justseeingifitistaken

I bought a new compressor (matsushita i believe) a few months ago and today i finally got a condensor and an evaporator(i think thats the name of it) and a set of lines. The evaporator is DIRTY and the condensor is kinda looking a little shabby, but its the best i could do. What do i need to do to the condensor and evaporator to clean them out good?? compressed air and blow it out?? also is there anything special i should do to the lines before i put them in?? my car DID come with a/c but the compressor was bad and the lines were bent up badly so at least all the wiring and such is there. thanks

justseeingifitistaken

anyone?? is there any kind of solvent i should use?? thanks

Wes V

You want to be REAL careful what gets in the lines and such. I'd recommend that you just blow them out with air.

Before you put everything back together, you should get a new dryer. That's the round cylinder mounted in the drivers fender well. They go bad if open to air for any length of time. The type of internal "stuff" in the dryer has to match the refigerant you are planning on using! In other words, you buy a dryer for R12 or R134.

You are going to want to add oil to the system and what type depends on the refigerant used. R12 uses a different oil than R134.

Use that oil on all of the o-rings when you put the lines together.

The o-rings are industry standard and you should buy new ones. By "industry standard" I mean that you don't have to buy them from Honda. (if you do feel the need to buy them from Honda, they have a "kit" that includes almost all of them. If you buy them one by one, plan on leaving an arm or leg at the cashier)

Wes

Wes V

By the way;

The condensor is what mounts in front of the radiator.

The evaporator is what mounts under the dash.

Wes

reydio

Good info Wes! Thanks a bunch!! Aloha

justseeingifitistaken

Thanks wes that is VERY informative...do you think i shoudl stick with R12 or use R134a? I have hear that the tsanden take the r134a better than the matsushita....maybe there is some truth to it. i have also heard that even though R134a is newer r12 is WAY colder for our older setups. Thanks again Wes for all the info.

Wes V

I really don't know enough to say how much R12 works better than R134, but I've heard the same thing.

I'd recommend that you find a local shop that does automotive AC and get their recommendations. Follow their advice and have them charge it when you get it all back together.

Wes

justseeingifitistaken

i usually am not one to give in and take it to the shop, but on this one i may just do that. thanks again wes

danmdevries

I thought R12 ceased production due to the EPA's ban in the mid 90's?

If it's still available in some states, I'd LOVE to get some. I came across a cylinder of old stock R12 a few months ago, but passed on it because I had eliminated AC from my hatch. If it's still in production, or there's places that have old stock, point em out.

I had an older car that was recharged with R12 in 95 or 96 and it had super cold AC. When I converted to R134a in 04 after fixing a line leak, it was only marginally cool and when temps got above 90deg, I was better off with the windows down.

Now it's possible I didn't evacuate properly or some other problem, but I'm not the only one that's noticed decreased cooling after a conversion to r134a.

Since our cars were originally made for R12, I would assume using that refrigerant would provide much better cooling.

I'm planning on reinstalling my AC with a new compressor and dryer when I do.

Although I can handle minor AC recharges, and have the vacuum pump for evacuation, when I install AC with the new components, I'm going to leave it to the professionals.

justseeingifitistaken

UPDATE!!! i installed my ac myself witht the parts i had lying around. So the compressor is GOOD! (thank goodness) and kicks on perfectly no issues...but i have a problem charging it. When i first put the pressure gauge on...it said i had 0 psi. so i kick on the compressor and start charging first with a full PAG oil charge. it goes up to like 24 psi. I start charging it with freon (r134a) and it rises to 60ish psi....but as soon as the compressor kicks on again after the second can the psi goes down to like 6 with the compressor on and then jumps to 105??? do i have some blockage somewhere?? it kinda makes sense that i do cause it is like i am building pressure up on a closed loop so it just gets higher and doesnt circulate it through the system. also the lines are NOT getting cold so i am not sure what the deal is. any help is appreciated.

justseeingifitistaken

anyone??

rexxb16

I am also installing an ac system to my std hatch from another civic and i want to know what Gas I should use R12 or 134 I have the drier from ther other civic still
any help is apriciated thanks?

BILLETGRIP

arent you suppost to draw a vacuum on the system before you charge it? i dunno but thats what i have always heard.

