my air conditioner is "over charged?" Are there any signs that there is too much freon? For example, if its "over charged" will the air still blow cold? Will it make any sounds, etc? Can freon levels increase on their own (haha- I really know nothing about cars!)? What's the process to get the levels down and what should it cost me if it really does need to be done?

Thanks!

Answer 1

If there is no doubt your ac system has ever been recharged, I would have serious doubts that it is over charged.

You may have never had an A/C service performed, but that doesn't necessarily mean the system hasn't been recharged. For instance, you may have had engine work performed where an A/C line had to be removed to get to a component. In this case the mechanic would have removed your freon and then recharged the system when he/she was done. In that case it could have been over charged.

But if you are absolutely certain the system has never been recharged, then I am going to assume the mechanic made his/her diagnosis based on the manifold gauge readings. Perhaps both the low and high side gauges were reading much higher than normal. In some cases this would be correct.

There are other reasons he/she was seeing unusually high manifold readings. It is possible the cooling fan was not drawing enough air through the condenser when he/she was testing the system.

Whether or not the system is over charged I would certainly like to know why the system pressure is too high. Yes, the system may still be cool. But it could lead to an expensive failure

Answer 2

well then you know for a fact that its not over filled then right since you have never had it added right.. so whats best is you go somewhere else

Answer 3

how does he know he would have had to do something with ac to find that out but if ac works dont fix what aint broke

Answer 4

if the system is over charged, it would not work as well. the potential high and low pressure sides, would not have that great of a difference. with too much in there, both low and high side pressures would be higher, and the flow through the low side would be slower actually defeating the whole purpose of the ac. if he did not hook up a set of  gages to see what the pressure were.

the levels can not increase on there own. in fact they will drop with normal use.  

Answer 5

If the AC works, then the pressures have to be fairly close.  There are pressure switches for high pressure and low pressure that will disconnect the compressor if the pressures are too far off, either way.

Your mechanic would have to place a set of gauges on the lines to determine the pressures, and if he did this, then why didn't he go ahead and correct the problem?

Take it somewhere else and get a second opinion on it, if you are still worried.

good luck to you