On the back of the compressor is a high side pressure relief valve...I believe. That valve was broken (don'task) and the freon leaked out but now the valve is repaired. If the valve was off for about a week, do I need to vacuum the system in order to recharge? The hole was about 3/8" and was uncovered during this time. If I vac the system, will I loose my oil? Thanks for any help.

 

You absolutely need to pull a vacuum on the system. As for the loss of oil, that depends on when the valve was broken. If system was full of freon when valve was broken I'd say to put 2 oz. of oil in when recharging.If broken during another proceedure then you may not have to add oil at all. The way I read your post, you probably had a full system when the valve got broken and blew the fron and some oil out, if so then add oil to the system.