Air Conditioning dilema

irvgotti · Jul 14, 2007

Im trying to get my A.C. filled up on my 1986 mustang GT so it can work . I went to 14 shops no mechanic here does the r12 system. they all tell me i have to convert it to r134...this is a bunch of crap they tell me i could have leaks and he dont know if the copressor is good i asked well how do i find out he had know answer bottom line it can cost 1 grand to fix...is this right i mean r these ppl serious...one guy had tthe nerve to tell me get rid of the car its old if i want A.C. get a new car it not worth doin the work to this car ....i almost knocked his block off..i told his asian ass would you get rid off that old ass skyline u got there.... i really want my A.C. to work i love my car but its gettin hot out there..anyone with any knowledge

Shopteach · Jul 14, 2007

A/C repair

I just did to A/C systems last week. My wife has a '90 notch that I had to replace the accumulator and hose assembly otherwise It would have cost less than $20. I still did it for less than $200. REplaced the hose, sucked it down and charged with 134a. It blows cold enough to form condensation on the windshild on a humid morning.
Last week I charged my friend's S10 pickup. He bought a kit a a parts store for around $40. I put on the adaptor for the gauges, sucked it down for an hour and charge with 134a. Blows cold air.
I have a friend that it a tech for the State Motor Pool that has simply evacuated the systems and recharged with 134a and never had a problem.
I don't knwo how easy it is to get 134a in New York, but in Kansas you can get it about anywhere with no liscense required.

irvgotti · Jul 14, 2007

Well ppl here in NYC are kings of bull**** and making little things sound like week long projects.. lol (Im keen to the B.S. here) i fi had a garage i would most likely try to do it myself but i dont , so im relient on the outside shops..they tell me they have to order custom parts from cali and change this and that and this and all i wanted to do is put my fist on his teeth..how did u get your stuff??

bobbyd · Jul 14, 2007

those shops are stupid trying to rip you off. try calling a house air conditioning company they should have r12 and maybe they can do it on your car.

Shopteach said:
I just did to A/C systems last week. My wife has a '90 notch that I had to replace the accumulator and hose assembly otherwise It would have cost less than $20. I still did it for less than $200. REplaced the hose, sucked it down and charged with 134a. It blows cold enough to form condensation on the windshild on a humid morning.
Last week I charged my friend's S10 pickup. He bought a kit a a parts store for around $40. I put on the adaptor for the gauges, sucked it down for an hour and charge with 134a. Blows cold air.
I have a friend that it a tech for the State Motor Pool that has simply evacuated the systems and recharged with 134a and never had a problem.
I don't knwo how easy it is to get 134a in New York, but in Kansas you can get it about anywhere with no liscense required.

134a its sold with no lisense anywhere just r12,hot shot,r22, nu 22 and a few others you need to be EPA certified.

bobbyd · Jul 14, 2007

irvgotti said:
Well ppl here in NYC are kings of bull**** and making little things sound like week long projects.. lol (Im keen to the B.S. here) i fi had a garage i would most likely do it myself so im relient on the outside shops..there tell me they have to order parts from cali and change this and that and this and all i wnted to do is put my fist on his teeth..how did u get your stuff??

134a auto zone or any other parts stor shoul have maybe even walmart

irvgotti · Jul 14, 2007

Home air conditnong ppl good idea ill see what i can do....but if not is there like kits to convert or something in the nature im completely cluless about this subject like every other subject lol..i just want my A.C. to work its freaking hot outside and im losing patients lol....wheres micheal douglas im about to start my own Falling down movie lol

bobbyd · Jul 14, 2007

irvgotti said:
Home air conditnong ppl good idea ill see what i can do....but if not is there like kits to convert or something in the nature im completely cluless about this subject like every other subject lol..i just want my A.C. to work its freaking hot outside and im losing patients lol....wheres micheal douglas im about to start my own Falling down movie lol

yea only reason i know they can have some r12 is because im currently studying in the HVAC field

about hte conversion yea check out this link to jrich's site he has details on tehre on how to convert it to a 134a http://bellsouthpwp.net/l/r/lrichker/Mustang_tech/R134a_conversion/r134a_conversion.htm

nicks95stang · Jul 14, 2007

retrofitting is fairly cheap. If you can get ahold of somebody with a vacuum pump, have them put a vacuum on it. I would put about 30" of vacuum on it. If it holds vacuum then you dont have a leak. If the system has ever been open, i would recommend replacing the accumulator because it does have a desicant that is easily ruined if exposed to atmospheric moisture. If you do have a leak...you can charge it with dye and use a black light with special yellow glasses. Also they have leak detection devices (commonly called a sniffer) that sense refrigerant. If you can get ahold of one make sure to move it along the bottom of the ac lines as refigerant is heavier than air. You can buy a retrofit kit at a parts store and charge it yourself. Its not hard at all. I went to school for auto mechanics and was pretty damn good in a/c class. If you have any questions you can email me at nicks95stang@hotmail.com. I dont get on stangnet very often.

jrichker · Jul 14, 2007

Here's what I know.
1.) You need an EPA 609 license to legally purchase ANY refrigerant other than R134 a.

