Alright, so back on this:
Decided I'm sick of having no A/C in this beast because the cabin takes in a ton of engine/trans heat so I've decided to DIY it.
I may make a separate DIY thread after I'm done here, but if you want good, informative videos on the basic process of diagnosing/repairing/charging an R134a A/C system then check out EricTheCarGuy's videos on it, as well as ChrisFix, and my personal favorite: South Main Auto repair. Just take everything they do with a grain of salt. There's mistakes in every video (Except SouthMainAuto because he does it the professional way, but his way isn't DIY friendly)
Alright, so first off get yourself a set of manifold gauges. You
absolutely need these, they are your central diagnostics/service/charging tool.
I got this set from harbor freight for $53 with a 20% off coupon.
They're built well enough. Hoses could be better, but they should last a few years.
Now I haven't made it far in my process yet, but the point of this is to inform others and see how to handle whatever issue this turns out to be.
So first off I jumped my low pressure sensor to make sure my compressor worked, now if you do this don't run the compressor for more than a few seconds because you will burn it up if you're low on refrigerant.
All seems good with the pump so the next process is to check system pressure and evacuate if necessary, in my case my system was empty. It had 20psi on the low side, 100psi on the high side, but it was just air built up in the system from being empty for so long and the short burst I had the pump running.
-Now to the next process: Pulling a vacuum.
You're gonna need a vacuum pump. Amazon has these for between $50-$90 for a good budget friendly one. Harbor Freight also sells a manifold gauge kit with this pump for $150 if your budget is better than mine.
Now hook up your gauges to the car, and pump. Tighten the fittings tight, but not crazy tight, you don't wanna smash the o-rings in the fittings. Now turn the quick connect knobs clockwise to open the valve cores on the low and high pressure lines of the car. BE CAREFUL with this! Turn very lightly and when you feel the valve core bump and bottom out STOP, you will bend the valve core and cause a leak in the system if you torque down on those like a mad ape.
**Sidenote: The yellow service line has a schrader valve in it, to pull vacuum you need to put the end of the hose with that valve on the gauges or it won't pull vacuum on the system. Be mindful though, that line needs to be flipped around when you go to add refrigerant**
Next you're going to turn the pump on and open the valves on the gauges. Let it pull as much vacuum as possible. Ideally you want 29-30InHg. Once there, close the valves on the gauges and shut the pump off. Now set a 30 minute timer, walk away, and check it when that timer goes off. Here's where my pictures start.
Max amount of vacuum I was able to pull:
After 30 minutes:
Slight difference. This means I have a leak.
If you come back in 30 minutes and nothing seems to have changed, give it another 10 minutes just to be sure.
Now, this is where I stopped. Next I need to add UV dye, and put a charge on the system. Now there's several ways to find a leak, but for personal reasons and opinions, I opted to go for the dye because it shows EXACTLY where your leak is.
I will pick up from here once I make more progress. Feel free to ask questions if you have any.