stallion15

I just bought a '95 Honda Civic EX coupe. The AC needed a recharge because it was blowing warm. I came to this forum to determine whether it was R12 or R134a and there seems to be some confusion here so let me clarify for everyone. '95 was the changeover year, and the '95 Civic indeed uses R134a. It says so under the hood. I just did the recharge myself and didn't need the retro kit. It is R134a. The recharge took about 5 minutes to empty the 17oz canister and 1 minute to make sure it was completely empty by holding the canister upside down. There are NO Schrader grooves on the outside of the valve, however, the inside of the valve has Schrader looking grooves. The outside of the L valve is the air tool chuck style with no Schrader grooves. Hope that helps clarify things for the '95 Civic. You don't need the retrofit recharge kit. You only need the R134a kit. It was only $30 from my local auto shop, and now I have cold AC in my '95 Civic. Nice.

bandit67

I have had several 94s that I believe were factory 134s.....not sure of their country or origin, USA, Canada or Japan..

delsolo95

changeover to R134a was in vehicles 94' and newer

motegicivic

Watch for leaks, just because you were able to charge it doesn't mean there are no leaks, esp if it took a whole can.

FYI those kits are not the best way to charge, but ok if someone wants to save money, ideally you need 2 gauges low and high to properly charge plus technically if should be evacuated first to make sure there is no air in the system.

stallion15

How do you evacuate the system? Also, I have a few questions about other things w/ the car. I just changed the speed sensor myself ($10 for OEM part on ebay) b/c it had an erratic speedometer/odometer AND the check engine light was on. Changing the speed sensor solved all problems there, now the speedometer/odometer works perfectly, and the check engine light is off. I don't have the Hayne's manual for the car yet so I'm wondering a few things. What type of coolant, brake fluid, and power steering fluid should I go with? Also, the automatic gear shifter lights on the side of the automatic hand gear shifter go in and out, and the D4 gear light is out on the Dash, but all the other gear lights on the dash work (P, R, N, D3, 2, 1). Any ideas how to fix easily and quickly? If not, no biggie. I'm satisfied with the way it is, and those are just cosmetic issues not needed to pass a safety test. I don't have the Hayne's book yet which is why I ask these questions, but I'll be getting it soon.

redm3turbo

Just a little FYI....
putting in a whole might be worse, then better. YOu really need to measure HOW MUCH IS GOIN IN.... too much is bad...too little is bad. It needs to be just right on. I used to work at a dealership and we'd have cars come in with 2lbs in there...and a $1000 compressor job.

It says under the hood how much it needs. No more, no less. Not just what the can takes. In a shop, they pull out, weight it, then recharge it to exact specs. Thats really the way to go, also the most expensive. However a $100 charge is ALOT cheaper then a new compressor or whatever else you can mess up with too much.

motegicivic

Actually if you overcharge there is a release valve on the compressor, not saying you will ok overcharging the system, but there is a safety measure put into place.

motegicivic

You should start another thread about the dash lights and fluid needs, but if you have the owners manual it will tell you the fluids to use.

Quick guideline only use honda trans and power steering fluid.