My air conditioning blows, but currently warm air so I figured that it just needed to get more freon. Now I have a tank of freon that the previous owner included. I heard that it is illegal to load refilled this yourself due to environmental issues.

Is it? And is it a difficult process to do? If I have to get it done, how much am I look at paying?

 

Legalities aside, R-12 is expensive, so it would be a shame to just add it to a system that it may just leak out of, or that has some other problem. You may also need to draw a vacuum first to remove any moisture from the system, and that may best be left to a professional.

That said, I added some R-12 to my 1988 Lesabre over a month ago...it was blowing warm air, and I bypassed the low-pressure switch temporarily to confirm that it WAS indeed low on coolant and that the compressor was functioning. Its still blowing cold. It was something of a crap shoot, but I had 3 12 oz cans lying around and figured it was worth taking the chance. After adding the first 2 cans, the compressor still seemed to be cycling on and off too frequently, so I added the last one for good measure. I used a do-it-yourself style hose setup that clamps on and punctures the small cans. NO guages. Guess what I'm saying is even if you don't really know what your doing, you may luck out...but the odds may be against it. I'm still waiting to see how long my cheap fix lasts.

 

You are required to have a CFC certificate to mess with refrigerant. Freon is a Dupont trade name. The system will need to be vacuumed with a pump. The moisture in the system will kill your A/C. Also the refrigerant needs to weighed in to the exact amount listed for your system. Too much high pressure problems, too little poor cooling.
Mike