Just to make sure I'm recharging the right thing. When I'm standing at the front of the car looking under the hood, is it the valve closest to the front of the car on the right side?

The recharge tube should only be able to fit on one.

I managed to get it onto at least 2 last time I tried. The other was on the left side of the engine bay closer to the engine bay I believe. I didn't put anything in that one though. It is the one on the right by the bumper?

That's where it is on the zetec. I imagine the Duratec is the same. If your a/c is working at all, the low pressure line (where you inject the coolant) will be cold when the system is running.

It blows but certainly not cold.

So it turns out I have a leak somewhere. I got the recharge can w/ the meter on it. It read 0 so I filled it up (w/ car and a/c on) and it went into the blue. I stopped and went back to the car, still hot air. I turned the car off, and it sounded like the compressor was still on. I went back to the front of the car only to hear a serious hissing noise and I looked at the meter and saw that it was dropping. So...off to a shop for the a/c Anyone know about how much it'll cost to get the system checked out?

When you say...you got the recharge can...you mean you can buy a can of refridgerant? I guess thats only in the States...cause you can't do that in Canada...have to have an OZone certificate to purchase it.

Yep. You can go pick it up at any auto parts store.

If it was empty, it's going to take more than one can to fill it. However, I think you made the right decision when you decided to take it to a professional. If it's leaking, it's going to be very difficult to find it and fix it yourself. I fix most things myself on my vehicles, but I just took my Chevy truck to a mechanic for A/C repair. It's too easy to go wrong if you don't really know what's going on.

Originally posted by RyeLou:

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So it turns out I have a leak somewhere. I got the recharge can w/ the meter on it. It read 0 so I filled it up (w/ car and a/c on) and it went into the blue. I stopped and went back to the car, still hot air. I turned the car off, and it sounded like the compressor was still on. I went back to the front of the car only to hear a serious hissing noise and I looked at the meter and saw that it was dropping. So...off to a shop for the a/c Anyone know about how much it'll cost to get the system checked out?

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Places all over Houston (The A/C capitol of the US) that state "Free Air conditioning check up" or "Free Air conditioning inspection." How much you want to bet they find some high $$ thing needing done?