It's late and no one is open to give a quote. But I was wondering if anyone has had there AC "recharged". That is the diagnosis a mechanic gave my step dad while he owned the car. How much does it cost to add freon or whatever the process of "recharging" involves.
Sorry, I wish I knew more about AC systems.
Im trying to see if selling my AC system and putting that money towards tinted windows would be a better investment in keeping my car cooler

Thanks all!

 

You could retrofit to r134 and charge it yourslef. If you stay rith r12 im not sure how much a shop would charge you

 

he could retrofit and charge it himself.. assuming he has a vacuum pump to vacuum the system down before refilling it with r134 and oil.

Your best bet is just getting someone to do it (so it's done right).

Just tint on your windows will never keep your car as cool as a properly running AC system.

 

Check out Duracool and do it yourself. Works better than R12.


Modified by dewarcr at 11:45 AM 8/19/2005

 

avoid changing to R-134 unless you have no other option. r-134 systems don't have the same cooling power. try finding some FReeze-12. if you dan't have a gauge set--i suggest taking the car and some FReeze-12 to a shop and have them charge the system and check for possible leaks.

edit: btw- FReeze-12 costs about $10 a can.

 

Suggest R12 .. R134A works but requires a system upgrade: new hoses, Dryer and a system oil purge, plus it's 33% less efficient. "other" R12 substitutes are either Illegal or Dangerous.. Don't waste your $$ or your Car.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bare &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">"other" R12 substitutes are either Illegal or Dangerous.. Don't waste your $$ or your Car.</TD></TR></TABLE> ???

Freeze12 not illegal here...maybe other states...dangerous--no-- i used Freeze12 in my '89DX with the proper tools-of course- heck, it was strongly recommended by friends who are A/C professionals. btw: the system has been working great since 1998.

what is the reason(s) you would say these R-12 subs are dangerous or damaging to the car? have you had a bad experience with them? are the subs illegal in your area?

 

When my system was r-12, I could find no shop that would recharge it for less than $300. They all wanted to check for leaks, vacuum it out, and put oil and freon back in there. As stated in an earlier post R-134a is less efficient, I forgot the other figure, but it's in the 90 percentile, that R-134a also leaks out because it is less denser.

Which means you have to put at least a can in every year. But, it is cheaper, the retrofit kit is $35, the oil is $5, freon a little under 3 cans to charge your system $21 from wal-mart, and vaccum out your system $65. My converted R-134a system has never been nipple-hard cold.

The most I've every seen my temperature go down to is 53 degrees. The only time it has gotten really cold is right before my compressor went on me. I am on my 3rd one now. I'm not going to try to get it colder than it is right now. I'm just going to leave it alone. If I'm not sweating in 95 degree weather, it's doing it's job good enough.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bare &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">"other" R12 substitutes are either Illegal or Dangerous.. Don't waste your $$ or your Car.</TD></TR></TABLE>
Total BS. Don't listen to this dude. Do your own research. I recommend Duracool. Another has recommended Freeze-12. Don't listen to FUD.


Modified by dewarcr at 11:45 AM 8/19/2005

 

OUCH! $300! thats expensive. i see your point.

 

Yeah, they figure that if you need to recharge with R-12 then you probably have a leak somwhere and won't recharge it unless they run the dye through it first, before they evacuate everything and recharge it.

 

Freeze-12 is the way to go. I replaced the compressor($50.00) on my 92 when it failed. I hada shop evacuate the system for $20.00...and got the Freeze-12 complete kit off eBay for $35.00....worked just like new....( 33% less crap)....I also heard Duracool works as well.