Opened coolant line, a/c broken

Oops, I messed this up, hope someone can help. I loosened the wrong line under the car while trying to drain steering fluid. (I was on passenger side, should have been on drivers side) Steam started pouring out and the valve made a loud whistling sound for about 30 seconds. I realized I was in the wrong place and sealed it back up. But now my A/C doesn’t work! Does anyone have a fix? I hope it’s something simple and I didn’t do any permanent damage.

Fairly simple. Hook up some guages and add refrigerant.

Thanks! Glad I didn’t mess it up too badly!

You lost some refigerant. Air should have not gotten in. Should be a simple top off. No parts should be needed.

it is a simple fix , but get it done professionally unless you know the ins and outs of AC recharge and have the proper gauges. I would not go the "buy a can of recharge " at Walmart

Agree with James. I went to factory training AC school at 18. I don't recall much of anything about it except that there are several ways for things to go badly. High pressure and low pressure lines? IDK we're talking decades ago and I then went to college and never repaired even one.

I'd also agree with James. There is no proof that air wasn't introduced into the system, and if it was moisture-laden air - that moisture won't be leaving and can cause the expansion valve to freeze up. the correct way to address this is to pull a vacuum on the system, and then refill the system by the weight of the coolant (which is specified somewhere on a label on the car.) The vacuum will hopefully remove any moisture from the system, and filling by weight assures you that the correct amount of refrigerant is put back in. Over-pressure on a modern system can damage the compressor, and if that happens - the resulting debris can travel throughout the system requiring major disassembly to clean out. At a minimum doing it right will involve having a set of refrigeration gauges and a vacuum pump, plus an accurate scale used to weigh the coolant being put in.

The car wasn’t running when the tube was opened, I did wait until the steam stopped pouring out, but then I tightened it up. Doesn’t seem like the system would have sucked up a bunch of air then, just enough to fill the tube I suppose.

Unfortunately that wasn't steam - that was the refrigerant expanding and condensing in humid air. It's too late now - would have been better if you'd immediately closed the fitting as soon as you saw the "steam" being released. Hey - it's your car. Do what you want - but you'll never get the air out of the system by just refilling it with one of the auto-store kits. It needs to have a vacuum pulled on it. If you have the tools to do it - great - go at it, otherwise my suggestion is to take it to a pro before it gets really expensive to fix.

I see, Ok I will call and see how much my local place wants in order to recharge the system.

It's too wonderful a piece of machinery to not just bite the bullet and have it charged properly. It'd be different if you just needed to get a little cold air out of a $2500 roadside used car lot clunker. Sent from my SM-G988U using Tapatalk

Save when it's prudent, spend when it's not. I saw several YouTube videos about changing PDK fluid and the "work around" to not having PIWIS. After viewing I decided to take it to a place in my area everyone has raved about. Like Clint once noted "a good man has got to know his limitations". I have saved thousands in repairs across two vehicles but sometimes it's better to sip coffee in the waiting room.

You guys spend too much money. I have done DIY AC on about 10 cars and did a full AC install on my house. Its not that complicated.

I do 90% of my repairs and maintenance on everything I own. Starting as a young whippersnapper in the late 60's. But the Air Conditioning system is something I don't have the expertise or the proper equipment to do it justice. So yea, that's one that I have stood and watched the experts do and gladly supported their efforts to put food on their table. Sent from my SM-G988U using Tapatalk

I actually do have some expertise - experience in installing AC in cars that didn't come with it, and installing it in my houses and repairing it in both. But - I do own a vacuum pump, I do own a good set of AC gauges, I own a wet-bulb thermometer (if you don't know what that is and how to use it you really have no business trying to do AC work) and I wouldn't attempt to do anything without them. And with the increasingly critical nature of a correct fill (the factory manual has tables that can be used to determine if the system is working properly by measuring intake temperatures, outlet temperatures and low and high-side pressures) - I still have handed off my Cayenne (4 zone HVAC) to Porsche when it had an issue with moisture in the system (caused by Porsche dealer leaving the system unsealed for a month while working on the engine and NOT replacing the dryer when they recharged it.) The chance of making a moderate expense into a great-big expense is just too high for me to risk it, and I'd suggest most people may want to consider that when deciding what to do. But - as I said already - your car, your choice, your risk. If you're comfortable with the risk and certain of your expertise (which doesn't mean watching YouTube videos) then do what you may. The OP indicated by calling the escaping refrigerant "steam" that perhaps his expertise in HVAC systems might need a bit of improvement, so my advice to take it to a qualified person still stands.

