I hate doing a/c work myself. My a/c started to not cool as well as I would have liked it to. I have a shop here in columbia, so I went to work and hooked the a/c machine to the car. I had low pressure. I loaded the dye in the machine and began charging the system when I noticed a mist coming from underneath
my intake pipe. Shut the motor off and checked that high pressure line under the intake pipe. The intake mounting bracket had broken, allowing the intake to rub against this line, creating a small hole. Spent $250 on the line, swapped it myself, evacuated and recharged the system, and now my A/C blows cold as ice. A/C work can be that simple, but I have seen many A/C problems stump techs for a while. You just never know. Get a second opinion from another shop and then compare.

 

[QUOTE] As far as o-rings and such it is NOT the refrigerant that is the problem but the type of oil that is required... 134a will work fine for most people, I have found that in the hotter areas of the country it does not perform as well.

It says in the Toyota Technician AC Training manual that the type of refrigerant IS the problem. R12 systems use rubber hoses and 0-rings that are compounded to be suitable for use with R12. Home air conditioners that use R22 and automotive AC systems that use R134a use rubber hoses and 0-rings compounded for those refrigerants. Since so called "drop in replacements" for R12 typically contain blends of R22 and R134a or related refrigerants, they are likely going to cause long term problems with system reliability, durability and performance. No automaker I know of approves of any of these "drop in replacements". They only approve of converting to R134a, if and only if special procedures are followed.

An R12 LS400 system will put out truly frigid 32 degree air like this: http://www.saber.net/~monarch/accold.jpg. Now if the system is converted to R134a the air outlet temps will be more like 45 degrees.

I cannot understand why so many owners are so willing to let themselves be dumbed down by the AC industry and government propaganda into thinking R134a and drop in substitutes are "an upgrade." or
that R12 is outrageously expensive or complicated to install. It's this simple to install:
http://www.saber.net/~monarch/acrecharge.jpg

 

I`m not posting reply tho this thread cause I think you would care for poor mrchanics prospective mike. I just present the other side of the fence and reality here. You like it, you do not like it It is your choice.

I do refer to cars 12 year old junkers, cause this is what they are. Old cars by any standard. I do own one, but I`m aware of the problem and I`m financialy able to take care of anything that is comong my way.

Lets face it most of you gents with 1992 SCs have no bussiness to offer for luxury brand dealer, so please stop act like you do. OK?

 

Hey saber, I think we are in agreement on most of the stated issues, except for the o-rings. I understand what the tech manual says but I also have 12+ years of understanding refrigeration issues. Their is nothing in R22 or R134a that will degrade a rubber o-ring! I have even converted R12 systems to run with R22 all the way down to operating temps of -15............TXV's have o-ring type material in them and I have NEVER had trouble with the material. IT IS THE OIL (period)

I do agree that we have been duped into believing alot of crap about AC.

Anyway good luck to all with their AC repairs, down here in tha' dirty south we cannot survive with out it!!!!

 

Actually Jules we do. Do you think it's the guy who just bought a brand new GX who's coming in there buying overpriced parts? Of course not. To say that most of us have no business to offer a luxury brand dealer is yet another incredibly foolish and insulting post by an idiot attempting to insult and failing miserably at it. Especially since you don't know any of us personally nor do you know what we do for a living. My SC is only one car genius, and I'll leave it at that. You'll never learn manners, that's apparent. I should have known better than to address you directly as you'd just reply with a post I couldn't understand and end with a moronic insult, lol. Mr. Predictable. I don't want you crying to the mods so I'll just leave you be for now.....

Now, back to the real people who are here to help....Rich, what's more cost effective, converting to R134a or repairing the existing system under the terms I stated previously? Basically, say I did consider converting, would it still be necessary to replace the compressor and all those other components?

 

Brian hit me up, Ill have my brother look at it, im sure the dealer is jerking you on this.

