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I talked at length with the folks at the A/C shop that vacuumed and filled the system over the pros and cons of converting. While it was a perfect time to convert, in the long run it was a better decision to stick with R12. I had not planned on buying a new condenser, but ended up having to after damaging the original one trying to remove a stuck line.
The R12 system blows cold enough that if you have a vent blowing directly on your arm, it actually becomes painful after a few minutes. My DD is a new 2016 Nissan pickup and its A/C does not blow as cold as the 944 on R12.
I bought the compressor from Griffith's. The kit he sells was the most expensive piece of the project. A tough purchase to swallow, but I'm confident I won't have any issues for years to come. He was out of stock of the new style parallel flow condensers, so I stuck with the original tube and fin design from another vendor.
As far as tips, take your time and have all the lines rebuilt with new style barrier hose. You can get the hard lines out of the car with the engine in, but it takes a lot of fiddling and time. Find a good shop who knows how to properly rebuild the hoses. Take pictures of how they are installed in the car and which way the fittings go on the compressor. Make double sure they are correct before leaving the shop.
My father insisted on finding a shop near him to rebuild the lines. I let him do it and the shop messed up one line. This was not discovered until after we had put the engine back in the car. So we had to remove the line from the car and get it back in with the engine and everything else in the way. Very frustrating to say the least.
If you're not sure why yours is not working, I would suggest finding a shop who still works with R12 and having the system leak tested. That will at least point you in the right direction. My compressor was original to the car and leaking out of the front shaft seal, so I opted to redo everything while I had the engine out.
There isn't anything difficult to deal with when working on the A/C. Lining up the fittings on the firewall and compressor can give you a fit, as do the threaded lines on the dryer and condenser. Those have to be lined up perfectly before they will even attempt to start screwing together.
R 12 is rarer than hen's teeth around here..but it can be had.. over 100.00 per can..Mostly from recovered stocks. I think you can still get it out of Mexico..or so I've heard..for much less They're always searching for a new substance to use for A/C refrigerant. I think a couple of years back that Mercedes tried one, and the car burned up..LOL!
how can you still get R12? its illegal...its really bad for the ozone layer...its illegal to even own such substances in Europe lol
I have a 30 gallon tank So I'm good for a while. You do know that they decided that R12 was bad at the same time the patent ran out
R 12 is rarer than hen's teeth around here..but it can be had.. over 100.00 per can..Mostly from recovered stocks. I think you can still get it out of Mexico..or so I've heard..for much less They're always searching for a new substance to use for A/C refrigerant. I think a couple of years back that Mercedes tried one, and the car burned up..LOL!
Still shows up for sale in FL, prices per can really vary. But prices for the most part has dropped.
That's why I converted my AC to 134A during the first month of ownership (<5 yrs ago).
Anyway, I replaced the front turn signal cable grommets that were destroyed. I've actually put together a tutorial which can be found on PP & 944Online forums.
Discovered this weekend that my rear wheel bearings are shot. Hoping it's not as much of a nightmare as everyone makes it out be, given that this is a steel-arm car. Time to get some pipe to make a huge cheater bar.
07-02-2017, 10:17 PM
So I'm good for a while. You do know that they decided that R12 was bad at the same time the patent ran out
