A/C conversion

[Erik]

Well, it would seem that my 74' has a a leak in the A/C system somewhere. Which begs the question of whether it's time to convert to R134 given the potential cost of pumping R12 into a leaky system at $$70 a pound just to find the leak, - not to mention actually recharging it.

I won't be trying to do the work myself, but curious about best replacement parts etc.

A search of past posts turns up some good info here, but would like to hear from anyone who's done this recently about what compressor was used, what all you had to replace and what you paid.

Thanks

 

[texcarguy]

A/C system

Eric,

There ARE some legal Freon substitutes now that are compatible with the older stuff, and about the same price as R-134. If it were me, I'd try to avoid the conversion, it's only going to make an already weak system more inefficient.

I'm currently redoing the system on my '64 Mercedes Pagoda roadster, and I plan on replacing all hoses, but sticking with the old stuff to squeeze a bit more cooling out of the baby.

 

[PaulinPa]

I was just at my local small time repair shop to have the freon in my '00 Corolla topped off and the mechanic told me he had done "tons" of conversions to the newer gas by simply draining out the old and filling with new.Now they don't do alot of foreign cars and they have NEVER touched my coupe(well they have towed it a few times) so I can't say how effective his method would be in our cars but he says he hasn't had any problems?!

 

[texcarguy]

A/C

Couldn't be quite that simple, as the connectors are different. However, I will say I did pretty much the same thing to my '92 GMC truck... bought one of those little kits with adapter fittings and a couple cans of R-134.. The original freon had escaped anyway over the years. Filled her up, and she's still blowing cold air some 10 years later... never had to top off once!

Go figure.