 

 

WOW! some people.....geeze. Well Mike it looks like "aliga" has a brother that perhaps knows a thing or two. It would be hard to tell you what exactly to do without knowing the extent of your problem. Since your buddies..lol.......did not give you a complete diagnosis........ As much as I dislike 134a............................it does work or we would be hearing lots of stories due to the sheer number of auto that are running it. Personally I would prefer to have a system installed that was designed to run 134a as opposed to converting an r12 system over................basicly their are some "size" problems that have a small effect on operating preformance. If your system originaly was designed for r12 I would be inclined to stick with that eventhough R12 is going to get harder and harder to find.

Whatever you do it is important to find someone who is competant in the type of work we are speakin of, their are some very critical steps that have to be done properly or the longevity of your system will be comprimised.

See what aliga's brother has to say..................

 

Mike, you should have left that entire post above as well as the littany of curses you've hurled around the language editor in your head and not out through the keyboard. Watch it, you know the rules on responding to personal attacks and language here on our forum. Please don't continue this type of behaviour.


===========================================
Julian, if you can't make your point without insulting our members, I'm going to suggest you don't post at all. Your 'if owner of old junker' insult and assumption about financial status are rude and inappropriate for our forum. Please don't continue this type of behaviour. I suggest you completely drop out of this thread from this point forward as you've communicated your original point and you're doing nothing but inflaming the situation by responding here and escalating with insults. We've had this discussion before, let's not have it again please.

 

Guess Mr Anus Mechanic is not an "our member" and language is not offensive, rude and inapropriate at all. Go figure. I know it is hip hop or somethin`...

Maybe you Dave should respond the post like that instead if me. You are much more competent I belive. ............

Dammit, I forgot that I completly dropped out of that theread

 

Uh, I did respond to it and I also asked you to exit this conversation and stop escalating the issues.

I guess you did forget (rather quickly i might add) and now you can't see this forum any longer because of your short term memory issues . Another response in line with this and you'll lose all the forums (if you happen to read this before your access is updated).


Any more posts keep this thread back on track and on topic please.

 

Aliga,

I will give him a call tomorrow. I was planning on having the dealer do it because of the whole "dealer serviced" prestige and they give me a loaner as long as the car is in service. If your brother can save me a couple bucks, maybe it's worth the trip over to Queens.

Also, for everyone else, is it really necessary to replace the compressor? The unit works when there is freon. Isn't it just a matter of changing the seals?

Thanks!
-Brian.

 

i went with R-134a in my car, just in case my compressor went south, then i won't kick myself for using a hard to find refrigerant. 1.75lbs of R-134, 10oz of BVA Auto 100 and hundreds of o-rings and a dryer later i have a working AC system.

 

What was the cost of the procedure? I'm just gathering info before I make a final decision on how I want to tackle this headache. Thanks man.

 

i had a local AC shop recharge the system, that cost $100
i went to www.ackits.com and ordered 10oz of BVA Auto 100 POE 100 oil and some Nylog to lube the o-rings, that cost under $15
i ordered a Denso receiver/dryer for $45 thorough my usual Mercedes parts source, and i went to Toyota and Lexus to get $10 worth of O-rings.

My system blows cold now, the system was never charged after the 3rd compressor failure, PO had Lexus install new compressor before he sold it. I think the techs at Putnam Lexus failed to add enough oil and change out the dryer, hence causing the compressor to fail 2 times. If you do decide to do R-134, and handle installing the dryer, flushing the lines and installing new o-rings and oil, DO NOT USE AFTERMARKET O-RINGS and DO NOT USE ANY OIL FROM INTERDYNAMICS OR QUEST, they have stuff in them that has NO business in auto HVAC, like methylene chloride, and leak sealers that plasticize opon exposure to air. I would use BVA Auto 100 or Castrol Ester lubes. If you need to order parts, OEM Toyota or Denso First Time Fit would be my first choice, then anything made by Parker you can get at www.ackits.com. Avoid stuff made by Factory Air, 4 Seasons, Everco, Murray, or anything else your local parts store carries, they have a high rate of failure.