The air conditioning on my 1989 Chevy S10 Blazer just stopped working. I can hear the compressor kick in but the air blows out warm. I'm thinking of adding in Freeze 12 coolant since it's closer to R12 and less work to retrofit than R134. Has anyone tried this?
You should not mix refrigerants. If you want to change types the system needs to be evacuated and then recharged with the correct amount of new refrigerant.
In this case if the compressor still clicks on but you get no cooling it could very easily be any number of problems. I would have a pro check out the system and tell you whats wrong even if you decide not to have them fix it.
You can kill your compressor pretty easy and a new one is going to cost you around $450 just for the part. Better to have a good diagnosis before you try anything.
Steve B.
New compressors are half that amount, remans even less.
Doc
Wow, you know the prices for every compressor for every application, eh? You should work in a parts store.
Sure, if you don't mind replacing a compressor every 18 months.
DS
This is not an appropriate or legal thing to do. Mixing refrigerants, aside from being illegal, is an excellent way to cause extensive and expensive damage to your system, and service shops charge extra to service systems that have been contaminated with mixed and/or nonstandard refrigerants. Standard refrigerants are R12 and R134a, anything else is nonstandard. Freeze-12 is NOT "closer to R12" chemically, not at all.
Find and fix the problem - likely a bad compressor shaft seal on that model.
DS
Remans are crap in general. The compressor in his vehicle does not rebuild well at all... Generally one of these rebuilt last one season if you are lucky.
The factory part was over $400 when I bought one two years ago. Prices could be a little higher or lower but I would expect it to still be in the same range.
Steve B.
Hey Doc! These guys don't know anything about wholesale, and still frequent the dealers and the corner parts store. Now about we sell them a seminar on how to make money and save the customer half on the part. While still making money!
Ciao!
Refinish King
Hmm - I don't know the said compressor but if it's that DA-6 job that GM used, I have a rebuilt one in my 84 Celebrity that I installed, and it has lasted several seasons.
I think the rebuilds get a bad rap because since they are cheap, the people buying them are mostly looking for a quick and fast fix to their A/C system. So instead of doing the job right - meaning also replacing the accumulator, expansion orifice, and flushing all tubing in the system out, they just slap in a reman compressor. The thing then blows up a year later after getting ruined by contaminants left in the system.
Ted
||The air conditioning on my 1989 Chevy S10 Blazer just stopped working. I can ||hear the compressor kick in but the air blows out warm. I'm thinking of ||adding in Freeze 12 coolant since it's closer to R12 and less work to ||retrofit than R134. Has anyone tried this?
I'm surprised the compressor would kick in if it's low on refrigerant. It should have a low pressure switch on the accumulator that cuts the clutch circuit if the pressure drops below a certain point. So you may have another problem. Maybe a duct mixer door is not opening. But if you do need to add refrigerant, stay with R12. You can still buy it if you watch the clasifieds. Even at $30/pound it's cheaper and colder than anything you could change to, all things considered. Texas Parts Guy
NO! Don't waste your time.
Change to r134.
Freeze 12 is not compatable with r12! Freeze 12 is not compatable with anything other than mineral oil! Freeze 12 can be used with mineral oil, ester oil, or a mixture.
To change to Freeze 12 you have to vacumn your system to remove all the r12, then add 3 ozs of oil, (preferablely ester) before you add the Freeze 12. If you do change to Freeze 12 then you are stuck to doing all the work on your AC yourself, as AC shops are not going to buy a complete set of equipment for use with Freeze 12. An AC shop has to have a complete set of equipment for r12 and r134 now. Why buy a set for limited use with Freeze 12?
Just convert to r134 its is cheaper, and easier to have a working system.
-- Diamond Jim The Old Devildog
No! Don't waste your time!
Just get your R12 system fixed. It was built for it and it's still available.
It is expensive as hell. Best bet is an R134 conversion.
Oh? Why a magic "3 ounces?" What if the system still has a full charge of mineral oil- you'll be over-full. What if it has lost all its mineral oil for some reason? You'll be running dry.
