Freeze-12 or 134a

I have a 2000 Impala 3.8L that the A/C is not working very well... I think it might need charge... so anyway I was ready to go out and buy a gauge and some 134a incase I needed some. Well I was talking to someone who told me I should go with either Freeze-12 or ES-12a. they told me very little about them but did say they are both colder then

134a and that ES-12a was the coldest, and less expensive and most importantly are compatable with 134a so i don't need to evac the system... obviously if I need to add some I have to track down a leak somewhere, and i'll take care of that.

Anyway my question is has anyone used Freeze-12 or ES-12a and how good is it?

Reply to
Jimmy
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I would stay away from Freeze-12, once you inject that stuff into your system it will be hard to find anyone willing to service your A/C. If the 134a isn't cold enough, Freeze-12 probably won't help. you have some other problem.

and ES-12a, I think that's a hydrocarbon refrigerant, which are highly flammable and explosive. Stay away from them. The A/C system was not designed to hold explosive substances.

Reply to
Masospaghetti

Considering that your vehicle is designed and uses R-134A as it's refrigerant why would you go with a mickey mouse fix? Just have it tested at a shop first OR read how to test the system yourself (doesn't take much to do) Then have a shop evacuate and recharge OR just top off the system. Keep in mind that low cooling levels can mean MUCH more than just low refrigerant level. Check everything over first, heater control doors, air doors and plenum sealing can all cause poor cooling.

As far as being drop ins for 134A Freeze-12 and ES-12 are NOT. They both will contaminate the system and require changing the fittings so they are legal, AND once done forget about having most AC shops do any work on your A/C System since they will probably not have a spare recovery machine for the blend you are using.

Reply to
Steve W.

Freeze-12 is 85% R134 and 15% another refrigerant (R412?). It's meant as an R12 replacement in that the R412(?) will carry the mineral oil that's used in an R12 system whereas 134 will not. You can supposedly use in an R12 system without changing oil or anything else...supposedly. I doubt there'd be any advantage to using it in a 134 system. Stay away from the other stuff and don't mix them...a Real Bad Idea. Have someone diagnose the problem and go from there. It could be just low on gas (which probably means there's a leak that should be fixed) but it could be something else.

Check here for some good info & advice:

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or here:
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Reply to
ZZ

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