air con recharge

[surffreak]

has any one tried to convert and recharge the air con from r12 to r134a?
i have seen the kits for sale.

http://www.carairconditioningsupplie...6&cat=0&page=1

i was wondering if i can use this then put the leak stop in the system as i reckon i have a few little leaks from old seals?

any one any suggestions?

mark

[BUSHWHACKER]

Is your A/C working on R12 at the moment? If it is then I guess that kit would be a cheap DIY conversion, although for an extra 30ish bucks you could have it professionally converted.
If your A/C hasn't been working for a few months then all the rubber the components would be dry and brittle by now and will need changing.

[surffreak]

to be honest it has not been working for years , i have been told that the stop leak stuff is supposed to sort out knackered o rinks and even some quite big holes.

[shokenore]

to be honest it has not been working for years , i have been told that the stop leak stuff is supposed to sort out knackered o rinks and even some quite big holes.

hello there.
converting R12 systems to R134a is mainly a problem because of the lubricating oil.
the operating pressures and temperatures are nearly the same.
if you are at all concerned pay an engineer to convert it ,just bear in mind the age of the a/c components.
if however you like to "fiddle" regas it yourself.the aircon in the surf i inherited has been on r134a for at least 4yrs (truck was my father in laws and now i am its proud owner)all that i did was reclaim the remaining R12 and put in R134a and apart from a season top up a/c not used much in winter, oil seal on a/c compressor drys out and weaps some gas .it has been fine i get about 4 deg C out of the outlets flippin cold!
halfrauds do some pretty reasonable kits and if as you say its empty what do you have to lose?

[surffreak]

the r134a conversion kit comes with a new oil and thr gas to recharege. what i hope to do is cionvert it then gas it up then bung a can of seal in to it as well .
so i think i might as well just give it a go.

[shokenore]

the r134a conversion kit comes with a new oil and thr gas to recharege. what i hope to do is cionvert it then gas it up then bung a can of seal in to it as well .
so i think i might as well just give it a go.

Hello There Surffreak
just remember the surf aircon holds about 400-500grams of gas so you wil need a bottle and a bit,if its a cold day when you regas just stick the cans in some hand hot water for a couple of mins to warm the gas up then it will really fire into the sytem.you can pretty much dump the first can straight in but when you start on the second can slowly add it to the system till the receiver window starts to clear obviously you do this with the engine running and air con going ,and high fan.
the stuff from halfrauds is ok
hopefully all will go o.k for you let us know if you need any more advice?

[surffreak]

cheers hor the advice , i am going to give it a go , nothing ventured nothing gained.

[Tallyman]

Hello There Surffreak
just remember the surf aircon holds about 400-500grams of gas

If I remember correctly when I had mine repaired, the aircon techie said that the Surf holds about 700 g of gas, not 4-500.

[SoundsDigital]

I used this kit on mine. It doesn't say so on the website, but the instructions say the old gas should be released wit ha vacuum pump which it doesn't include. You also have to remove the schrader valves from the air con system and fit adapters. Now there was no pressure in mine when I released the schrader valve at all, but I was high as a kite within seconds of doing it.

You fill up with the smaller can first which has the lubricant and magic gas that does the conversion and top up with one of the 134A cans after. It doesn't take much of the R34A to fill it up. I have one full can and over half a can left over. About a year later, the pressure is still up, so whatever it has done it hasn't started to leak.

Did it work? Well the air con does feel a bit colder, but I am not convinced it is as cold as it should be. With the windoes up on a hot day and air con on there is a cool breeze from the vents, but the ambient temperature in the car doesn't really seem to fall but that could be partly due to my truck being black.

In comparison to some vehicles air cons it is crap but without comparing it to another Surf it is hard to say whether it is because of the conversion or whether the air con on a Surf is always a bit naff.

I will watch with interest to see what you find with it and whether anyone can offer any info on what it should be like.

[shokenore]

My bad
perhaps the 3.0 has a larger system than the 2.4
when i recharged my father in laws 2.4 i used 475 grms and that was to a slightly bubbling sight glass and we had 4-7 deg'C from the outlets plenty cold enough.
yes i did vac out the system and pressure test it and the new R134a was weighed in.
There is no magic gas that will convert a R12 system to R134a .
as i mentioned before the main issue is with the lubricant oil.
i would suggest that "soundsdigitals " your system is operating with the wrong amount of refrigerant
trust me 5 mins of running and it is flipping cold.
unless you have the right tools for the job it will be hit or miss which was why i suggested dumping in the first can then slowly adding the gas from the second can till the sight glass starts to clear and you can see the odd bubble going thro'
i could baffle you with all the correct terminology but that will just confuse things.
if you like email me and i will send you a detailed step by step