legacycentral bbs

ok i know our ac has R-12 in it but mine just seem to be gone now and its not good especially down in reno its friken hot lol anyways is it safe to put in 134a in our ac system? because r-12 is hard to find and way too expensive i think its like $25 for one can now i dunno but anyways is it fine to use 134a? thx

do a search. Josh, aka Legacy777 did a write up on exactly how you do the conversion. It is not to hard and should run around $100 inclduing parts...

uh its bad to just put in 134a?? ive done it before on a 1993 Audi 90 cs worked perfect. and i just put in the 134a

You can't just immediately put the R134 into the system without doing anything else.

Here's the absolute minimum of what you need to do:
1) Remove the compressor, drain all the old oil out of it, then put esther oil in it, which is compatible with R134
2) Since you've now opened up the system, you need to put a new receiver/drier in it
3) You need R134 fittings to go over the R12 ones
4) You need to pull a vacuum on the system and then recharge it with R134

I started this conversion almost a year ago, and would you believe, I never got around to getting the vacuum pulled or charged, so I've gone over a year with no A/C in my Legacy (in FL!!! ). Pretty soon though, I'm just gonna let someone else redo it, coz it's getting hot and I don't feel like messing with it anymore.

i guess im better off on buying r-12 i really am too lazy to do all that. what about those conversion kits it says all u have to do is put it in

If you want to be ghetto about it you could just discharge the R-12 and fill it up with R-134a and ester oil. It might work okay temporarily, and if you're lucky it might work semi-long-term.

To do it right, though, you need to:
- Get as much mineral oil out as possible
- Replace the receiver/dryer
- Replace the o-rings
- Evacuate the system
- Install the proper fittings or fitting adapters

its been discharged there no more stuff let in it thats why i wanna put more in. it works very very cold with the audi and its perfect but i dunno right now very tired

You have to have it evacuated of everything though, even if there is a little left in there (there is) it will react with the new r-134a and also air. It is better to just get it done IMHO, its not that much more, and you can complain to the installer if it leaks out in the near future.

The main purposes of evacuating are threefold:

1) Get all the air out, since it occupies space that could otherwise be occupied by refrigerant.
2) Boil off all the water.
3) Ensure that there aren't any leaks by observing if the system holds a vacuum.