spartansix

Expansion valve and evaporator? I'm not excited by the prospect of replacing mine, so hopefully the condenser will be the end of it for me.

tjb616

If they're not leaking, is there solid evidence that the newer units are producing lower vent temps?

spartansix

Not that I'm aware of.

RicardoD

I suspect this to be true, that we are all just chasing leaks, all this parallel flow, serpentine etc, probably doesn't make much of a difference when most of us either have NO A/C or A/C that is working weakly because of leaks. A group of us need to go in and basically re-seal, clean and refresh everything and hopefully we are good. I hope this is true!

r-mm

I basically agree I have converted two cars of this era to r134A and when they held a charge they cooled just fine. Just like every other function in the car the cooling is perfectly acceptable but not modern. If I could wave a wand and guarantee I would never have another leak but maintained my approximately 25° temperature drop I would make that deal in a heartbeat. I am also frankly a bit of a contrarian and when everybody is spending big dollars on an upgrade I need to prove to myself empirically that the factory system cannot do what I want it to.

Deserion

I started my project as only figuring on cleaning the evaporator, as I had already replaced both fans. In true project fashion, it quickly fell victim to scope creep and I replaced all of the components in the refrigerant circuit save the hard lines and compressor. Given the soft lines are now fully R134a/R1234yf compatible the inherent leaks should be at an absolute minimum.

I found the coils on the evaporator difficult to properly clean, and the residual gunk on the fins truly kept the airflow potential lower than designed. In the next year I may possibly swap the condenser and evaporator for the Kühl versions for the sake of eking out as much performance as can be done. However as it stands I stay comfortable even in the Floridian summer with the targa cockpit.

r-mm

Manifolds on sale... https://www.harborfreight.com/AC-R13...getcpns060120h

these have worked well for me.

LPMM

I picked one up this past weekend. I figured that for the price, it's time to learn how to maintain my A/C system.

r-mm

Yup, great tool even if you only ever use it as a diagnostic. Plus it makes you look like a freakin' pro. When I hung mine from my sister in law's hood to see why her accord wasn't cooling... yeah that made me look real deal.

tjb616

Under this theory, wouldn't it work best immediately after being filled? Because in my case, the day after being filled and passing a pressure test, it was really weak.

RicardoD

If you just re-filled but have a clogged up evaporator or condenser then it will perform weak. I think the re-seal and refresh all components is the key. Refresh could just mean cleaning and ensuring properly operation and sealing.

tjb616

The condenser is clean, the evaporator... who knows. I dread that job.

r-mm

Me too this is why I started with things I know I can access and I'm keeping an eye on temps and leaks. When I have a week of down time I'll get to the evaporator and expansion valve. I suppose the later is significantly easier, maybe I'll knock that out first.

RicardoD

TJ,

I hope you figure out it. I am not expert as I am about to tackle this job and hope it doesn't get the better of me. Your lessons learned is just motivating me to tackle all of it because Murphy's law states if skip the evaporator or condenser that will end up being the problem.

r-mm

I replaced the hi/lo port valve cores with cores sent to me by Airparts, using a touch of Nylog and more importantly, the Schraeder torque tool. At first I thought I was using the tool incorrectly because there was no click or other action. So I tried it on my bicycle's shocks. Sure enough it clicks - quite distinctly - but at a FAR higher torque than I thought. I always approached these as tho less is more and its easy to do too much and crush the seal. Having 'clicked' both into place I learned something new. I then recharged and went for a drive noting similar ~50deg vent temps as before - but with no hissing from the ports when I parked. I'm curious to see how the system holds and performs on a long drive planned for Saturday.