Finally got around to working on the AC since most of the other issues on the car have been fixed, at least for now.

All I did was test to see if it held a vacuum, which it did for a long time, then put 26oz of freon R134a in it. The AC works but isn't ice cold like I like it. It has to be in the Phoenix desert.

Any ideas why it's not cold enough? Is it not enough freon or too much? Is something else broken? Does anyone know if it is still possible to buy R12?

1988 Honda Civic 4dr LX

 

R134a wasn't designed for this system so it doesn't cool as sufficiently as the r12 does. If you do a lot of freeway driving then it should work fine as long as you are moving. When you are city driving, the amount of air flowing through the condenser is much less and that's when the vent temps start to rise. Especially out there where it gets up to 110-115 degrees, it's going to be tough for the system to keep up. I live where it gets up to about 105 if we are unlucky and my system works pretty well with the r134 conversion all summer long.

 

If you continue to be unhappy with it, you may want to try what they call a parallel flow condenser. It's more of a R134a design, and a few people here have put them in their EF with some noticable improvements. I just ordered one myself but have not yet installed it.

 

Thanks for the info.

I think I'm going to try an buy some r12 and recharge it. Anything I should know before changing back?

If that doesn't work, I'll try the PFC.

 

Do a few searches, there are some very informative posts on AC. I'm not a pro, but be sure you are not only vacuuming the system, but also draining the oil as the oils for R12 and 134a are not the same.

 

Contrary to popular belief, R12 is still fairly readily available on eBay and Craigslist. Expect to pay $25-30 per can. You can easily buy enough R12 to charge the Civic for $100 or less. In the grand scheme of overall A/C costs, $100 is beans. The absolute ideal thing to do is to purchase a 30 lb cylinder of R12 with enough refrigerant left in it so you can charge your car by weight. That is the absolute ideal textbook way to do it. It's difficult to charge individual cans by weight. This is harder to find than individual cans, however. I scored a 30 lb cylinder of R12 on eBay a few month ago with about 2 lbs of refrigerant in it for $75.

If you can afford it, buy a NEW condenser and evaporator as they are for all intents and purposes IMPOSSIBLE to flush. You can buy both new evaporator and condenser for $150ish.

The hard lines you can flush with a/c solvent or just blow them out really well with compressed air, or both. Let your compressor drain for a few days to try to get out all the PAG oil.

 

Thanks James89DX for your reply.

Do you happen what type of o rings are compatible with r-12 / Mineral oil system?

Would you happen to know if R-12 is still available in mexico? I'm thinking of having my system serviced out there if it's still available.

Is there a specific type of mineral oil should be purchased for use in my ac compressor?

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Any of the modern green o-rings should be compatible with both R12 and R134a.

R12 is still manufactured in Mexico, so yes it is readily available there. Lots of people along the border travel to Mexico for R12 and for R12 service. Probably dubious by EPA standards but very common.

I suspect not all mineral oil is the same, but I do know it is clearly marked for A/C use quite frequently. PepBoys for sure sells it (at least in the DFW area as of a couple of years ago), and Napa sells it. PepBoys is Interdynamics brand and is just labeled "auto air conditioning refrigerant oil" - it doesn't actually say "mineral oil". It does clearly state it's for R12 systems though.