2.) The EPA 609 certification is an open book test that you take online, the cost is about $20. You can download the study guide for free. You can use the study guide while you take the test: the rules state this is OK. See http://www.epatest.com/609/openbook/ and http://www.epatest.com/609/openbook/. Guess what? If you get the PDF doc study guide, PDF documents are searchable using the search feature. So if you can read, the test is very simple. I still have a copy of the study guide in PDF format that I am willing to share for free.

3.) There are subsitutes for R12 that are not expensive, but you still need the EPA 609 certification to purchase them.

4.) R12 is still available in 12 oz cans IF you have a EPA 609 license and are willing to pay $70 a can for it. The 5.0 Mustangs take 3 cans, so that is $210 just for the R12. As always check Ebay. There are people claiming to have R12 available in 12 oz for less than the $70 a can price. As with any Ebay item, buyer beware.

The tools & procedures for conversion or recharge are described at http://bellsouthpwp.net/l/r/lrichker/Mustang_tech/R134a_conversion/r134a_conversion.htm. The process described is for R134 conversion, but you can skip all the flushing and purging if you use R12.

4. More information on A/C repair is available at http://www.autofrost.com/ and a google search, http://www.google.com/search?q=R12+...-us&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&startIndex=&startPage=1

93 LX · Jul 14, 2007

I just recharged my 93 and it costs 148. It took 2 and a half pounds to fill it. No leaks and its WAY cold. My wifes PT cruiser gets cold too and its 134 however if you are doing stop light to stop light it does get warm. Accoording to chrylser the system is normal. 134 also runs hotter so your cooling system is put to the test for sure. Keep calling according to my AC shop R12 is still plentyful so keep looking. If I wanted to drive I could get 20 pounds from the land of Mexico but I hate going down south.

Allen

daviszx3 · Jul 14, 2007

i would go to auto zone tell them you want a r134a retrofit kit for your ac all you do is put on the new fittings and and charge it, it comes with everything needed to convert and charge the system cost like 40 bucks

93 LX · Jul 14, 2007

daviszx3 said:
i would go to auto zone tell them you want a r134a retrofit kit for your ac all you do is put on the new fittings and and charge it, it comes with everything needed to convert and charge the system cost like 40 bucks

those dont work so well. remember you get what you pay for. Total conversions do cost something more then 40 bucks

Mustang5L5 · Jul 14, 2007

If your A/C system isn't working because the r-12 leaked out, there are a few things you will need to do before you can add any R-12, and even more before you can add r-134A

If you decide to add r-12, you NEED to find the leaks, otherwise your expensive r-12 may last the rest of the summer, but won't be there come winter time when the o=rings shrink due to cold weather.

If you want to convert to r-134A, then you need to change the o-rings anyway. There are different o-rings they use for 134 so you will need to swap yours out for the 134 rings.

THEN, since your system has been drained, it's more than likely regular atmosphere and moisture have found there way in. You will need to pull a sustained vacuum on the system before you can add any refrigerant.

Another step that you *should* do if converting to r-134A is replace your condensor with a r-134 unit out of a 94-95 Mustang. You technically are supposed to change your compressor too, but now things are getting expensive. The orifice tube also needs to be replaced with one from a 94-95 Mustang.

I forget the calculations, but i beleive you are also supposed to add either a certain percentage more or less of r-134 than the system calls for r-12. It's been posted before. You also need to flush your compressor of it's old fluid and add new fluid before you pull a vacuum and add the 134

There are some good write-ups on here about correctly converting a car to R-134A. Like said before, to properly convert is going to cost a lot more than a $40 autozone kit.

If you just buy a can and hook it up, it may be cool, but it sure as hell won't last.

And i definitely wouldn't toss r-12 into a system that has the potential for leaks. If your A/C hasn't worked in a long time, there's a good chance it will be empty again in a couple months.

This is why fixing A/C systems is expensive. Sometimes there is a lot more involved than just hooking up the refrigerant and pumping it in. $1000 for a fix sounds reasonable to me given the potential of work that may need to be done to fix it correctly. If you want to go slap a $15 can of r-134a in and call it a day, be my guest.

Mustang5L5 · Jul 14, 2007

Here ya go, a pretty decent write-up

This person did not swap to an Sn95 condensor, but given the cost and time involved, i would just do it anyway.

http://www.corral.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=160&Itemid=26

302RollinHard · Jul 14, 2007

I have a 15 lb jug of r12 sitting in my garage.....liquid gold.......

HaynStang · Jul 15, 2007

Can those $40 Autozone kits do any harm to our a/c systems?

If it would even last another 2 months until the weather cools down, it would be worth it to me to have working a/c for the rest of the summer... I'll fix it right at some point, but don't know if I can afford to go replacing parts this year.

Mustang5L5 · Jul 15, 2007

It might, if you don't mind spending the money, it may last you til the end of the summer if it even blows cold at all.

93 LX · Jul 15, 2007

could always go to the boneyard and take parts from a 94-95 stang...... not sure if the compressor works but at least you can get the right hoses.

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