skuded

i converted my 92 civic from r-12 to 134a last summer, i replaced the compressor, expansion valve, and reciever drier, and flushed out the mineral oil, and charged the system to specs with pag oil, and refrigerant, but the system struggled all summer in the 100+ degree weather here in texas, my question is this, im having problems with my condensor fan due to a few low spots in the fan motor that are causing the fan to intermittently not come on, i need to replace the motor, but has anyone tried any other oem fan motors in their r12 converted system? i know that these r12 civics have a hard time cooling with 134, but in my expierence i have converted many r12 cars and been able to get them into low 50 degree temperatures in the summer heat, so im begining to think that either the condensor, or the condensor fan are the weak link in the system, or a combo of both of them. has anyone had any luck with swapping oem fan motors or condensors off a bigger honda system?

NotAJDMFanBoy

I'm not an expert, so I'm taking a couple of guesses.
Either you didn't totally flush the mineral oil out.
Or you didn't pull a perfect vacuum. Any air will compromise the efficiency.
Or you didn't charge the system to the right pressure/use the correct amount of freon.

I can't remember if there was anything else different in the systems. I think you got it.

R12 was a better refrigerant. It just always cooled so much better. Sometimes I see it for sale on Craigslist, but people want insane amounts for it.

skuded

i work on cars for a living, so i know i have flushed the system correctly, and i have pulled multiple vacuum for hours multiple times, and i have charged it to capacity, my question is not in that, it is has anyone upgraded condensors, or condensor fans from other applications and had any luck with better cooling?

bandit67

I did a retrofit to my 93 Civic with less than steller results also. I know for a fact that when GM converted over to 134, the condenser was made differently . With r12 the coil center was one big tube with cooling fins attached. With 134 the coil was made with three smaller tubes surrounded by the cooling fins. Seems the new gas would not cool down enough using the old design coil. I have searched to find out if the Honda coils were made differently, only to be told , "its all different. " I will cut one up when I find a donor. Also, the 92-93 cars had a two wire plug in on the evaporator coil and the 94-95 cars have a three wire plug in on the coil. I was told I needed to pull a sub harness from a 94-95 and install on the 93 to make that work. I had just swapped the temp sensor two wire over to the 134 coil and thought that would work ok. That may be a factor in our units working at below par.

I would think the OEM fan motor would be sufficient for the task. If yours does not run at all times when the compressor is engaged, your fan relay above the condenser may be cutting out. If you solve the problem, please post.

skuded

what exactly are you talking about when you say the evaporator coil, you mean the expansion valve, because there are no wires to the expansion valve, could you elaborate on what your describing, im considering trying to find a half size condensor from an origonal civic 134 car and making it fit and work perhaps the 134a condensor will fit with a little modification and it is worth trying to get temps at least into the low 60s in the 100 degree weather here in texas

bandit67

When you remove the glove box door to remove the evaporator coil unit, the wiring harness that runs horizontal across the unit has to be unplugged in order to let the drop down. On the 92-93 r12 Civics, these are two wire plug ins. The 94-95 Civics are 134 units and have the three wire plug ins. When you drop out the complete unit, you will see the expansion valve on the left side , or inside side of the evap coil and this temp sensor on the right side of the coil. It took a little rigging, but I swapped the two wire sensor over to the newer coil. I did not know at the time the 93 was the last year of the r12 cars and I was installing a r12 unit, with r12 expansion valve into a 134 car. Since then, I have replaced the unit with the correct 134 unit. Not sure exactly what that temp sensor does. I assume it will cut power off to the compressor if and when the coil freezes up.

Every one of these evap units i have pulled out have been partially to 75% blocked by leaves and debre. I tried to pull the blower motor to gain access and clean out some units in order NOT to blow the refrig. charge, but could not gain access. It seems it was not till the late 90's that Honda began installing outside air filters. If leaves and debris do or did accumulate along the vent holes under the wiper blades, chances are you have some blockage of air flow thru the evap coil. I have only messed with 93-95 Civic models, if you have another model, things may be different.