Re: Direct Freon replacement?

[Brendan <bman@swva.net>]

At 10:43 AM 5/14/97 -0400, you wrote:
>Hey all,
>I read in European Car about 8 months ago about a new "direct replacement"
>for Freon.  They only thing you need to buy is an adapter for recharging.
> ANyone else hear of this or has anyone USED it?????  It is time to recharge
>the Audis, and I don' t trust A/C guys, and don't want to pay the outrageous
>price for Freon.,...BTW, any qlisters going to Mexico who could smuggle freon
>for the rest of us? :)

I just bought an '87 5ksq which is in need of A/C repair.  I don't know
about this "direct replacement" you mentioned, but my local dealer
suggested a retro kit.  The kit should be around $200-$300 installed.
Instead of the $50/lb to recharge my system (and freon is still increasing
in price), after the retro kit to the new stuff, it'll be around $17/lb
(supposedly the cost of the new stuff is dropping as freon increased in
price).  My system holds about 3 lbs, but that's assuming they don't have
to purge it an extra time or two to get contaminants and air out of the
system.  Seems to me like it'll pay for itself easily in the long run, but
I'd welcome comments/suggestions from other owners before I take the
plunge.   Unfortunately, in my case, the compressor and compressor clutch
bearings are shot as well, so I'm looking at $600-$700 probably to get my
A/C back.

B