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Info - Essential Tool J 43600 ACR 2000

Subject:Essential Tool J 43600 ACR 2000

Models:1993-2001 Passenger Cars and Trucks (Except Medium Duty Trucks)


Every General Motors' dealer (except those only dealing with medium duty trucks) received a J 43600 ACR 2000 Refrigerant Recycling/Recharging tool. This tool is part of the essential tool package and is proven to increase the speed and accuracy of air conditioning service. This bulletin is being sent to all dealers to help answer the most frequently asked questions and concerns about this new technology.

Q: Why do I need a new piece of A/C equipment?

A: There are several answers why existing equipment is no longer adequate for today's systems:

    • System charge weights are decreasing. Some systems operate on as small a charge as 0.75 pounds. Current equipment is not accurate enough to properly charge these very small amounts.
    • The equipment in use today is often filled with air (unknown to the dealer) which gets charged back into vehicles. This may cause system performance conditions.
    • Existing equipment uses oil-filled vacuum pumps to evacuate air after repairs are made. These vacuum pumps require constant attention and maintenance to give optimum performance. Studies have shown that the vacuum pumps on the ACR 4 receive very little attention and may not perform properly. Improper vacuum pump operation leaves air trapped in the system.

ACR 2000 uses new technology to improve and overcome the concerns associated with existing equipment. ACR 2000 eliminates the concerns of charge accuracy, trapped air, and vacuum pump maintenance.

Q: Why does the ACR 2000 use a very short (three minute) evacuation cycle? I thought we needed to hold the system under a deep vacuum for a long time to remove the moisture.

A: Today's R134a systems are significantly different than the systems that used R12. When servicing R12 systems, it was very important to remove moisture from the A/C system. Moisture would interact with the mineral oil and R12 to form acids. These acids would slowly destroy the A/C system from the inside out.

Current GM A/C systems use PAG oil, which is hydroscopic (it mixes with water). R134a and PAG oil do not form system damaging acids. The current desiccants do a much better job of trapping moisture. A three minute vacuum cycle that achieves 28 in Hg (at sea level) will remove all the air from the system. The desiccant will absorb most moisture. If an A/C system has been left open for any length of time, the accumulator/drier should be replaced to insure adequate desiccant performance.

The three minute vacuum cycle is a programmed default time. If you want to extend the vacuum cycle, you can enter the vacuum run time before starting the vacuum cycle.

Q: What do I do with the warranty code? Which code do I submit with the warranty claim?

A: After your repairs, perform a snapshot and write the code down on the shop copy of the repair order. Submit the LAST code after repair with the warranty claim in the comments field. The ACR 2000 does not store the performance information after you leave snapshot. You can return to snapshot from the Main Menu and gather another snapshot and warranty code.

Q: What does the warranty code mean:

A: The data contained in the code is a summary of the operating conditions at the time you printed the snapshot. The data includes the following information:

    • Date and time of repair
    • High side and low side minimum and maximum pressures
    • Duct outlet temperatures
    • Ambient temperatures
    • Relative humidity

This is critical information that will help GM improve product quality.

Q: Why doesn't ACR 2000 have oil injection built into the unit?

A: One distinct difference of the ACR 2000 is that it does NOT have oil injection. On the ACR 4, technicians often failed to deliver the oil charge into the vehicle. The oil charge was often left in the high side hose and recovered into the ACR 4 on the next recovery event. We have been very careful with the ACR 2000 to keep the oil out of the recovery/recycle system. By keeping the oil out of the refrigerant hoses and automatically purging recovered oil, we are able to keep oil out of the refrigerant identifier, the vacuum pump and the compressor. This helps the long term performance of these components.

Q: How do I get oil into a closed system if the ACR 2000 doesn't have oil injection?

A: Several manufacturers market suitable oil injection products and GM Service Operations is evaluating an oil injection package for shipment as an essential tool.

Q: Why am I experiencing slow recovery times with the ACR 2000? I thought the ACR 2000 was supposed to be faster?

A: Recovery with the ACR 2000 is faster than the ACR 4 (with Pureguard II). However, in some instances the quick connect coupler can depress the valve too far and actually slow down the recovery process. The ACR 2000 is equipped with high quality quick connect couplers that consistently provide the adequate vehicle connection and reduce this problem. If you experience slow recovery on certain vehicles, back off the coupler knob one-half to one full turn from the full open position.

Q: Can I use the new 30 pound (13.6 kg) tanks of R134a that have the leak dye added to the refrigerant?

