Fellas,

AC finally died out on my 92 SC300... not looking to convert if I can get a shop to recharge r12. Any suggestions? PM if needed.

Thank you

 

R12 is still available, as it is being retrieved and recycled like new. It is illegal to manufacture R12 now. Consequently, the world suppy is being replenished and will eventually be exhausted. Current U.S. laws outlaw the usage starting in 2020. The price will increase as the existing supply decreases. The same applies to house air conditioners.

 

^^ So to be clear this means that even recharging an existing R12 A/C system with reclaimed R12 refrigerant will be illegal starting in 2020?

beenlookin, in the more extreme scenario of converting your car to R134a all of the same components are used except for changed seals, o-rings, access valves and cleaning out the old R12 style oil/lubricant from the system to use the newer R134a style ones. And an R134a style compressor of course. The available Denso/Toyota thermal expansion valve, condenser, evaporator core, original hard lines, Drier and flexible hoses all carry over (unless the previous presence of R12 oil requires replacement of the part-- I'm not sure on that). The majority of all those parts are still in production also.

 

Yes R12 is still available, but the question is why would you want to keep using it? It is expensive and can be difficult to find and not available to the general public so you can't charge your own system if you are still using it. Please don't go to the extreme that some will tell you on system component changes. Change the drier, repair what was leaking (your R12 didn't just vanish, it leaked out somewhere that must be repaired), flush the oil out of the compressor as best you can (if it wasn't the source of the leak but most likely it is the leak source) and charge it back up with R134 and PAG100 oil. I think it is 100, could be 46 but really not critical, I looked it up when I did my last SC and already can't remember which. It's not a big job, I have probably converted 25 systems that were originally R12 and they all worked fine and I am slow and lazy so it can't be that hard.

Here is a tip, if you order a replacement compressor for your year model, they will ship it with mineral oil for R12. Flush it out good before using it if you do. Or just order one from a later year it will have the correct oil in it.