VtecSyndrome

AC work really is best left to the professionals that have the correct equipment. I know an AC flush would have helped out those lines and also putting a vaccum to the system to make sure it holds w/ no leaks/ I have converted quite a few R12 cars to R134 and when everything is working properly the R134 actually cools better! R12 is sooo damn expensive now and soo rare that is't almost pointless to try and service it, that's way retro fitting is always the way to go, R134 is pretty much all that is available.

It's hard to say what's wrong w/ your AC system w/ seeing the car. I work at a shop and fix AC all the time but again, I need to see the car to actually diagnos it right. You really need to take it to a shop to make sure it gets done right, short cutting stuff like this tends to cause more problems down the road (not to mention leaks)

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by danmdevries &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I thought R12 ceased production due to the EPA's ban in the mid 90's?

If it's still available in some states, I'd LOVE to get some. I came across a cylinder of old stock R12 a few months ago, but passed on it because I had eliminated AC from my hatch. If it's still in production, or there's places that have old stock, point em out.

I had an older car that was recharged with R12 in 95 or 96 and it had super cold AC. When I converted to R134a in 04 after fixing a line leak, it was only marginally cool and when temps got above 90deg, I was better off with the windows down.

Now it's possible I didn't evacuate properly or some other problem, but I'm not the only one that's noticed decreased cooling after a conversion to r134a.

Since our cars were originally made for R12, I would assume using that refrigerant would provide much better cooling.

I'm planning on reinstalling my AC with a new compressor and dryer when I do.

Although I can handle minor AC recharges, and have the vacuum pump for evacuation, when I install AC with the new components, I'm going to leave it to the professionals. </TD></TR></TABLE>

yeah, R134 cools great if everything else is working properly. leving it to the prof is a very good idea AC equipment is just to expensive to own and operate if you don't own/work at a shop.

mahatma

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hondaJDMimports &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">UPDATE!!! i installed my ac myself witht the parts i had lying around. So the compressor is GOOD! (thank goodness) and kicks on perfectly no issues...but i have a problem charging it. When i first put the pressure gauge on...it said i had 0 psi. so i kick on the compressor and start charging first with a full PAG oil charge. it goes up to like 24 psi. I start charging it with freon (r134a) and it rises to 60ish psi....but as soon as the compressor kicks on again after the second can the psi goes down to like 6 with the compressor on and then jumps to 105??? do i have some blockage somewhere?? it kinda makes sense that i do cause it is like i am building pressure up on a closed loop so it just gets higher and doesnt circulate it through the system. also the lines are NOT getting cold so i am not sure what the deal is. any help is appreciated.</TD></TR></TABLE>
are you sure you've got the gauge hooked up to the return line (low pressure side of the system)?
not sure if that terminology is right, but there should be a high pressure and a low pressure side, and i think you need to hook up/charge from the low pressure side.

&lt;---a/c n00b.

i'm shocked about all the good info in this thread. i thought the EF forum only knew how to rip a/c out!!

VtecSyndrome

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mahatma &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
are you sure you've got the gauge hooked up to the return line (low pressure side of the system)?
not sure if that terminology is right, but there should be a high pressure and a low pressure side, and i think you need to hook up/charge from the low pressure side.

&lt;---a/c n00b.

i'm shocked about all the good info in this thread. i thought the EF forum only knew how to rip a/c out!! </TD></TR></TABLE>

Yes you charge from the low side but the high side is still important regarding pressure and what the gauges are reading. Both sides are imporant when diagnosing AC problems. p.s. don't EVER try to charge up the high side unless you want to blow up your AC and or car, not mention you could DIE!!

rexxb16

TO change to 134 from R12 what is needed?

VtecSyndrome

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by rexxb16 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">TO change to 134 from R12 what is needed?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Really all you need are the 2 R134 fittings that go on the shrader valves of the high and low side of the system. Then you just suck out all the R12 and make sure the system holds vaccum for a while and once it looks good you just charge it up w/ the proper ratio of R134. I think its about 75-80% R134 of the original amount of R12 but really the pressure in the gauges will tell you how much is enough. As long as there are not problems in the AC system it will cool very well and in most cases even better than the R12 it came w/ originally.

rexxb16

Is a drier necessary to replace?

VtecSyndrome

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by rexxb16 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Is a drier necessary to replace?</TD></TR></TABLE>

only if you replace the compressor

justseeingifitistaken

Well just to let you guys know it was my evaporator core...repalced it and all is gravy....still not as cold as i would like, bu ti can live with it. I am probably gonna end up taking to to the pro later to get it charging good. thanks for all the feedback...