Subject: 134a conversion

[Christopher Ritchie]

Jacques Fournier wrote:

Any one ever perform an R12 to R134a conversion on
their A/C unit?  I had a slow leak on the high side
due to loose connections which has been taken care of.
  100.00 to add 1 to 2 lbs. of R12 to get me back to
full operation is nuts.   I can buy the oil, 134a and
the guages needed for less than 60 and be done with it
but I wanted to know if the peromance is still there
with the other freon.


Works great on my 1988 5KSQ.  I get just under 45F out the vents.

Do it the right way though.  Don't go with those Interdynamics kits.

- Drain all the old oil you can get out of the compressor.
- Flush the rest of the system. (Don't flush the compressor.)
- Replace the dryer/reservoir/accumulator. ($25)
- Replace the expansion valve. ($7)
- Replace the "O" rings with the new green kind. ($10)
- If you flushed and think you got all the old oil out, replace with PAG 
oil.  Otherwise use ester or some new stuff that just came out from 
Australia. ($10)
- Pull a vacuum on the system before recharging through the low pressure 
port.

You can buy gauges and hoses for under $50 at my local Pep Boys.  You can 
not bother with them and fill an empty system with 3 cans of the R-134a ($5 
ea).  The charging hose and R-134a can tap go for around $15.

I know that R-134a efficiency is approximately 15% less than that of R-12.  
But I have heard that Audi A/C systems have plenty of excess capacity to 
cope with this loss of efficiency.


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