Your AC compressor requires oil in order for it to work properly. This can be confusing which has people asking, questions like, “How much refrigerant oil should I add to my AC compressor?” or “How does my AC system even work?”
These questions we all have asked about our vehicles at some point, and hopefully answers as well. We will answer these questions and other things and help you clear up any confusion when it comes to adding oil to your AC compressor.
How Much Oil Do I Add To My AC Compressor?
New AC compressors come with refrigerant oil already in it. This means that you don’t have to worry about adding new oil to it if you replace your AC compressor or buy a new car. While it may vary from different brands of AC compressors, there is a fine line between adding too much or adding too little!
This is why you shouldn’t add any more oil than what already comes with it when you initially buy it. It is a bit like “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” but in this case, it isn’t porridge, it is refrigerant oil.
You want that refrigerant oil just right. You’ll know if you added too much oil because it will naturally start pooling in places around the system and you cannot vacuum it up. Before we tell you how to replace the oil for your AC compressor, you should also be aware of how it works.
How it works is actually compared to a human body, with the heart being the main organ of the human body, the AC compressor is the central part of any AC system, which is, in essence, the heart of the AC system. Basically, the AC compressor’s job is to compress the refrigerant oil turning it into a liquid. Then, the compressor sends it through a tube to the evaporator and then to the condenser.
Meanwhile, when the compressor sends liquid, it turns it into a type of gas, since the compressor can only compress the gas. This process keeps repeating as you drive your car. It is pretty interesting, isn’t it?!
It basically works almost like a human body with each part of the entire AC unit doing its own job to ensure that the AC and the car run properly, which is why as a human body, it needs to be fed, specifically it needs to be fed oil in order for it to operate.
Oil is what it needs to consume in order for it to run smoothly without any problems or malfunctions. As mentioned before, new AC compressors you could buy already have refrigerant oil in them. But like with anything, over time, it will deplete. So how much oil do you need to add?
When adding oil to your AC compressor, you first need to know what type of oil you need (each compressor and car is different, more on that later). But usually, when adding refrigerant oil to your AC compressor, you don’t usually need to add more than one and a half-ounce.
This is because it could pool all over the compressor if you add too much, which wouldn’t allow it to function properly, as I mentioned in the previous paragraph.
If you add too little, it still won’t function properly because it isn’t enough oil, and you definitely do not want to deal with any more malfunctions than you have to, because a simple, cheap task could turn it into an expensive, headache of a task, or worse, the car may not operate anymore as a result, so being careful when adding oil is a must.
How The AC System Works
Like with anything, the AC system has different parts that enable it to work. Think of the human body analogy I used when describing how the AC compressor works, but with more parts that organize and work together to make the AC unit able to function properly.
This can go with anything outside of vehicles, like computers, phones, and other electronics. We will go into detail about how each part of the system has its own effect on how the AC system operates.
Compressor
We already mentioned how the compressor works in an AC system, but going into more detail here can be helpful. The idea behind how the compressor is supposed to work is by circulating the refrigerant in the system.
It compresses the refrigerant into a type of liquid, which then, in turn, makes the liquid come out of the compressor into the connecting hoses. As previously mentioned, many people compare it to a human heart, and the hoses are the blood vessels that pump the blood (oil) throughout the body (AC unit).
Evaporator
The evaporator takes the heat from your car and turns it into a type of vapor.
Condensor
The condenser works by taking liquid refrigerant sent from the compressor and using a conventional force that helps with regulating the system.
Accumulator
The accumulator holds the refrigerant. It helps remove moisture and circulates it around the car.
How to Service Your AC
Servicing your AC can be a process. It can be difficult to know where to start and when you should even do it. While you can hire a professional to do it for you, it can cost a significant amount of money, and if you don’t want to go that route then doing it yourself is the most obvious and best way to go.
Plus, by servicing your AC and your car in general you can learn things yourself you can help teach other people that may also not want to pay for a professional. It is a careful process and you must follow the directions well in order to do it right. We will show you how to service your AC here.
TURN THE CAR OFF!
First of all, you should make sure your car is off. You definitely do not want to electrocute yourself or have any other type of injury happening because the car was running. Most should know this, but sometimes it can happen and is an avoidable mistake that definitely should be watched out for.
