'93 Civic EX. I am trying to recharge my a/c, but dont know what type freon I have.

 

If it's the original system you have it's R-12, could be hard to find most places deal with R-134a, better cooling. If you can get a retrofit kit, have the R-12 evacuated by a shop and then use the retrofit kit to change over and charge the system, not a hard thing to do.

 

He is correct. You should have an R-12 system if it has never been converted. That means you cannot buy the refrigerant yourself since you must have license to handle R-12 (CFC's are bad mmmkay).

I recently got my CRX retrofitted to R-134. My mechanic told me all they had to do was evacuate the system, replace the compressor oil (with R-134 compatible) and the line fittings for the pressure tester/charge port. With full 134 charge it cost me $150. The car still blows ice cold too (some people say R-134 doesn't work as well as R-12). In 110 vegas heat with the sun blaring through my tinted window, I have to have it set on Max/3 (out of 4) to stay nice & cool...

 

I wanted to see which one cools better but, I can't find a shop that still has R-12 a shop told me some places still do but, R-134 suppose to cool better. Retrofitted the R-134 on my buddys car (kit from k-mart 34.99) blows very cold air. I have my retrofit kit didn't install it yet want to try and get the R-12 completely charged to see which one cools better. no luck though.

 

Don't waste your money. R-12 is up to $80+ a pound. Why would you want to buy four of five pounds of that crap. The fact is that an AC system which is specifically calibrated for a specific refrigerant will always cool better with that refrigerant. R-134 won't work quite as well in your car as R-12. If the retrofit is charged properly, you would never be able to tell the difference...