Any simple way to check for excess oil in ac system?

[Kcbell73]

I bought my 03 Liberty 8 years ago and it never had functional a/c. It did sit for 5 years and I just recently got it running again.
When I checked the A/C, the clutch was working, so I vacuumed it down, and charged it up. It worked fine for about 30 minutes until the 134 drained out and I found the leak at the compressor front housing.
I got a used compressor at the junkyard. It had a failed clutch coil. So I swapped the coil from my original compressor. Everywhere said to drain the old compressor oil to know how much to put in the “new” compressor. But that was confusing because I don’t know if there was the “right” amount of oil in the system since I wasn’t the owner when either of these acs failed and I have no clue about either compressor. But, okay I did that anyway. The original compressor had 2.5 oz. The used compressor had only an ounce. So I put 2.5 oz in the compressor and installed it. I didn’t change the dryer or blow out any of the lines. . (Go ahead and chastise me. If I had bought a new compressor I would have, but I didn’t even know if the $40 junkyard compressor would work.)
I pulled a vacuum and it held vacuum, so I charged it up and it’s running fine. I plan to order a new dryer and line in a couple of weeks. Then I will get it evacuated and flush everything and start fresh.
in the mean time, I’m worried that there is too much oil in the system. My gauges gummed up when I was adding refrigerant and I had to stop and clean them out to add the last bit. Now it could just be my gauges, but there was a sticky uv dyed oil in my gauges. My pressures do read fine, and it blows cold. So am I just being paranoid? Any sure signs or any way I can check if too much oil without having it evacuated/recovered at a shop?

 

[derekj]

The only way to really know how much oil is in there is to have it evac'd, and also drain the compressor as well. And there will still be some oil in the pipes still, but that will get you close. Sounds like someone might have added some stop leak at some point if your oil is sticky though.

 

[Kcbell73]

The only way to really know how much oil is in there is to have it evac'd, and also drain the compressor as well. And there will still be some oil in the pipes still, but that will get you close. Sounds like someone might have added some stop leak at some point if your oil is sticky though.

Hadn’t thought of that. It’s very likely. Feels like it would be a waste of time and money to evacuate and flush now seeing as how I’ll have to do it all again when I get a new dryer and lines in just a couple of weeks.
Guess I’m still without ac until I can get the parts in. Don’t want to run it and ruin it before then.

 

[DadOSix]

Hadn’t thought of that. It’s very likely. Feels like it would be a waste of time and money to evacuate and flush now seeing as how I’ll have to do it all again when I get a new dryer and lines in just a couple of weeks.
Guess I’m still without ac until I can get the parts in. Don’t want to run it and ruin it before then.

Jumping onto what Derekj said - The oil travels thru the total AC system. The big silver can - Accumulator or receiver or drier (all the same thing) is where any excess oil will accumulate. I feel there is little chance of damaging the system with a bit of overfill on oil.

Sticky could come 2 ways -

Either stop leak in the refrigerant OR the wrong PAG spec oil was used. Think of it like mixing coolant types in the radiator - HOAT / OAT etc. THings get sticky.

Unless you want to replace as many parts as you can, you could use AC flush and then change the accumulator and add the proper amount of oil per the manual - full load after flushing it out.

 

[JeepJeepster]

There isn't a way to check for too much oil in the system. Too much oil will, however, diminish the A/C's performance. If you find that its charged properly but does not cool well when in high ambient temps, it could be too much oil in the system.

The only way to insure you have the proper amount of oil is to replace the dryer and completely flush the system, including the compressor. Then start over adding oil to each component according to the FSM.