1. Home
  2. Automotive Technologies
  3. freon replacement for '90 Volvo GL? - - help a poor girl

freon replacement for '90 Volvo GL? - - help a poor girl

I inherited a '90 Volvo GL. It runs ok however the air conditioner puts out no cold air at all. Since it's a '90, I assume it uses R12 freon. How much should I expect to be charged for R12 to refill the system, assuming it's empty?

Also, I hear one can get R12 in Tijuana cheap. Anyone know if this is true and an honest place to have it done? I've been to TJ many times and I know there are lots of honest shops, but it's not so easy to find one.

Alternately, I've seen R-134a replacement kits for about $40. I understand they are less than an ideal solution but do they work at all?

Thanks in advance.

Sue

Reply to
sue sanchez
Loading thread data ...

That is correct, it would have been filled with R12 from the factory.

You don't just refill it, unless you like wasting money. You find the source of the leak, fix it, and then look at your A/C charge-up options.

Sure, if you don't mind taking the risk that it's not really R12. Could be propane. Could be natural gas. Either will cause cold-ish air to come out of the vents and turn your car into a time bomb without a "time remaining" display.

Known as "instant compressor death". Volvo offers an R134a retrofit kit for the 240s. It includes not only all the components needed to ensure chemical compatibility so the compressor doesn't die and the system doesn't leak dry in weeks, but also the hard parts to make it worth your while so the less-efficient R134a doesn't reduce this already-weak A/C system's performance to uselessness. I see these kits go by on Ebay fairly often.

Yes -- the $40 kits work to make sure you will shortly have to make much more extensive and expensive system repairs.

DS

Reply to
Daniel J. Stern

Evacuate the system then charge it with 134.You can put 134 in on top of R-12. It still works. At less than $3 a pound you can recharge it many times before you reach the cost of replacing a single O-ring at a shop. If a recharge lasts 2 or 3 months do it that way. If it leaks out in a day or a few weeks then you have what we call a BIG hole. Then you need a repair.

Reply to
Rod Gray

Don't mix refrigerants unless you want no shop to touch your a/c again. Shops cannot contaminate their refrigerant machines. It can damage them.

Reply to
hyundaitech

You canNOT. The two refrigerants and their oils do not mix, R12 O-rings do not seal R134a, R12 filter-dryers are not compatible with R134a, and doing this is not only illegal, but also extremely stupid, for it guarantees no shop will touch your A/C system without hefty surcharges -- if they'll touch it at all -- *WHEN* this mix destroys it.

DS

Reply to
Daniel J. Stern

It is however fairly easy to convert to R134a using Volvo's kit, I procrastinated for about 2 years with my 740 then finally made the plunge and was amazed how smoothly it went.

Reply to
James Sweet

Reply to
Rod Gray

Huh? How the hell do you recover the refrigerant when it's all mixed together?

nate

Rod Gray wrote:

Reply to
Nate Nagel

Not talking about recovering it Nate. Obviously a lot of people misunderstood the question and the reply. The info was to help those who can't afford an expensive repair right away. At less than $3 a lb. it is cheaper to keep recharging it if it lasts a few months before you have to do it again. The original post was help a poor girl. That was my intention.

Reply to
Rod Gray

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.