boxsterfan

OK, I am leaning ever forward on purchasing a 1988 911 Coupe. I noticed in my quest that many cars I looked at on the web and/or personally the owner would say the A/C works but needs charged.

Now, of course, I will get a final inspection before buying, but is there an issue with the A/C systems I should be watching out for on these years?

My concern is that I want to drive this car daily about 12 miles roundtrip, but I live in Phoenix (which can be hot in the summer). :-)

Bill Gregory

In particular, no. The hoses that were used seem to allow some level of leakage. You can replace them with barrier hoses and eliminate the problem.

boxsterfan

Great! Thanks for the response. I figured one of three things were happening:

1. Those years' AC systems were bad originally
2. They needed charged due to lack of use
3. There are aftermarket fixes

jlkline

A couple of things for you to keep in mind on the pre 90 911's in general....the factory AC does not cool very well, period. I've heard of modifications that are available that improve the situation(you can do a search of this forum on the topic)but don't have any personal experience.

I also suggest a conversion to R-134. It can be done fairly inexpensively without changing the compressor. without barrier hoses it may leak out over time, but you can buy R-134 at the the nearest auto pasts store and top off (with a decent set of gauges, of course) without worry for the environment. Some would argue that it doesn't cool as well as the R-12, but I have converted my 2 cars, and get ice cold air. Also, The old r-12 is very $$$, can only be obtained by a certified garage that is performing the work, and can not be installed (by law)until the system is leak free.

TC_SJ

I would love to conert my 87 AC system to R-134, should I just take my car to Porsche shop or some AC spcialist to have it done. Thanks

TC

Bill Gregory

I looked into converting the a/c on my 81SC to R134a, and it was recommended I swap out most of the parts of the system, add barrier hoses, and etc...the price tag a few years back was around $1,000. Since it wasn't working, I just took all 50-60lbs of it out instead, which worked here in the Northeast.

Tin Man

I had my 88 3.2 converted to R134a and it works OK. The system uses more power from the engine than R12 but not too much more. Its still not that good but adequate. The AC is better if it doesn't have to play "catch-up" so keeping it in a garage is a good idea before needing to use the AC.

I love my 88 coupe. It's very elemental and somewhat of a throwback mechanically, but very robust and satisfying to drive. It is more "work" to drive it than most cars, but it sure makes it more like "motoring."

Dave Thomas

boxsterfan,

I'd say the only weak point is the fan motors - like all the sumpteen other fan motors in the car, they're not very durable. There is a condenser fan in the trunk,behind the front bumper, and an evaporator fan in the trunk, in the "smugglers box" behind the spare tire. I've had to replace both on my '88, a low mileage well maintained car. Otherwise it's a fairly straightforward, durable system, which works very well when properly serviced. I'm in the midwest and the A/C adequately cools the car all summer.

quicksilver

The best Porsche A/C shop I have found is Porschaire in Anaheim, CA. (714-634-9184) It is part of Scott's Independent which I have found to be a better quality Porsche repair shop.

Scott was quite forth coming when I started asking questions about my planned R134 conversion. They are very specific about the R134 conversion. They have been trying to come up with a way to do it that works adequately. They even looked at a system that would use the floor pan as a condenser. At this point they say it is a resounding "no". R134 just creates too large of a loss in efficiency. (Anyone want to buy a new Sanden R134 compressor? It's new in the box with mounts!) <img border="0" alt="[ouch]" title="" src="graemlins/c.gif" />

They do definitely recommend the R134 style barrier hose for use with the R12 system. Helps keep from wasting the R12. BTW, R134 does require a compressor change. The R134 requires a smaller restrictor orifice. I suspect that you could use the old compressor but it would be horribly inefficient.

Wayne

JackOlsen

I got the Scott's Independent/Performance Aire underbelly condenser, removed the rear condenser, and -- along with barrier hoses, new dryer, etc. -- I get 37 degree output at the high fan setting in 85 degree ambient weather. I'm using R134A with a C2 Nippondenso compressor on a 1973 911 with a factory front condenser in addition to the big underbelly unit.

exitspeed

Jack-

How much did your conversion cost? Also, did you get the other car fixed yet?

Chris

zzopit

My prior owner converted the car to R134 2 years ago at a cost of $1800. It blows air that is slightly cooler than the ambiant temp and there is a noticable power drop if I use it. A bit of a waste in my opinion, then again, my opinion may change come July.