I have a 93 Camry, and I am getting the air conditioner service for the first time. I was told that it has to retrofitted to now use R134. To do this would cost about $300. I was also told, haven't check yet, that AutoZone has a retrofit kit that would work.. Does anyone have any experience in doing this procedure. Thanks in advance.
Are you sure you need freon, try to find someone to fill it with your original stuff. I beleive the new freon wont cool as well. its illegal but done every day.
What does "serviced" mean? If it still blows cold - other than checking the drive belt and hoses there is no real service required. If all the freon leaked out the expansion valve then there is a SSB - special service campaign (free replaceemnt of the valve, seals, evacuation and R12 refill). If youu are in the south or hot west think seriously about converting - it is not as cold and may kill your compressor. In addition to the cheap kit you should replace the dryer and the expansion valve.
Been there, done that. $300 sounds totally bogus. You can buy the R134a fittings, replace drier, evacuate and recharge that system for $300 smacks.
Got a 93 Camry, went through same exact AC drill last year. Symptoms: No AC in 2003 after 10 years of 100% reliability. Went to dealer in northwest Houston TX who tried everything possible to have me convert from R12 to
134a. For only $200 they would perform thorough diagnostic check. Was told they had a "pretty good record of conversions, got 134a conversions down pretty good." Went along, was told I had a leaking compressor top plate, might need new heat exchanger, blah, blah, blah, changing to 134a would fix all that. Being a long-standing Republican, "pretty good" doesn't mean squat. If I didn't know better, cost would have been about $1100-$1200 for pretty good AC.Went to an independent garage who did a thorough inspection and pressure test. Found leaking hoses, leaking expansion valve and checked out compressor which was fine. Replaced hoses and expansion valve, evacuated system and refilled with R12 and drove away. $800. I got 36 degrees from the central vent yesterday.
parts and labor to do your toyota properly is about $200 complete.
much more and they are trying to get you pregnant.
much less they are doing the job completely.
Have people just screwed the r134a fittings on, and charged the ac and not have problems... yes.... but ya wanna know the truth far more and this the braggers don't tell ya, they had to get a new compressor (OUCH) fairly quick afterwards.
Have the oil in the system cahnged and the drier. also fix the leaks, THEN it is retrofitted.
you should have went with r134 at that time. you would habe saved a few $100 in gas and still achieved 36'
smacks.
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I'd stick with the R-12 if I could. I have a 93 Corolla and it still blows cold. I've never needed to have it topped. We have a 95 that does have R-134 and it's had problems with leaking.
Just be sure to run it now and again to keep the seals lubricated.
Charles in Palatine
93 Corolla 95 PreviaI bought that "Interdynamics" kit last year to retro my '89 Supra. All the R-12 had leaked so that was a good time to fix it. The kit cost me $26.00 at Wal-Mart and had all the items. Since I knew my compressor front seal was bad ( lots of oil all over the compressor) I figured the new seal, if I could find one would run in the $20-25+ range and would require a few special tools to hold the clutch, so I got a used compressor for $100 locally. I cleaned the exterior with brake cleaner/lacquer thinner and flushed it with the new oil, then added the correct amount of oil. Then I installed the compressor and replaced the receiver/dryer. I bought Acme adapters for my vacuum pump and drew down the system. Then I borrowed a set of 134 gauges and added gas till I had about 250 pounds on the high side. Low side was 15 to almost zero, at around 2500RPM. It took a bit of
1000 RPM revving when I first added gas which was due to the oil in the high side moving thru the condenser coil. A few minutes later it was working fine. I placed a box fan blowing directly into the grill to keep the pressures down since I had the hood up. A good bit of airflow from the fan dropped the high side to 225, and low side to around 20. I was happy with the 36 degree cold air in the cabin, so I left the pressures as is.
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I had my '92 converted to R134a for around $200. I did not have to have major parts replaced and its been blowing very cold for 3 years now.
-JCM900
Along with the usual list of AC conversion parts, be sure to determine if you have any pressure switches for engaging the compressor... most cars do. If so, be sure to replace them for the 134 vapor pressures. Most quicky places don't and the resulting conversion isn't as cold as it could be. However, if you don't have any major leaks yet, don't bother converting.
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