You don’t need a hospital bill on top of a car bill, or worse, a broken car or AC unit, so turn the car off. We cannot put enough emphasis on making sure that your car is off.
Condenser Fan
Find your condenser fan and clean it off with any type of brush. Next, make sure to clean the condenser coils and fins. You can do this by using a garden hose. Make sure with both steps that everything is cleaned thoroughly enough to ensure everything will run properly.
If you don’t do it properly, it could get dusty in the fan and lead to many other malfunctions in the future, so making sure this is cleaned is essential to making sure your AC unit and car as a whole run well.
Filter
Make sure to clean your filter. If it isn’t fixable, you should look at getting a new one. You can easily clean it with a cloth, soap, and water. As mentioned before, you also want this to be cleaned very well. You want the AC unit to be able to run properly without any problems.
If it isn’t workable, or it is broken, you can likely find one at the store or online somewhere to replace it. This is because a filter is easily breakable, especially if it is constantly being used in a car. This is a good thing you can get them basically anywhere, and relatively cheap as well.
Air Ducts
Then you can clean the air ducts with any vacuum cleaner, even a shop vac. These also get very dusty. As mentioned before you have to ensure it is cleaned as well as you can possibly clean it. Not cleaning it will add to many more malfunctions for the AC unit which could in turn make it so that you would have to buy another one.
These aren’t as replaceable as a filter is, so if this breaks you would likely have to replace the entire AC unit as a result, which could cost some money.
Recycle!
Then, make sure to recycle your refrigerant. This is to make sure you don’t pollute anything harmful to the environment. The reason being is that harmful odors can get caught in the atmosphere pretty easily when you are recycling your oil, and no one needs to question the environmental impacts it might have by dumping the oil outside somewhere.
If you must, you can get a professional to do this part for you so you can make sure you’re not polluting even more harmful gases into the atmosphere.
Keep Watching
Finally, make sure to check everything on everything regularly. We would recommend at least once a month to ensure the lifespan of your AC unit, but you can go as far as two weeks if you really feel as though you must. A car works best when you take care of it, so taking care of the AC unit as well is a must if you want longevity out of your vehicle.
Obviously, if you don’t take care of it, the vehicle won’t last as long as it could have lasted and you don’t really want to be buying a new car or AC unit out of the blue and all of a sudden do you?
Types of Refrigerant
Cars and AC units, along with AC compressors can be very different just because of different manufacturers and models of cars. You want to make sure it is the correct refrigerant oil for your vehicle, or else bad things can happen. Such as AC units not working, and the wrong type of refrigerant oil can cause massive amounts of problems.
If the AC unit is like the human body, then the oil is like the food for the AC unit, and like many foods, some are only compatible with each other and differing human bodies may not take well to certain foods. This is the case for oil and using it cautiously while also making sure you have the right type of oil for your AC.
There is usually only one type of oil you can use for one car, though it isn’t explicit, and this isn’t an exhaustive list either. Though you can easily look up what kind of oil your car takes, we can show you the different types here as well.
Up until the 1990s, mineral oil was used, and it was balanced out with R-12 refrigerant oil. In 1994, a new refrigerant oil known as R-134a was developed that didn’t interact well with mineral oil. They had to develop something new that would work with it which is PAG oil.
This would be an optimal choice if you had a vehicle pre-1990s. PAG oil has three different types known as PAG 46, PAG 100, and PAG 150, which all work well with R-134a. AB oil or Alkyl-Benzene oil is a type of synthetic oil that works with R-12 refrigerant. This one does not work well with R-134a oil, PAO oil, or Polyalphaolefin oil.
It is actually compatible with many of the other refrigerants. It usually has industrial purposes and is used for passenger cars. The last oil, POE oil, is also known as Poly-Ester oil. It was actually used for many automotive vehicles. It actually does work with both R-12 and R-134a oils, because mineral oil wouldn’t work well with PAG oil, POE oil was developed to be able to work with PAG oil.
Conclusion
If you learned anything or have any questions make sure to comment and one of us will answer you. We discussed the different oils, how the AC unit in a car works (almost like a human body!), how much oil you should use, and how to service your AC.