Hey I went to our local VIOC (Valvoline Instant Oil Change) today because my Cadillac dealer was closed and I was selling my CTS, and the A/C went freaking out the day the guy was coming to buy it...

Moral of the story: I went to VOIC for ease and paid like $150. Turned out the clutch stopped working which is something I asked about to begin on the compressor. I wasn't that upset because they agreed to recharging it when I changed the unit and doing the flush for me. So I left happy and they were good to deal with.... WAIT FOR IT!

and BAM I drove it right on over to a buddy of our's Muffler Brothers. He works on Camaro's and T/A's so I've done business with him and his shop is a more reputible Muffler Brothers (but he was further down the street and I was in a time pinch).

He hooked up his gauges and I watched it read out like 50-60% fill. There were no leaks at VIOC on the vac tester. I watched the gauge. Then the sniffer got nothing. The system was never turned on after I left because I thought I needed a compressor clutch rebuild/compressor itself.

At Muffler Brothers they tested no leaks, but only 60% filled. They couldn't find the issue and ran it across the Cadillac computer and found nothing bad after it was charged. So I went home and swapped the fog light relay for the clutch relay and WALLA! Freaking A/C. I was ecstatic about that.

I was not happy though that I spent $150 up at VIOC so I went back up there with the card to the owner of Muffler Brothers and a print out of what they did (for free because they had integrity and want my business). They refuted the claim and said merely checking the charge on another companies gauges voided their warranty and it wasn't their fault. I demanded my money back and they tried to wheel and deal on me.

I swear that I think they are filling to 50-60% capacity to scam people and save money. I bet they will say it is a safety thing so that they don't overcharge and blow lines/compressors. No where on there does it say that. Nor does it say I can't read it with my own gauge. A kid with an 8th grade education can competently read those gauges and fill one to fully charged without risking blowing it (**** their machine did it automatically...LOL). I've done it myself before I was just in a pinch (we own an HVAC business so I know...).

Valvoline scams people out of Freon. Maybe not all of them. But the one in Centerville, OH did. I told him it read out wrong and he says he sets the scale on it and it is fine. I swear I caught him red-handed on this one.

So I call on Valveoline.