Still working on 91 LX, AT to give to my daughter. I know most of you hold AC in low regard, but I'm just trying to give her a comfortable ride so she can make it through the summers in the DC area. AC currently does not work & just had it charged & checked. Tech reported that he was detecting leaks around the evaporator using one of those electronic detectors and quoted me $700 to replace. I told him to pull the r-12 out, button it up and I would get back to him. Given the age of the car, this could just be the first of many parts (hoses, expansion valve, condensor, compressor, etc.) that could go out. I am contemplating replacing all that stuff myself then taking it back to have the system evacuated and charged. Having never messed with AC systems before, could anyone point me to a thread, parts list, how to do it pages, things to watch out for, personal experience, etc.?? I do have a Haynes manual, but I'm writing this from work and haven't looked at it yet to see how comprehensive it is, besides the more info I can find, the better. Sorry for the long story and thanks for any ideas.

 

if he says its a leak, you can always buy a bottle of the fridgerant with the UV mixture, just purchase or if you already have a black light and pin point the leak the mechanic claims you have...

but other than that im not too familiar with the a/c system, sorry for the lack of info.

 

if you're gonna go to the trouble of doing this then do your pocketbook a favor and switch to R-134a

However to switch (I should mention 134a is a hell of a lot cheaper and safer for the environment, not to mention you don't need a license to work with it) it you have to completely flush out the system, swap out the condensor, and relube the compressor. I'm going from memory from when I used to work at O'Reilly's but I think that's it. If you don't do all this the 134a reacts with the r12 and turns into acid, destroying your seals (that sound like they're already leaking).

I think you could very well do it yourself, however from what I hear the condensors are a pain in the butt to get to (under the dash I believe). Definitely look into before cracking anything open but I think you can save yourself a big chunk of change if you do the work yourself.

 

I would also recommend finding a Helms repair manual or if you're lucky you can grab the Adobe Acrobat files off the web. Do a search here in the forums for it, I found the files for my 96 Accord EX there. Haynes is great but its no substitute for the dealor repair manual.