I recently bought a 2001 elantra gls with 5 speed manual transmission. It's in really great shape but I have a couple small issues. Axle seals have a very minor gear oil leak but I'll get them fixed when the funds allow. First thing is that the a/c doesnt blow cold and I tried to add freon but it wouldn't take. Not sure what that issue is. Also the stereo turns on by itself and will constantly switch from radio to cd. Probably a short in the stereo wiring? Also most of the time the lights for the climate control ***** on the dash doesn't light up, but it does sometimes. Dont know why. I dont know a whole lot about cars especially electrical so any help is appreciated. Thanks

 

Playing around with refrigerant can be dangerous if you don't take precautions.
Since you say it won't take refrigerant, I would suspect either the compressor is not coming on or you are doing something wrong.
Doing Air Conditioning work without eye protection can hurt you and even blind you if you do something wrong.
Can you hear a clicking sound when you turn the AC on and off with the engine idling?

 

Check to see if the AC clutch engages which AC is turned on
As for lights and radio,that would require looking into the wiring behind the dash
Maybe even taking a good look into the fuse boxes and/or wiring

 

The radio coming on by itself may be a dirty switch in the CD player, to check this, try to insert a cd with the radio off, if it turns on, it is likely the issue.
If this is the problem, try inserting a CD 5 - 10 times to exercise the switch, the problem may be fixed this way