Today I'm going to be adding some refrigerant to the air-conditioning
system of a 2005 Ford Focus. And these procedures will work for a Ford Focus
from at least 1999 to 2007. And the procedure is pretty simple. But I'm not
an actual mechanic, this is just something I've learned how to do. So if
you're gonna do this yourself like I have, proceed with caution, be careful, and
do it at your own risk.
And when I pulled the car up, I turned the wheels all the
way to the right. And you'll see why in a minute.
I've got the engine running and
we're gonna check the compressor to be sure it's turning like it should.
I'm gonna take a look at it now. The air conditioning is turned off.
So it's not turning right now. So I turned the AC on.
And it's spinning now.
If that compressor doesn't spin when you have AC on, then
that means there's a problem. There might not be any refrigerant in it at all, or
there's just something wrong with the compressor.
So now we're gonna get to how
you actually add the refrigerant to the AC system on this 2005 Ford Focus.
I have a bone to pick with Ford on that one, because on this Ford Focus you have to
access the low side port through the right front tire; through the wheel well.
Oh, fun!
So I'm just gonna put the hood down.
Yep, you have to access it in
through here.
There's not all that much space to work with in there. And to access
that port, we're gonna have to loosen the liner by removing this screw and that one.
The one back there is actually a 9/32 socket size.
And this one on the
edge actually requires a special little driver. That's called a Torx. It's a t-30.
They also call that a star driver, or a star bit. A regular screw driver won't work.
And to get a better angle at this one because my driver is kind of long,
I turned the wheels all the way to the left. And once I get it out, I'll turn
them back to the right.
So I'm getting that Torx screw out of there. And that
comes out pretty easy.
And that loosens up the inner lining there.
So with the front wheels turned all the way to the right and the liner loosened up,
I'm gonna get that liner out of the way so we can access the low-side port.
Because it's the a/c recharge port, the low-pressure port. It has suction on it,
and it'll pull in the refrigerant.
And you have to pull on this a little bit to
get it loose.
I got a screwdriver in here at the top. I'm kind of prying it out of
there. Going down like that. And it's coming out. So just do that all the way
down until it pops out.
And once it's loose, you're gonna pull that back up
against the tire.
And get that out of your way. And the tire will hold it there.
And now we see what
we're looking for. This port right there. And there's a cap on there that you can
just twist off. There it goes. It's coming right off. Just turn it counterclockwise.
So right there is where you're gonna need to put in the refrigerant.
And what I'm going to use to add refrigerant to this vehicle is this EZ Chill.
It's Auto A/C Recharge with Leak Sealer. Because if the air coming out of your
air conditioner is not as cool as it used to be, that means you're probably
leaking refrigerant. And this can seal some of those leaks.
And the refrigerant
is the standard R-134A refrigerant.
It comes with a gauge which you need.
And the hose which you need to connect to that little port that I just showed you.
And there's a lot of products like this that you can buy at Walmart, or AutoZone.
or O'Reilly's. Or Amazon!
And this comes with all the instructions that you really need.
So the first thing we're gonna do is take off this gauge. Turn on
the vehicle, and see what it reads as far as pressure.
This gauge shows you pounds per square inch (PSI).
So I'm going to start the vehicle. Turn the air conditioner on
full blast, and also put it on recirculate. That makes sure the
compressor is going to be working as hard as it can.
And we're gonna see what
kind of pressure it's putting out whenever it cycles on.
I'm going to attach this to the top of the low side port in there.
And you just pull that back and put it on, and it locks in place.
So. gonna try to reach in there and
get that attached.
And I'm gonna do this with safety glasses on, because I like my eyes.
And just to be safe.
And mine doesn't show real low...right about 45 psi.
I've got a chart of recommended pressures.
And it varies by the ambient temperature of the day.
And today, it's a little over 90. And it recommends putting 45 to 55 pounds of pressure in there.
I'm going to try to fill it up to around 55 psi.
I'm gonna shake the can up real good first.
And then take the cap off.
And screw it on to this end of the hose.
Both ends of the hose are fastened securely so I'm going to turn the air
conditioning back on full.
And we'll start adding some refrigerant.
And you add a little bit by just pushing this button.
Add a little bit and then let go.
And then check the gauge and keep adding until you get it where you want it.
Which is for me, right near 55 psi.
Once that compressor starts running.
And there it is, and now I'm going to add some.
I added some, and now it's right below 55 psi. So I'm going to add some more.
This next push might do it.
And you're supposed to rotate it about
from about 12 o'clock to 3 o'clock too, a little bit while you're doing this.
And if yours was really low,
you might have to do this several times to get it back up to your target psi.
And I think we got it right where we want it.
Now I'm just gonna unhook everything.
I'm gonna remove the other end of the
connector.
And remember to put the cap back on the port here.
So we're gonna
pull that liner back.
Push the edge up behind there.
Just work it back down there.
Got that worked back in there.
And then we'll put the screws back in.
And just don't over tighten these. Just get it snug.
You don't need too many things
to do this job.
I bought this refrigerant and the hose
that came with it at Walmart for about twenty seven dollars.
I got the Torx
driver at AutoZone for six dollars.
I already had my safety glasses.
I do recommend you use those. You can also use gloves if you want to.
So pretty simple.
Cheaper than taking it to a mechanic.
And safe if you follow all the procedures,
all the instructions that come with the refrigerant.
So thanks for watching!
And if you try this let me know down in the comments how it went for you, or any
problems you might have had.
So now you know what I know about adding
refrigerant to a 2005 Ford Focus!