MoogieBoogie

Hi everyone. I have a 92 SC300.

I charged up today with R12 refrigerant to the tune of $160. While charging up, the guy told me I have a serious leak and asked if I wanted to evacuate it and be charged only $50 for the hookup fee. Since I'm driving 900 miles tonight, I told him to leave it in so at least I can enjoy it for a day.

From what he told me, the leak is coming near the compressor. He didn't do a leak test with the dye so he can't pinpoint where exactly it is.

Should I just upgrade to R134? I heard that when changing it, you change the seals on the compressor so maybe that would fix the problem? Anyone know any good reputable shops for this kind of work in the NYC area? I'm in northern NJ, so around there would be preferable.

Thanks,
-Brian.

nthach

my car was leaking, but it was from an o-ring on the capillary tube to the expansion valve. I replaced it, and it's all good. Lexus systems perform good on R134a. but the high side pressure is a bit high. I'd retrofit, get a OEM Denso dryer from any online place that uses Worldpac, O-ring and compressor seal kit from Toyota or Lexus, and BVA Auto 100 POE oil and Nylog from www.ackits.com.

saber

Evacuation is needed if the leak was serious and caused all former refrigerant charge to escape.

Evauation is not needed if the leak was slow and only part of the former refrigerant charge escaped.

You can buy more R12 if you need it on ebay fairly cheaply
Ebay auction for 2 x 12 ounce cans of R12 refrigerant
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...category=46094

You can also buy R12 charging equipment on ebay
Ebay auction for a R12 can tap valve and charging hose
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...category=46094

Technically a license is needed to buy R12 on ebay or elsewhere,
but most sellers won't ask to see a copy of your license after the auction.
If you want to get your R12 license anyway, it costs only $15 to take
the test. The test merely involves passing a short, 25 question,
multiple choice, OPEN BOOK test that you take online or via mail.
In other words, since you can look up the answers to the test, it's
impossible to fail. Here's where you can take the $15 test to get certified
to buy R12: http://www.macsw.org/macs.asp?mfurl=certify.html

Other Ebay auctions for R12 refrigerant and charging hoses:
http://tinyurl.com/39t4c

Here's what it looks like when the charging hose is attached to the can of R12
http://www.saber.net/~monarch/freon.jpg

R134a is a downgrade so you do not want to let anyone talk you into it .

Anyway, you can wait and see how long your system holds it's new charge. If you run the system at least a few minutes once a week then the seals in the system are more likey to hold the refrigerant charge.

nthach

BTW, DO NOT, i repeat, DO NOT use sealers! Or you'll be doing a LOT of repairs.

MoogieBoogie

nthach, how did you locate exactly where your leak was?

I would stay with R12 but since I have a leak, the mechanic told me that I would need to convert to R134 first to determine where exactly the leak is coming from.

What a waste of money. I spent $160 for the R12 recharge that ran out in a few hours. Then I spent $30 at a local mechanic just for him to take a 5 minute look at it and tell me it was probably the condensor. When I told him the Speed Lube (place that filled up with R12) guys told me it was coming near the condensor, he said it was possible that it was both.

Anyone know any good A/C repair shops in northern NJ area?

Thanks,
-Brian.

mikeloc24

Okay, I don't know much about the whole a/c process but wanted to know what you all thought because my problem is similiar: I took my 92 sc300 into a mechanic shop 2 weeks ago to have the a/c charged up. I live in SoCal and it was beginning to heat up so I thought this would be a good idea, especially with me having my 3 year old daughter in the car all the time. So I pay this shop $225 to do the service. They charged $45 for the "service" and 69.99 per pound for the R12, of which my car took 2 1/2 lbs. The guy tells me if I have any issues to come back (all smiles as I hand him my credit card), because they originally quoted me the $45 service fee and "$69 for the coolant" but failed to explain exactly how much frickin' coolant I'd be needing. That little omission also pissed me off to no end. So a week later and now my "ice-cold air" is no more so I take the car back on Saturday and he tells me (after having my car for 6 hours) that I have a leaky compressor and I also need a new drier. Now this is what I want to know (yes he used the uv dye to find the leak) Aren't they supposed to check for a leak BEFORE doing the service? And did they possibly ruin the drier by opening up my system? I mean what recourse do I have? I paid $225 for absolutely NUTTSKIN (nothing) as I STILL don't have a/c and I'm out of the dough. It gets better, playboy tells me that they'll "only charge me $300 in labor" to install the parts! Needless to say I found this quite hilarious. So as I tell him I'll look elsewhere and that I'm not pleased with this he tells me that I owe him $12 for the uv dye. I of course refused to pay it and left before my wrestlemania instincts took over (I've always wanted to put a mechanic in the old "camel-clutch" like the Iron Sheik). What do you guys think? Was I wronged or just misinformed?

nthach

the shop that filled my system with R134 used a Yokogawa/Bacharach sniffer at all system connections. There was a leak at my capillary tube leading to the expansion valve. It's cool how they use a sniffer, but the mechanic also used the old standbys of soapy water and UV dye.

Overclocker

MoogieBoogie, this has been the single most informative thread I’ve ever read on AC. I hope your AC gets fixed correctly and soon.

saber, fantastic information man. You seem to be very well versed in AC, do you own a shop?

saber

The mechanic is a liar or incompetent. The Toyota air conditioning technician training manual recommends using an electronic leak detector which practically AC shops have and can also be found for less than $100 on ebay if you search for "refrigerant leak detector" "freon leak detector or "R12 leak detector".

nthach

In California, it's the law to use electronic leak detection, since it is against EPA rules to leak refrigerant.