I'm getting my car ready for a long cross-country drive (mostly cosmetic things and getting it to my standards) 

The biggest thing I have to do to it is repair the air conditioner system.

 

Here's the deal: I got into an accident and destroyed my condenser coil that sits in front of the radiator and all of my R-12 coolant blew out. What I want to do is get a new condenser and convert the system over to R-134a instead of pulling R-12 out of old window air conditioners at the junk yard.

 

There is a lack of parts that I need. My uncle tells me I'll need a dryer to clean all the moisture out of the open lines. And I also need a condenser coil. The online retailer that I've been going to for parts to my car does not carry condenser coils. There are 2 at my local auto parts junkyard, what is the consensus to using junkyard aircon parts? Would it even be worth it? 

Are there any condenser coils from other cars that would fit in my car with little to no modification? Like how certain Nissan Maxima alternators fit? Looking online the very few retailers that do carry those coils are asking way over $100 for them.

 

How difficult is switching an old system over to 134a? Is it reliable? I don't expect it to reach negative 40 in the car on a 120 degree day. 

I'd like to know how much refrigerant oil to put into my OEM compressor, and are there any brands that I should stick to? I read in another topic that NAPA sells universal 134a conversion kits so i'm probably going to do that.

Anyway thanks for reading and thank you for helping me out!

When I was looking into doing this, they said I would also need an orifice tube, or a thermal expansion valve (whatever they're called).

 

For my money, I guess I would go with new parts. I was going tho have the local community college do mine, but they ran out of time before the end of the semester. 

 

John

From my experience converting my 73 chevy 4x4 to HFC134 last year, you need to find a cross-flow condenser to replace the old R12 end-to-end flow unit in your car.

 

You might find a 94 & up foreign car condenser & hard lines at the salvage yard to fit your front end.

Take along a tape measure & dimensions of your system. Lines can be made custom for the change at a radiator-A/C service shop.

 

Definitely replace the filter-dryer. Maybe replace the expansion valve. Definitely flush out the evaporator with a power flush such as some auto parts stores sell. The oil in the compressor will have to be flushed out & replaced with ester oil, some available with UV dye.

 

You need to get as much of the old oils out of the system as possible - it can come back to bite you.

 

A quick search found this:

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/139525-r12-to-r124a/

Edited May 28, 201411 yr by czny

And there are some here that will advise to use Enviro-Safe refrigerants:

http://www.es-refrigerants.com/resources/faq/w/id/14/default.asp

 

I may try this stuff out myself because the hfc134 just doesn't get cold enough.

Edited May 28, 201411 yr by czny

Quick update: I found someone in North Mass with a 92' Loyale husk. No motor or transmission. Says he has a whole A/C system with a charge of R12 apparently. 

He said he'd sell me the needed condenser coil and the compressor (which is good to hang onto) for a hundred bucks. I'm going up there Sunday to get the goods, so I'll start documenting what I'm doing in this thread. Possibly with pictures!

 

What I'm going to do is install condenser, get a new receiver dryer and tip out all the old R12 compressor oil into a bucket. Then I'm going to do the conversion with an off-the-shelf R134a kit. Comes with 3 canisters filled with 10 or 11 ounces of R134a each, along with 2 ounces of compressor oil (POE) and what they call an O-Ring sealant, which would stop up any leaky O-rings in the system.

 

Since I've been driving the car with open lines for so long, should I expect any difficulties? I doubt something got in the lines because I unplugged the electrical lines from the compressor, so even if I turned on the AC switch in the cabin, the compressor wouldn't work. 

 

Thanks for the help guys!

Quick update: I found someone in North Mass with a 92' Loyale husk. No motor or transmission. Says he has a whole A/C system with a charge of R12 apparently. 

He said he'd sell me the needed condenser coil and the compressor (which is good to hang onto) for a hundred bucks. I'm going up there Sunday to get the goods, so I'll start documenting what I'm doing in this thread. Possibly with pictures!

 

What I'm going to do is install condenser, get a new receiver dryer and tip out all the old R12 compressor oil into a bucket. Then I'm going to do the conversion with an off-the-shelf R134a kit. Comes with 3 canisters filled with 10 or 11 ounces of R134a each, along with 2 ounces of compressor oil (POE) and what they call an O-Ring sealant, which would stop up any leaky O-rings in the system.

 

Since I've been driving the car with open lines for so long, should I expect any difficulties? I doubt something got in the lines because I unplugged the electrical lines from the compressor, so even if I turned on the AC switch in the cabin, the compressor wouldn't work. 

 

Thanks for the help guys!

Hope you had all disconnected lines plugged to keep water & dust out. If an end was exposed to rain & road dust long enough it would get in the system.

Otherwise go get a can of flush & clean out the lines, evaporator & condenser. The evaporator would require pulling the dash apart from below.

You need to call the experts this regarding for replacement or repair.

 

 

 

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