Hey fellas, I have been living without any AC in my truck for far too long and the 100+ degree days are starting to get to me. I unfortunately have the R12 system of which nobody will recharge for me. Well, I was looking through Summit Racing today and found a conversion kit for $50! Is this a good way to go? The dealership I work at does these conversions all the time using a similar kit but charge a pretty penny for the labor ($500+). Since I plan to be pulling my engine here in a week or two, couldn't I just do the conversion and save my dollars? Anyone have any experience with these conversions? Any suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks in advance fellas.

-Dave

PS- Here is a link: http://store.summitracing.com/partde...5&autoview=sku

 

Everything I've read and heard the conversion kits you can buy at Autozone or Schucks work pretty well - IF you have the equipment to vacuum down the system well enough before you put the new refrigerant in. They come with a special lubricant that is supposed to be compatable with the old R12 seals AND the new R134a refrigerant.

Sounds like you might be able to borrow a vacuum pump from work...? If so I'd give one of those other kits a try first. Replacing all the seals an o-rings sounds like a pretty big job.....

 

First off converting isn't a big deal.

Second, Why is it not working now? Did it just get low or did you have a part failure? If it has a leak do you know where it is or does that need to be fixed also?

You need the fittings and o'rings. As far as the oil, that depends if you are going to charge it yourself.
Make sure you replace the accumulator and orfice tube.

When I swapped my 83 over I didn't replace the lines or anything but the Accum and tube.

If you put the parts on will they vacuum the system and charge it for you or let you do it. I am guessing you work at a John Deere dealer
If they will, make sure they vacuum it for an hour. You are going to have the system open and putting new parts on. Alot of guys will say that 1/2 hour is enough but that can bite in the butt and you can end up with a system not working right. You have to get the moisture out of that system.

I have done alot of AC work and it is percision guess work but it isn't hard. The biggest mistake you can make is not vacuuming long enough.

 

What I did with mine wasn't exactly a conversion, but I did use a multi-compatible refrigerant (duracool), it seems to be unregulated where I live.

If there is any evidence of contamination in the system, such as gunk in the orifice tube, I would seriously consider cleaning the whole system out. Its much easier to do that now when the system is discharged.

I also pressurised the system with air and left it that way fro a few days to see if there were any leaks (if it held pressure), I did not have the compressor running during this time.

My understanding is that the minimum time for pulling a vacuum is one hour, which is about what I did.

In the end, it took some tweaking to get the charge right, but it will make your fingers numb.

 

Thanks for all the fast replies guys. CheaperJeeper, I'm gonna be pulling the engine anyway, might as well get at the AC system while I'm in there . I'm not sure if the current system is leaking or if it just needs a charge. Almost a year ago it was working but didn't blow very cold. This year it doesn't even drop 10 degrees from the outside temp. My plan is to go ahead and replace the seals throughout the system and then take it to the shop and have them charge it for me. Sounds like a good idea to have them vacuum it too while they are working on it. Again, thanks fellas.

-Dave

 

an alternative to the 134 conversion is freeze 12.
it is fully compatable with the R-12 system, so there is no need to clean out the system or change any parts to use it, and it cools just as good as R-12

 

Sounds a lot like duracool (HC-12).

 

Pep Boys sells Freeze12 but you have to be licensed to buy it. It works great. I used to use it in all my trucks but when I fixed the AC in the F350 I had to change over to R134A as I will be moving and won't have all my old suppliers around anymore.

 

Guys be very carefull of these alternatives. I just went to a Federal AC update thing and got on this subject. There alot of these alternatives are not good. There several that are very dangerous. Duracool is also the same thing HC-12a and it made up of hydrocarbons. Butane,isobutane and some have a small amount of propane. Freeze 12 is 80% 134a and 20% 142b.

Matter of fact Duracool is illegal to even use and has been for ten years.

 

Do yourself a big favor and change the accum. and orfice tube. The accum is a filter among some other purposes. If it open to air to air for long replace it also . I know there are people that have gotton by that didn't but there is as many that suffured from it.

 

if the duracool is illigal why are they selling it so openly?????? not knocking just curiouse now.

 

I think there was some confusion up untill more recently about wether or not hyrdocarbon refrigerant was legal or not in the states. I remember reading that it was legal IF you still convert the system to r134a specs.

Regulators in the states have tried to clear this up more recently, and have said in more plain launguage that hyrdocarbon refrigerant is indeed illegal.

As far as I can tell however, duracool is legal to use in canada, as in, there's no specific policy against it, but even if not, I probably wouldn't care. Theres no way I'm spending 3 grand on a 134a conversion

 

I know what you are saying.. The info I am going off of is from the EPA in the states.

I have a list that the EPA put out with a bunch of the conversion gases on it and their chemical make-up and wether they are legal or not..

I also should have been more specific. It notes they are illegal in "automotive" air conditioners systems.

Another reason I wouldn't fool with it is that alot of shops won't work on your system if they have a had drop in retro gases. These shops are paying alot of money for new machines that these drop in gases will make a mess out of and they will charge the customer if the machine gets messes up. Filters that sort of thing.

Speaking of the EPA. Kinda screwed up that if a shop lets gas into the air they get a huge fine but you can go to Wal-mart and get a can of that keyboard cleaner and guess what that is. It's Tetraflouroethane.. "134A"


Go figure

 

Is 134A that expensive in Canada. The why I take your post it is expensive to do a retro. I just picked up a 30 lb. cyl. of 134A for $80.

 

3 grand is the ballpark estimate for having a shop convert it over. Normally I wouldn't even consider taking my truck to any service shop, but I can't actually buy 134a around here, even duracool is 100 miles away.

The product does work though, and my (limited) understanding, is that a 134a conversion will at best still not work as well as the stock R12 setup.