Air Con. a 92 Eagle Summit Wagon?

Need some advice.

I live in Ontario Canada and have a 1992 Eagle Summit Wagon with approximately 165000 km. We are the original owners and we use it as a second car and put less than 5000 km a year on it for the past 4 years. The AC no longer works and taking it in for a service appt this morning I was told that because of its age it would need to be retrofitted so the AC system could take the more environmentally friendly R134 freon as using the older R12 was no longer permitted . This would have to be done *before* the AC system could be tested :(. This retro would cost 300 dollars Canadian. And then the diagnosis could begin. Is there no other way to determine the magnitude of the problem?

Thanks for your advice

-- Doug Mitchell (jmjm at sympatico dot ca)

Reply to
Doug Mitchell
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Almost rubbish! I have a 93 wagon with the R12 system still running fine.

May just be a minor electrical problem, or a drive belt. You can check yourself if the system is pressurised. Just near the radiator, LHS, there's a cap over a tire-like valve on an 8mm aluminium pipe. Take the cap off an momentarily press the valve pin. If the system is pressurised, you'll get a sharp, high pressure release sound. If its a quiet hiss, or no sound at all, the system is depressurised.

While you will likely need to get the retrofit done (and $300 is fair, see below) to get the system running again, to diagnose the usual fault, a pressure leak, an AC place can easily do a vacuum test. This checks that the system can hold pressure. If the vacuum leaks away, then you need stuff fixed. May just be 0-rings, but can be corrosion holes in the pipes and high pressure leaks in the hoses.

The R143a retrofit (assuming no leaks) requires a) supply of the R143a retrofit kit, about $80. b) removal of the compressor to drain the old type oil and fit the R134a valves/connectors c) removal of the hoses and fittings to install new o-rings (old ones will fail with R143a) d) supply of a new drier canister, about $25 or so, but could be more. e) putting it all back together, vacuuming it out and filling with refridgerant.

So, yes $300 for the job is fair.

If you need hoses or other parts, or there's electrical or mechanical problems, more cost.

My advise is ask them to check if the system is correctly pressurised, and if so, check out the electrical control system. If the shop won't do it, take it somewhere else who will.

Stewart DIBBS Ottawa

Reply to
Stewart DIBBS

I would take it to someone R12 certified. They are rare, but R12 certified techs are still available. R134A is a very bad and a very inefficient coolant. If the environmentalist would actually look at the amount of energy (gasoline) wasted to produce the same cooling and byproducts, they'd go back to R12.

I would swap as a last resort. Fix the leak, and refill the system. R134a will not work well in a R12 system.

Reply to
Nobody U. Know

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