Does anyone know if the blue cap in ONCEOVER's pic of the compressor is in fact the low side connection?

 

Yea, that's the low side.

 

Thank you Vandit!

 

Vandit, did you use the polyoester oil?

 

Yes, I used ester oil. I used the type that has a dye in it.

If your car was an R12 car and converted to R134a then you're supposed to use ester. If the car was a factory R134a car, then you go PAG oil.

I guess the only exception is if you replaced every single component and flushed all the lines on your R12 car to rid it of all trace of the original R12 and refrigerant oils, then I guess you could use PAG there too.

 

Awesome. I have your entire parts list (including a new condenser) on order. Is it basically plug and play conversion, besides fitting the new condenser in?

Also edit: Will I need to replace the Evaporator as well? Lordy, that looks like helluva a job, and certainly not within my DIY parameters.

 

Vandit nailed all of the conversion parts. No reason to pull the evap unless you think it's leaking. Which, definitely can happen, and leaks seem pretty tough to find.

I only found my condenser leak after using a dye pack and checking with uv. Radiator shop then tested it and confirmed the leak. Even with it leaking badly enough to need a full can of r134a per season, it would still pass the vacuum test (steady 30" vac after an hour).

 

Pulling a vacuum down to 30" is like having 1 atmosphere of pressure in the system; 14.73462 psi, hence it is not a gold standard. Normal running system pressures range between static 80> psi and 300+ psi on a bad hot day. Hence a vacuum check is just a 'gross leak check'.

 

So I ordered a new Denso compressor from Amazon for my car, and it says in the manual it is prefilled with PAG oil. Should I now just buy the r134 retrofit from Griffiths with the Ester oil and switch the oil and fittings?

I have read above that the residual mineral oil in the system doesn't mix well with PAG.

If you order a compressor from Griffiths, is it also prefilled with PAG?

 

You have no way of knowing how much oil was shipped in the compressor. So, what you should do is get a clean container, dump out all the oil in the Denso compressor, and start off fresh.

Do Griffiths compressors come with PAG oil? Well, it all depends. When we sell you a compressor we ask you if you want Ester or PAG. And, ditto above.

 

I am not mechanically inclined so I am not going to attempt this myself but can someone tell me what it would typically cost to have this done by a reputable shop including all the necessary parts?

 

Bumping an old one here:

I have the R134 conversion kit installed. I followed the instructions and had an experienced shop fill the compressor and charge the ac, but the compressor is making a bad sound since reinstalling with the new oil. It's consistently squealing, mid pitch. Sometimes louder than others but fairly consistently sounding like something is wrong. It does function well enough to provide cold air.

Anyone else have this issue or know how to diagnose it? Would seem strange that it decided to die upon the change if it is on the way out. Perhaps a bit more oil would help?

 

Constant squealing tends to be belt tension, clutch face rubbing against pulley face, or other minor things.
What did the experienced shop have to say about the noise?

 

To eliminate noise due to the belt, spritz some water on the inside surface of the belt. Do this when the compressor clutch is engaged - if this affects the sound, then it's the belt, belt tension/alignment, etc. If not, then if the a/c clutch won't disengage because of the warm ambient temp, disconnect the wire from the clutch so that your not rotating the compressor - still have the noise, then it's the clutch. If the sound goes away when the clutch cycles off then it's the compressor, more oil won't help. With a bad compressor more than likely debris from the failed compressor might be in the rest of the ac piping , dryer.

 

He's still figuring out whether anyone put oil in the system.
His repair shop needs to review noise; they should not have released the car to him without discussing the noise problem.