You can buy all sorts of diy air con stuff over the counter in the US at the likes of Kmart and Walmart. Very cheap. Anything I've seen has been "Interdynamics" brand.
www.id-usa.com/product_landing_ac.asp
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Halfords have started doing these kits for £29.99. If they are as bad / dangerous as suggested, Halfords could be in for some trouble.
I read about this kit on another forum. The instructions say something like "attach the hose to the air con's low pressure (or low side) valve and open up the bottle." The instructions also give numerous warnings that under no circumstances should it be attached to the high pressure valve.
I would rather pay someone else who knows what they're doing, rather than trying to save £30 to £50. I am fairly familiar with what's what under the bonnet, and could quite easily recognise the a/c pipes, but as to deciphering which is the low pressure valve and the high pressure valve, I wouldn't have a clue.
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Oh DD its easy peasy.
If your can expands rapidly and imbeds shrapnel into your brain, you have found the high pressure valve.
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Many low pressure and high pressure lines also have different size connections to its not possible to connect to the wrong line. If you are fearful of doing it yourself thats fine and understandable, but it honestly isn't rocket science to figure out which is low and high pressure. The instructions in the Interdynamics kits are quite detailed and I have used them before on different makes of cars and have remained shrapnel free to date.
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You need to satisfy yourself on a few points before you splash out.
Are you sure it's a gas problem with the MB? They had a number of issues with evaporator and gas temp sensors.
If it is a gas issue, then you need to fix the leak first. Whatever you do, DO NOT use gas with 'miracle leak sealant' in them. There is no miracle to sealing leaks, other than a proper fix with replacement parts. Are you happy you can evacuate the air on the system first? No point in adding gas on top of air, otherwise you'll get abnormally high pressures. You will also need to know how much to put in the system, do you have a means of measuring the weight of the gas added?
Of course none of this is mentioned on the can, but since when did that stop anyone selling something.
Pretty much the same applies to the Honda, except to say that Honda use water valve to shutoff the heater, and over time thses can sometimes stop shutting off. The temperature of the cooled air is regualted by a thermostat on the evaporator, so you need to measure the vent temp. Should be about 5degC, but anything will achieve that this time of the year, so check when it gets warmer.
If you're really interested in DIY then while you're in Halfords, buy the A/C manual by Haynes first, then decide what else you'll need to do it properly. I can assure you it won't mention a little can with a valve on top.
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