Does anybody have any expertise with converting R12 A/C to R134a?
My 93 SSE with the I needs a new compressor (A/C) and was interested in changing to R134a.

See:

http://www.bonnevilleclub.com/forum/...pic.php?t=3457

WEIRDEST THING HAPPENED TO MY 94 SSE. MY COMPRESSOR JUST QUIT. WE TOOK IT OFF AND WENT TO THE JUNK YARD AND GOT ANOTHER ONE FOR 50 BUCKS. WE TOOK BOTH HOME AND THE ORIGINAL ONE WORKED AFTER ALL. SOMEHOW WHEN I TOOK IT OFF AND PUT IT BACK ON, IT STARTED WORKING AGAIN. ICE COLD AIR NOW. AND ON THE GOOD PART I GOT TO TAKE THE OTHER ONE BACK AND GET 50 BUCKS WORTH OF STUFF FOR MY CAR AND MY MOMS ALSO. NE WAYS, ALSO AS FAR AS CONVERSION, MY 91 SSE HAD R 12. I HAD IT PUMPED OUT AND JUST DID THE ESTER OIL, LEAK FINDER, AND 3 CANS OF 134 A IN THE ORIGINAL SYSTEM WITHOUT CHANGING A THING AND IT STILL WORKS GOOD AFTER 2 1/2 YEARS. JUST SOMETHING INTERESTING I THOUGHT YOU SHOULD KNOW.

I know everybody says to have the system vacuum pumped and flushed but I have switched at least 4 systems over without being vacuumed. The ones I did the conversion on had leaks and were already empty though. It is not that great for the environment to let the R12 into the air that is why they switched to the 134a. I bought the conversion kit from Wal-Mart costs about $35-$40 I think. It comes with the hose to fill the system, the new connections to convert the system to 134a, and I believe 3 cans of 134a with O-ring conditioner and oil. Mostly everything 134a that is sold says something about working with R12 residue.

Yeah the only thing you have to remember is that for the new system you only put in 80% of the poundage used for R12.

Did you add any oil to they system. My 96 SE started making noise and I went to start pricing new compressors at autozone. Well lucky my the guy behind the counter was certified to work on AC. He told me to add some oil so I did and NO MORE NOISE. He saved me lots of money. Most of our systems are suppost to have 8 ounces of oil in them. Unlike the R12 where the oil was in with the freon you have to buy seperate oil unless you buy some with oil already in the can but then you still have to turn the can upside down to have the oil sucked into the system.

All of the freons carry oil when they leak out. It'* a good idea to add a proportional small amount of oil when replacing the freon so that the origninal amount of oil will be restored.

Here'* a useful FAQ section from the Environmental Protection Agency with all kinds of info about auto air conditioning systems:

http://www.epa.gov/ozone/title6/609/index.html

In particular, this FAQ deals with retrofitting HFC-134a (or other refrigerants) in place of the old CFC-12:

http://www.epa.gov/ozone/title6/609/...rs/choice.html

One interesting point is that they don't absolutely require a teardown and hardware replacement (which for a beater or cheap car would cost more than it'* worth). Check out the references to an "Economy retrofit" there.