I know theres been a few threads on this... but im looked for opinions... i have a 93 LX. The A/c only cools about 5ish deg. below ambiant (im guessing) When turned on, the condencer fan and the compressor clutch do engage, so no obvouse issues there. Its also still running on the old R-12. I called a few shops and its an automatic ~$200 to do the conversion. and they said they have to convert it before they can even do anything with it. Personally, im fine with just rolling the windows down and poping the sunroof... however, i do have a 3 year old. Would you guys attempt to fix it yourselves, try and pony up the money (which it running real low for me) or just try and deal?

 

Option 1 - possibly kill yourself
Option 3 - possibly kill your child
Option 2 - I'm thinking this is your winner, right here

 

thats really simple to do so heres what u got to do. take your car to a shop and the freon remove it really bad to have that stuff vent in the earth atmosphere they say it damages the ozone layer. second once you have freon remove go to your local parts store and buy the r134a retrofit kit. it will come with everything you need to convert it and make sure u buy the new freon about 2 cans will do it.

 

well hmmmm first off they did a study and maybe r12 isnt as bad as they thought it was....second freon is the name brand of dupont for cfc's....ok now that thats out of the way.... is easy to convert it but if your not familiar with doing ac service i would just spend the 200 bucks.... I mean you gonna spend a easy 60-70 bucks and prolly still have to take your car to the shop. u will have to change your drier... vacuum it down to remove moisture...which means ur gonna need a set of gauges and a vacuum pump them be able to read the gauges to know when the system is full....

 

If im not opening the system, why would i need to change the dryer? or was that if i take it to the shop and they have to replace things

 

well r12 uses a different desiccant then r134a...plus Im sure the system is empty and the old desiccant is full of moisture...and as a rule I always change the drier when converting it or even if its been open for awhile.

 

have you added any more "freeon"?

we had a volvo that stopped blowing as cold as it should and had our local shop fill it up and damned it was noticible.

sometimes you have teeny tiny leaks and well it can escape or escape any other way coolant can over time.

mine blows cold on r12 sooo.....

 

umm, i cant... its illegal to sell r12 ant its a REALLY bad idea to mix r12 and r134a

 

Hook up a manifold gauge set to measure the high and low side pressures with the engine at 1500. Set A/C to MAX cool on recirculation. Post the pressures and the outside temperature.

 

im trying to track down a cheap guage set, as soon as i do, ill post the numbers

 

would this be worth it?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...em=#vi-content

 

not true.

true.

I recommend finding a shop that services R12 systems and fixing what you have. R12 was wildly expensive for a while but is reasonable again due to low demand.

Conversion to R132a will NOT fix the leak and will result in a system that will cool your air by about 5° anyway. The only advantage is that R134 is commonly obtained and you can add more as you need it, yourself.

 

i shoulda clarified i put freeon in quotes bcause i meant it as whatever coolant your car currently uses.

also it's not illegal, it's just not as safe as one or the other.
if R12 was illegal how would we fill up our old hondas when we have a leak?

 

both the shops i called (the only ones i trust to work with AC) both told be they cannot legally sell r12 and would have to convert it before doing any testing with it.

 

you have to be epa certified to buy r12.