I recently purchased a 2006 Montero Limted w/ 20,000 miles on it. I live in the Houston aera, and find that the AC seem inefficient to coll the interior of the car. Even when I crank up the front & rear A/C, it stills seems they are't strong enough to cool the car on a hot day. Do you think the AC needs to be recharged, or is the system just not made for 100 degree + conditions?? Thanks ahead of time.

 

Im an A/C mechanic in the military... If all your fans are at lease blowing air, thats a good sign... You should visual inspect your AC lines, for cracks, moisture and a hissing sound (while your systems on full blast.) Also check out the AC compressor, make sure its spinning while the cars on. If its not spining, dont fret, it has a saftey device if theres low refrigernt in the system, it wont spin.
Also if you go to Autozone, they have a nice little device for like 29bucks and it will tell you if your systems overcharged undercharged or leaking...Hopefully its undercharged, if it is all you need is a small Can of R-134a Refrigerant, to add more.

 

Is it easy to recharge it yourself?

i see the High and Low port very accessible in the engine bay unlike other cars.

Walmart sells the refills.

I heard it was bad to overcharge it, and some of those things dont have a gauge.

How should we go about refilling it?

 

there wont be anything wrong with it, most likely.


its just a LARGE cabin, and you're trying to deal with high heat and humidity.

you could have it checked.... but DONT do it yourself! if you dont know what you're doing, leave it to someone that does! I cannot stress that enough!

 

They'rs a data plate in the engine bay, that has how many pounds of refrigernt is spos to be in there. NEVER EXCEED THAT. If you buy the device I was talking about it will tell you, your freeon level... if its undercharged, then add a very small amout. I think it has a gauge on it to...... but if your unsure, then have someone check it out.
Im not going to let them rip you off, so if need to repair somthing, come post here, so I can check it out.

 

the ONLY way to know if its correctly charged is with pressure gauges.

thats it, minus evacuating and measuring the refrigerant.

DO NOT GUESS! do NOT just jam refrigerant into the system! Period.