Hey Scotty and team, greetings from Australia
My girlfriends Honda civic 2001 isn't blowing cold air con anymore, I found out she drove through water about halfway up the doors but while she's had the car (2 years) it hasn't been regassed and coolant hasn't been changed either.
What should I do? We're in for a really hot summer. So many shifty mechanics around that charge an arm and a leg for average service. Please let me know thank you
The car is 20 years old. If you're lucky it's just low on refrigerant and needs to be recharged. (They all leak a little bit and over the years need to be refilled.) The right way to do it is to evacuate the system into a recycling unit and refill with the proper amount of refrigerant by weight. Since most people don't have a refrigerant recycler that means taking it to a shop. However as a practical matter the shadetree mechanic can frequently get away with charging in a little bit at a time until pressures are good and air outlet temperature is cold - it won't be ideal but you can get it to be good enough that way. (This is assuming the system is just low on refrigerant and has no other problems.)
Analyzing what is going on inside is the first step. You'd don't want to go in blindly and possibly make matters worse. There are lots of videos on youtube showing how to use a gauge set to diagnose auto air conditioning systems. Do not rely on those recharge cans that have a cheap low-side gauge, you need a full gauge set to see what's going on both low and high pressure sides of the system. Always wear eye protection when working on AC systems. If you don't feel confident working on it yourself you'll need to find a good independent mechanic to do it. Avoid stealerships and chain stores that will rob you blind.
