Have an 06 accord 4cyl auto. Added R134 through my manifold(and watched the gauges carefully)as well as a little ac oil. As I added the can of R134 the compressor let loose a lot of freon through the pressure relief valve. Made no sense, the dials on my manifold indicated everything should have been ok. I tried again and sure enough it blew again through the valve.
Do you think my compressor is shot? Or could it be a defective pressure relief valve?

Any help is greatly appreciated.
Rich

 

no. your 06 accord doesnt need any more freon unless you have a leak. so the release sounds legit

 

A faulty relief valve is possible, but unlikely. More likely the gauges are not measuring high pressure correctly (be sure you are hooked up correctly w/ high and low sides isolated. High side valve closed and only open low side valve to admit refrigerant) , or you have a blockage upstream (flow direction) of the point you are measuring high pressure. Is low pressure side very low, < 15 psi? If yes, there may be a blockage.

Why were you charging, low performance? Do you know the system was low on R134a (low high and low side pressures w/ frequent on/off cycling of compressor) or were you charging "blind" to improve performance.

If pressures on high side were 150-250 psig and low side was 20-30 psig, you may indeed have a faulty relief valve.

good luck

 

It actually blew out most of the freon from the relief valve. The reason for charging in the first place is my low was around 20. I think I do have a blockage as my high side almost went up to 400 then back down again when I charged.

I have been doing this for years and never had an issue with any past vehicles...it looks like a blockage or a faulty compressor.

 

It could be receiver/drier, condensor, or expansion valve. Probably best to assume all and flush/clean the system. You will need to pull the expansion valve. Look for compressor debris in condensor, evaporator and receiver/drier oil, if you can pour any out. Watch for debris when you flush w/a screen to catch any. If any debris, you need a new compressor. High pressures suggest compressor may be OK, but the blockage debris had to come from somewhere.

You'll need a vacuum pump to recharge, New receiver/drier, and maybe a new expansion valve.

good luck