How much aircon coolant and access point?

Does anyone know how many litres of aircon coolant the manual 3.4 C4 996 (2000) takes and where the access point (fill valve) is located? Thanks for any help

Access points are at the front in the boot under the nearside plastic panel next to the windscreen. It needs 900g of R134a gas and 195cc of oil.

OPC Chiswick told me I needed 850gm of coolant for my 2000 996 C2. Kwikfits aircon machine also brought that up on screen once the operator found my car. Stand at the front of your car looking towards the battery in the front boot. The air con charging points are to the right of the battery, also underneath a cover that needs to be unscrewed.

Min is correct. Connections shown are for LHD. RHD is a mirror image.

Hi guys, Just a quick question. I recently had the air con re-gassed by kwik-fit and all seemed well (much to my suprise, 10 year old condesors etc...). However, all is not well now and no cold air is coming through. I know the common culprit are the condensors in the front PU, but was just wondering if there are any other places for common leaks? I only ask, as i noticed a pool of liquid on the floor, behind the front passenger side wheel, below where the air connections are. Is this a common site for leaks? At first, i thought this was just water run off, after me washing the car but now i think of it, it could be something else. If the system is leaking, would a liquid be seen, or is it gas..? Sorry, bit of a numpty on this subject?! All info/help welcome. Cheers guys, Taran :thumb:

The area you mentioned is not far from the evaporator drain. The evaporator is the bit in the car the air passes over and gets cooled. Condensation forming here drains outside the car. When there is a gas leak, you wouldn't see any puddles but what you will notice is the area around the leak looks oily and a bit darker than the surrounding. Where Kiwk-Fit or any where that does re-gassing, the newer machines applies a suction to evacuate the gas then should automatically check to see if the vacuum holds indication the system is leak free. If it doesn't the newer machines can fill it up with an inert gas with a dye that would then show up where it is leaking.

Thanks everyone for your quick and full answers. Just one further question, what do the Low and High pressure taps (A and B in diagram) do?

They aren't taps - they are the valve covers where the fill and drain lines are connected.

Sorry, I wasn't very clear. I understand they are the access points (tapping off points), but how do they differ? What does high and low relate to? (in their use) Do you use the low pressure to drain and high pressure valve to fill?

I think that's the case, but to be honest, I'm not sure. The attached instructions don't make it clear either.

What a surprise that Chiswick gave me the wrong info regarding how much to put in the system. Regarding leak-testing methods, there seem to be two: 1) dye inserted in system. I havent had this done but apparently it might be ultraviolet according to some posts 2) charge system fully and use a probe that is very sensitive and detects coolant. You can put the probe anywhere you want and run it all over the rads and all down the car where the pipes are etc. I saw this in action last night. In London Alpinair have been suggested as decent (c.£65ex VAT for a leak test), and Tower Porsche do the probe method. Am sure there are others too though.

My friend who is a refrigiration specialist uses both methods. He'll use the probe method first to see if it can detect hydrocarbons which is basically what R134a is(it beeps as it detects it a bit like the radiation meter in the old James Bond movies and speeds up as the concentration increases). He tends to stick it at all the joints and the edges of the condensor and also into the vents in the car. If nothing is detected then the dye method is next.

Cheers for the responses guys. I'll probably pop back down to Kwik-fit and have a word. I did ask them to check the pressure of the system to see if there were any leaks before re-gassing etc, but i'll ask if they have the newer machine or old. Cheers again, Taran :bandit:

I suspect most outfits have the newer automatic machines where you input the car details and it does everything else - evacuates the system, sees if the vacuum holds then recharges it. Most of these places do not have people trained to use the old manifold gauges or actually understand the theory behind gas partial pressures and operating pressures.

Last year Kwikfit recharged my system and it worked for a week. I shone a torch through the front grills and could see a dark oily film on one of the condensors - this is the tell tale sign of a leak. I changed both condensors and kwikfit re-charged for free. A year later and all is still cool. Their machine did everything, evacuated and recharged with the correct amount of refrigerant and lubricating oil plus dye. Ray :thumb: