I recharged my AC system today with R134a freon. The low pressure port for doing this is located under the car directly on the AC compressor. It was rusty because it points downwards and the plastic cap collects water. What a dumb idea, Ford.
The high pressure port, incidentally, which you do NOT want to use for adding freon, is located within easy reach above everything else on the right hand side.
Why couldn’t Ford have put the low pressure port up there?
I got to wondering if anyone has ever relocated their low pressure port to some more accessible spot, like with an extension tee or something?
Not sure when they started, but for many years the service manual prescribed method of adding refrigerant has been to recover whatever is in there, pull a vacuum, and then charge with a specified amount of refrigerant. This has come about because the capacity of modern systems is as small as possible to reduce halide and carbon footprints should the refrigerant escape. It’s difficult to precisely charge by just looking at gauges. Shop time ($100+/hr) is reduced compared to the time necessary to get the charge right using the old fashioned method.
The refrigerant is charged via the high side port with the engine off, using a high pressure pump. So Ford made it easy on themselves, but not you! IMHO…my old 2000 Audi was like this but not sure about Jags.