A: Yes. However, the ACR 2000 will pass the refrigerant through the oil separator and dispose of the oil and dye on the next recovery event. You will not get the benefit of adding leak dye into the vehicle. The leak dye will not damage the ACR 2000.

Q: What can I do with my ACR 4 now that I have the ACR 2000?

A: The ACR 4 is still a valuable piece of equipment. The ACR 4 can be used for several purposes as long as you understand the equipment's limitations. The following are some suitable uses:

    • Recover only*. For example, at a body shop.
        *Recovered refrigerant should always be purity tested before re-use. The ACR 2000 is capable of testing and printing the purity results of any source tank.
    • Scavenger unit to recover and store contaminated refrigerant.
    • Dedicated A/C system flushing by adding the J 42939 flushing adapter kit.

Q: Can I used the 50 pound (22.6 kg) tanks of R134a from my ACR 4 as a source tank for the ACR 2000?

A: Yes, you can use any supply tank of R134a as a source tank for the ACR 2000. You should always test unknown sources of refrigerant before using them as a source tank. The ACR 2000 does not automatically test source tanks before refilling the internal tank. If contaminated refrigerant is used as a source tank, you will contaminate the ACR 2000.

Follow these steps in order to test a source tank:

  1. Connect the low side brass fitting (supplied with the ACR 2000) to the tank.
  2. Connect the low side coupler to the brass fitting.
  3. Open the low side coupler and the tank valve.
  4. From the Main Menu, press Snapshot.

The ACR 2000 will sample the refrigerant and display the results in the snapshot summary.

Q: When I scroll the ACR 2000 menu, I see a Flush Mode. How do I use the Flush Mode?

A: The ACR 2000 has a built-in flush feature that will be available to flush contaminated system oil from an A/C system. This feature will remove system oil and some solid contaminants. This feature will require the user to disconnect the compressor and substitute a block adapter. These block adapters are currently under development. When development is complete, a new service bulletin will be released and the adapters will be shipped to all dealers as an essential tool.

Q: I can only recover 9.5 pounds (4.3 kg) of refrigerant and the ACR 2000 tells me that the internal tank is full. How can I finish my recovery?

A: The ACR 2000 warns the user when the internal storage tank is approaching full. The ACR 2000 is supplied with a brass low side fitting that allows you to store refrigerant in a DOT tank. When you encounter a situation where the ACR 2000 indicates a full internal tank, you will need to charge refrigerant into a DOT tank before you can complete your recovery. Disposable source tanks contain a check valve in the stem of the tank and cannot be recharged.

If you regularly recover very large systems, you may want to keep the valve on the source tank closed. This prevents the ACR 2000 from completing an automatic tank refill. You can open the source tank and select Manual Tank Refill when you need to add refrigerant into the ACR 2000.

You can quickly charge into a DOT tank by following these steps:

  1. Disconnect from the vehicle.
  2. Connect the brass fitting supplied with the ACR 2000 to the blue tank fitting on your DOT tank.
  3. Connect the low side coupler to the fitting and select Vacuum from the Main Menu.
  4. If you have more than 24 psi (165 kPa) in the hoses, the ACR 2000 will not allow you to vacuum. Go to Step 6.
  5. From the Vacuum Menu, press Start. The ACR 2000 will evacuate the hoses.
  6. Select Charge from the Main Menu.
  7. From the Charge Menu, select Low Side.
  8. Enter the amount of refrigerant you want to charge into the DOT tank.
  9. From the Charge Menu, press Continue.
  10. If you do not have sufficient vacuum in the hoses, the ACR 2000 will not allow you to charge more than 0.5 pound (0.227 kg) at a time.
  11. Press Start.
  12. Open the blue (low side) tank valve.
  13. After charging, the ACR 2000 will be in Snapshot Data. You may continue to charge 0.5 pound (0.227 kg) as many times as you want by selecting Charge More from this menu.

Q: When I try to "top off" an A/C system, the ACR 2000 won't let me charge more than 0.5 pound at a time. Why?

A: The ACR 2000 is designed to eliminate air trapped in the vehicle's A/C system. The ACR 2000 will allow you to charge up to 0.5 pound of refrigerant into a non-vacuum. This allows you to tailor the charge on systems where specific charge information is not available. It also allows you to add refrigerant for leak checking. The ACR 2000 will only allow a full charge to be delivered into a vacuum to eliminate the chances of leaving air in the system.