A/C Recharge for 1993 240 Wagon

Did it work just after they recharged it, if so its a big leak , if not they didnt fix the problem because the air should be able to make you too cold at 90-100+

Here's an update: I took the car to a different mechanic -- my regular garage, in fact -- and had to face the humiliation of discovering that the people I'd just paid $200 actually did NOTHING to my car, not even the oil change or tire rotation. The AC was not only not fixed, but the condenser fan is missing and the condenser badly damaged, so they could've pumped freon all day long and it wouldn't have mattered. I've filed a dispute with my credit card company, and my regular garage was happy to write a supporting letter for the disupte stating that none of the work I was charged for had actually been done. Hopefully it will be decided in my favor. Stupidly, I only checked the first garage's online user ratings AFTER I got screwed. Turns out their primary business isn't actually auto repair, but screwing over folks with autos that need repair. Wow. Lesson learned.

Residential and commercial A/C systems never used R134. Very early systems were R12, but the standard has been R22 for decades. More recently R22 is being phased out because it is a HCFC. Not nearly as ozone damaging as the CFC R12 (about 5%) but that is still the rational for replacing it. The new refrigerant for those applications is R410, I'm not fond of it myself, the pressures it operates at are around double that of R22 and both the equipment and the refrigerant are more expensive but that's beyond my control. Propane is actually a very close substitute for R22 but due to the flammability it's not legal to charge an AC system with it in case there's ever a leak.

The fan was *missing*? What happened to it? That's not the sort of thing that tends to just fall off! A missing condenser fan will definitely impact the operation of the AC even if the condenser is fine. A system that has been converted to R134 does not provide quite the cooling capacity as R12, but I converted my 740 years ago and have found it to be perfectly adequate for the climate here in the Northwest. It takes a bit longer to really get going, but once it does, it blows cold even when it's in the 90s outside.

The humiliation should be theirs, not yours. You're not the one who committed fraud.

File a complaint with the police. These people are breaking the law.

The humiliation was in the fact that I had to admit to my regular garage that not only had I cheated on them with another garage, but I'd gotten royally screwed in the process. Trust me -- humiliation!

wow allot of issues have been raised...

it seems some people know refrigeration. i was limiting the discussion to mobile refrigeration but even brick & mortar users were switching to r134a for a while to meet the Montreal protocol. puron (r410a) just isn't a seamless replacement for older systems. we have also learned that it has a significant carbon foot print. the new fair haired child is HFO-1234yf. no kidding. use all the letters & numbers you want we'll make more. it's beginning to look like time we considered propane again. a great refrigerant, so what if it blows up.

i'm glad you have placed a stop payment. it seems like these @*&)%$%#^*)) are also due for criminal charges.

what happened to the fan does seem like a good question. the local laws governing a/c differ so much, that there is never a standard factory design for the system. some of the installations are so awkward that i wouldn't be @ all surprised if a technician just ripped parts off. (did anyone else's mom or dad explain to them that when you put something back together you are always supposed to have extra parts?)

finally, even if you just got a simple (i think you know by now that is an oxymoron) a/c recharge, a system integrity test should be done. in North America & Europe*, there are agencies of the central government which will respond.

LOL cheated on...

There's nothing wrong with trying out another garage, maybe someone recommended them, no big deal. The important part is to undo the damage they did.