Geez, kick a man while he's down, why don't ya. I never claimed to be an HVAC engineer, just a guy who likes working on his own car, and made a mistake and opened the wrong valve, like I've said from the very beginning. No need to make fun of me for using the word steam. That being said, it doesn't seem all THAT complicated. But I am lacking the equipment to even try to do it properly, so I'll start by seeing how much it is for a shop to do the recharge. Chill out. ;-)

Got the AC serviced, it’s blowing cold again! Hey it’s a 15 year old car at this point, it could have probably used the recharge anyway. At least that’s what I’ll tell myself, thanks for the help everyone! (Service was $150, they did vacuum pull and replaced with all new refrigerant)

Well done. And it co$t that much just to take my kids and grandkids out for Texmex. So well worth it in my opinion. Sent from my SM-G988U using Tapatalk

Hi All, I’m brand new to Porsche ownership but thrilled that there’s such an enthusiastic following of Porsche owners all over the world. I’m having the same issues. I bought a 2008 Cayman Base a little less than a month ago. I think I’ve noticed my AC slowly cooling less (as I think about it) and the other day I drove to Houston from Austin, and when I went to drive back to Austin, the AC suddenly did not blow cold air. Thinking more about it now, there has been foam like pieces and black powder like substances coming out from time to time since I bought the car about 3.5 weeks ago. Yesterday I bought refrigerant and a pressure hose and tried to refill it. I followed all of the steps but it seems the refrigerant would not take. I applied pressure to the hose to keep it down on the intake valve and it seemed to be taking but as soon as I stopped pushing the hose down the pressure would drop back to 0? Is my hose simply cheap and I wasted the majority of a 12 oz can or refrigerant or is there likely a larger issue looming? any recommendations would be great.

The black foam pieces are just the foam in the airways breaking down. Unless there's a very large piece blocking an airway (unlikely), it won't affect the cooling. You probably have a slow leak in your system. As explained above, it would be wise to take it to a specialist.

Stop now. Your problem is the foam on the heat/cooling mix doors going bad - leaving large holes through the doors. Common failure. Adding refrigerant to the AC system is likely to over-pressure it and cause damage to the compressor (think large amounts of money to replace..) The foam failure is common, and there are two techniques to address it - one going through the console and butchering up the HVAC box to access one of the flaps, the other removing the heater-core in the frunk, and only minor butchering of the HVAC box. They're beyond a quick answer here - but both have been documented, so a search on "heater foam" might be productive. Meanwhile - on the over-pressured AC system - I'd take it to a pro who has a set of gauges and have them relieve pressure to get the readings back to where they belong before the AC compressor is damaged. From your description of what you were doing with the fix-it kit stuff - it's not clear how much refrigerant you managed to get into the system.

Thanks. Yeah, I’m hoping to drop it off at the Porsche dealership tomorrow before work if I can. Can’t be in Texas without AC… 🤦🏾‍♂️

$150.00 AC Service on a Porsche IMO = gift, lucky day, happy moment.

I made a video of my experience and decided to start a YouTube channel about taking care of my car. Enjoy!

A few suggestions based on your video... - Both the AC system and power-steering have two lines going forward. The small one is the feed to the front, the larger ones are returns. They're run side-by-side under the car. Coolant lines also feed under the car, again a feed and a return. Just pointing that out - I'm sure you knew this. - Lots of confusion happens over "left/right" sides and even "driver/passenger" side - since this can change depending on where the car is from (UK cars are right-hand-drive), or how you're facing the car. That's why I often refer to the sides as "port" and "starboard" - it is an unambiguous definition of the side of the boat, or in this case - vehicle. See: Port and starboard - Wikipedia - it doesn't matter if you use those terms which way the car is facing or you're facing the car - port and starboard are constants, not subject to confusion. - When changing power steering fluid (was there a reason you were doing this?) - it's standard-operating-procedure to turn the steering wheel end stop to end stop several times while filling it up with the engine running to get the air out of the power steering rack. If you do that there should be no need to top off the level. It's also worth checking if the level is checked engine running or engine off.. different cars have different standards. - I'd suggest NEVER going under a vehicle supported by a hydraulic jack. NEVER EVER. I have known people who were killed when a car they were working on fell on them, and there isn't any real clearance under a 987 (unlike my Cayenne, that I can crawl around under while it's on it's wheels with the air-suspension jacked all the way up.) Hydraulic jacks fail. Jackstands are better, but also not as safe as a lift of some sort. If you can't afford a lift (some are relatively inexpensive and portable) - ramps are good as long as the job isn't something where the wheels have to come off. Please don't do that again - you seem like a nice guy and we wouldn't want to see you crushed working on your Porsche. - Finally - dunno if you've done it - but for DIY'ers - spending $16 on an annual subscription to AllDataDIY is a worthwhile thing to do. Go a google for coupons - there are always discount coupons around. Good luck with your YouTube channel - I'll be interested in seeing what else you DIY..

There was a Jack stand under the rear suspension brace, I guess you couldn’t really see it from that angle. I leave the Jack in place but the Jack stand is there too. [emoji3]