Guys;

I just moved from cold New England to sunny Florida. In New England I never, never usedthe air conditioner in my ol', two wheel drive '89 Blazer. Never.

Now that I need air conditioning it, of course, doesn't work. I took it to mechanic who told me, in effect, that the entire system had to be replaced 'cause newer Federal rules about "ozone layer depletion" requires that my OEM air conditioner has to be replaced with an air conditioner that uses more enviormentally friendly refrigerant. Well ... what must be done, must be done.

But what exactly "must be done"? What is theMINIMUM that "must be done"? Will one of you more knowlegeable forum members advise an air conditioner "know-nothing" guy about this? I would really like to be able to talk to the mechanic who will ultimately do the job with just a little bit of knowledge of the parts, proceedures, etc. involved.

You know how it is: I don't want someone to sell me, through my ignorance,stuff I don't need.

Thanks in advance

Ken

 

Straight from the horse's mouth, here's what the EPA says.

 

Thanks, rriddle3;

If the EPA says so, it must be so.

But what on my OEM system REALLY has to be replaced? I'm really, really ignorant about air conditioners. If the mechanic says, "The hose between the framus valve and the widget diverter has to be replaced too. So that will add another 200 bucks." Should I believe him?

Compressor? Pulley(s)? Hoses? Serpentine belt? Framus valve? Widget diverter?

If one of you forum members has the patience, pretend that you are explaining this to a kindergardener.

Thanks in advance for sharing your hard-won knowledge.

Ken

 

Ken, if you want to retrofit to use r134 refrigerant, read down the page on the link I provided and look under the heading "Special Parts and Procedures That Might Be Required". It details what parts would be involved, depending on how complete a retrofit you want to do.
If you wish to just repair your existing system and use r12 refrigerant, the parts involved will depend on what is causing the problem at the time. Your kinda going to have todeal with the mechanic doing the job.

 

As riddle has said, the parts replaced is going to greatly depend on the mechanic. He could find leaks throughout the entire system if it has been depressurized for a long time. Moisture in the system will cause all kinds of problems when it is non-operational. At the very least you are looking at a new filter/dryer which ever way you decide to go.

One other thing that isn't mentioned in the EPA article linked to above is local regulations which may limit the use of R12 refridgerants in a particular area. My dad has a 5 gallon bottle of R12 sitting upstairs in his shop for our tractors which are still R12. Once that is done, we will have to retro-fit them all over to R134a (or use one of those flammable refridgerants that they talked about LOL).

The problem with R12 is that it is no longer manufactured and what you can find is wickedly expensive. To keep the R12, you may end up paying more. You could go with one of the chemically altered versions of R12 (Freeze 12, ENVIRO-SAFE, or equivalent) you will only have to change out what went bad in the first place as well as anything else that might have gone bad.

If staying with R12, your system will perform VERY well, but be harmful to the ozone if it leaks. If going with R134a with only the very basic of retrofits or going with a Freeze 12 type refridgerant, you will not get as good of an output from the system as you did with R12 and it will still be harmful, just not to the extent of R12. If you cannot remember what an R12 system felt like, then don't worry about it and be happy that you have some kind of A/C one the retrofit is completed.

Last but not least, shop around. Go to a lot of different places. If you can find a refridgerator repair specialist, see if they work on automotive systems as well. These guys know a LOT more than the average mechanic or even "highly trained" dealership mechanics simply because that is their profession, A/C and A/C only! Anyone can put the parts together, but there are definite tricks of the trade involved with setting up a cold A/C system and with R134a, that is all the more true.

 

I'm having the same problem with my blazer. Does anybody know how expensive it is to replace the old with the new high performance retrofit??? I don't know anything about A/C

 

I went to Advanced Auto and purchased a "R-12 to R-134a" retrofit kit that was just 2 new R-134a nipples that threaded onto the R-12 nipples that were on my factory A/C system. It's not the one with all the new O-Rings and all that happy jazz. I got me a home refil kit with the pressure guage and used it to refill my A/C system and it's working fine. I seen a refill kit there that comes with the refill tool with pressure guage, 2 large cans of R-134a with leak sealant and all the instructions for $20 or $30. The retrofit kit was only like $20. My a/c works great, don't get as cold as it would if it was R-12, but at least it's colder than the outside.

 

I got the same kit too and mine works great. Mine was bone dry and I retightened all the fittings and replaced any dried out o - rings and put in the kit with a sealer can. A lot better than spending hundreds of dollars........ I would try the kit first and if it works your all set. If it doesn't, then bring it to a AC guy........

 

I'm one that will never just throw refridgerant at a system that hasn't been properly vacuumed down. I want an A/C system that performs as it should, not one that just performs. By leaving the air in the system, you are degrading the performance of the system. If it worked for you, good, but that's all I'll say about it.