"Formula" retrofits like that are a quick way to disaster. Any retrofit should begin with "disassemble and FLUSH they system...." and end with "fill with the factory specified quantity of oil...." of whichever type is most compatible with the chosen refrigerant.
|| ||NO! Don't waste your time. || ||Change to r134. || ||Freeze 12 is not compatable with r12! Freeze 12 is not compatable with ||anything other than mineral oil! Freeze 12 can be used with mineral oil, ||ester oil, or a mixture. || ||To change to Freeze 12 you have to vacumn your system to remove all the r12, ||then add 3 ozs of oil, (preferablely ester) before you add the Freeze 12. If ||you do change to Freeze 12 then you are stuck to doing all the work on your ||AC yourself, as AC shops are not going to buy a complete set of equipment ||for use with Freeze 12. An AC shop has to have a complete set of equipment ||for r12 and r134 now. Why buy a set for limited use with Freeze 12?
I haven't used it myself, but I think it's noteworthy that my company sold
31,000 12-oz cans of Freeze-12, and another 50 30# cylinders over the last 18 months. SOMEbody out there must be doing OK with it. For what it's worth. Texas Parts Guy
Because you are going to loose just about three ounces when you drain and vacumn your system. THAT'S WHY! Even if you add some extra oil it is not going to cause a disaster.
If it doesn't have any oil in the system then it doesn't have any freon in the system either. Q.E.D
Why don't you go bother somebody else, with all your crap. All you want to do is snipe, post a real e-mail address if you are serious, and stand behind your post. Otherwise your just a troll, looking to cause trouble.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with R12. Banning it in the US was strictly a political move by Clinton and his administration to make the tree huggers happy and to get concessions on other matters at the Keyoto World Meeting. R12 is still used (legally) in many parts (so called third world countries) of the world. Mexico uses it, and r134 is hard to find in Mexico. All the BS about the r12 destroying the ozone layer was also a bunch of BS. When Mount Pentatubo (spelling ?) erupted in the Philippines (near the old Clark AFB) more chlorine was put into the atmosphere than the total amount of chlorine ever used in making all the different types of freon. And chlorine which is released when freon brakes down is what destroys ozone. But every lighting bolt (among other things) in the world produces ozone. A lot of the whacko theories from the 70's and 80's have proven to be BS. Ozone depletion, nuclear winter, to name two. Global warming? or global cooling? is still being debated with no proof on either side yet, just the doomsday sound bytes from the TV.
Most of the world disagrees with you.
Incorrect. '94-up cars in Mexico use R134a, by law. Same as in the US and Canada.
According to you. Your scientific credentials are...?
Pinatubo.
Except that Chlorine *per se* isn't the problem. Chlorofluorocarbons are. If you think you can just latch onto bits and parts of molecules to prove your point, I surely hope you never drink water or swim near sources of ignition...why, with all that Hydrogen around, you'd go up in a giant fireball!
Yes. Ozone down here at ground level where it doesn't shield us from the sun's UV, not up in the stratosphere where it does.
Again, according to you. You can't even spell or form a coherent sentence, yet you expect to be believed simply on say-so?
Which has not been "proven to be BS".
OK, I'll bite: Please describe the thermonuclear war that happened and "proved nuclear winter to be BS". Include such details as who first fired upon whom, which countries were involved, etc.
Just because you lack the brain to understand something does not make it "BS".
-Stern
And if you're starting with no oil and the system requires 5 ounces, you'll be 2 ounces short. And if you're starting with 7 ounces and the system requires 5 ounces, you'll be 2 ounces over. Your "Just add 3 ounces" idea is pure stupidity.
False. Systems low on oil and full of refrigerant are a reality.
Do you know what this means? I don't think that you do, because you haven't used it correctly.
-Stern
Asshole,
Compressor model LT-R4
New, this compressor retails for $199.88 w/$10 core; remans are $108.88. Yes, some compressors cost well over $400 new; this one doesn't. Next time try to be more informed before you start with the smartass remarks.
Doc
See, the difference is that when I say "New", I mean genuine-new, not the new Chinese knockoff crapola you can buy from Pep Boys type places.
DS
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