I have had to take my blazer in for an A/C recharge the last two years in a row. They can't find a leak so they fill it and the charge lasts all summer, I am content to just fill it each season rather than have them tear it apart and charge me an arm and a leg. I got the bright idea to charge it myself this year and went to autozone and bought a charge kit (Quest / 32 oz. of Refrigerant and 4 oz. of Sub Zero Booster A/C Recharge Kit). I watched an instruction video on youtube and it seemed simple enough. The problem I have had is that the hose from the kit doesn't fit correctly on my accumulator so the refrigerant won't go into the system. I saw on JC Whitney's website another kit which has this comment (includes special high-side adapter for some '91-02 GM systems.) Is this my problem? Does my 2000 blazer have a different connector on the accumulator. I am $40 into this now and don't want to spend another $50 if this won't fix my problem.

Any help would be appreciated, it looked so simple in the video.

 

If you are trying to connect to the fitting shown as the low side in the image above, you either are not doing it properly, or something is wrong with one of the connectors.

 

I am connecting to the "low side" off of the accumulator. The hose that came with the recharge kit will fit onto the port but will not lock in place and no coolant will flow from the can into the system. I am curious if there is a difference in the Blazer's low side port vs. other vehicles or if the recharge system that I have is somehow flawed. I don't want to spend another $40-50 to get another recharge kit if it too won't fit on the vehicle. (See original post) That is why when I saw the one from JC Whitney and they mentioned the special fitting on some Blazers I was curious if anyone else knew of this or have come across this issue.

 

All r134a systems have the same low side port,some high sides differ. Based on pics of the kit it has the piercing type cans that you just screw the valve/gauge part on top tightly and it will pierce the can, and then the other side should snap on the low side port. They wiggle some since they are only plastic,but it should allow you to put gas into the system.

 

So then my low side port is not different and even though the connector on the hose didn't "snap" in place on the port itself I should be able to put refrigerant into the system. I played with it for over half an hour and the only sound I heard was the remaining refrigerant coming out of the system when I wiggled the connector on the hose on the low side port, it didn't sound as if any was going into the accumulator. I guess I will try it again.

 

Yeah most of cheap plastic connectors dont seal great, you should be able to get it to sit on there and pull back lightly and it should seal well enough to go in. The only ones that seal good are the brass couplers.

 

Thank you portcqb. I will attempt to fill it again within the next day or so. I was a little confused about the directions, unscrewing the gauge to check the pressure seemed to work and confirmed it was low, but when I screwed the gauge down to pierce the can nothing seemed to happen and the gauge didn't move.

 

I'm not trying to make you feel dumb but when you screwed the fitting in to pierce the can did you screw it back out to open the valve. And also the car needs to be running with the a/c on. If the pressure is low enough then you might have to jump the connector on the pressure switch to get the compressor clutch to kick on. If you do this just watch your pressure, you don't want to put too much.

 

The hose MUST snap on the fitting otherwise it won't open internal valves on both the hose side and the fitting side. (and nothing flows) Try this: On the hose fitting is a ring that slides up and down. Slide the ring up and while holding it up, push the hose firmly on the accumulator fitting, then while pushing the hose onto it - slide the ring back down with your other hand. The hose should stay snapped on the accumulator if you give it a firm tug otherwise it won't work.

 

Bingo. The set of gauges I have has quick connect fittings which means that you can just push them on and they will lock in without pulling back on the locking collar. Most have to have the collar pulled back prior to pushing it on.