My car is in my signature. The AC works fine from what the previous owner told me, it just needs to be recharged.

So I figured this could easily be handled at the local Ford dealership. I called to inquire and they wanted to know if it had been 'converted'. Apparently, older model cars used a refrigerant called R12, which for environmental reasons they don't allow anymore and now they use one called (I believe) R134. Of course I have no way of knowing which is in the vehicle, but since it was restored in the last 4 years I'm assuming its the latter, is that a fair assumption? The dealership wants to charge me $85 just to 'diagnose' whether it needs to be 'converted'...this sounds like a pile of bu11$h1t to me. Anyone know anything about this? If it did have to be converted what would this entail?

thanks

 

Well my stepfather's 77 GMC truck is R12 and it cost him about $380.00 to have it recharged with the R12. The R134 conversion would probably cost about the same but you wouldn't have to pay that much to have it charged the next time. When I told my stepfather and mother this he was upset that the shop did not mention the fact they could convert it over to R134 till after they charged it.

 

Don't know much about this, but I believe you can tell by the style of fittings on the system. I'd run it by AutoZone or somewhere similar and ask them. If it is the new style refrigerant, it is pretty easy to do yourself. If it hasn't been converted yet, my next step would be to find a place specializing in auto a/c. I don't have much luck with anything at the dealership.

Case in point, I had an estimate of $978 for a/c work last Friday, after paying the $85 diagnosis fee (total $1063). Saturday, I drove the car 50 miles to Atlanta to an Auto A/C shop and had the same thing done for just over $600.

 

If you have the original style compressor, it will look something like the one in this picture:



If you have the original compressor, you're going to have R12.


If it has beenconverted, the new compressor will most likely look something like this:



This compressor is capable of using R12 or R134. The fittings used on the compressor is how to tell the difference.

Take it to any A/C shop to have it recharged, not the dealer.

If it needs to be charged, there's going to be a reason. Unless the previous owner disconnected a hose for some reason, something is leaking.

R12 is more expensive, but it cools the car better. Cars this old need all the help they can get.

When I took my '67 Coupe to the shop to have the A/C charged, I found out the compressor was leaking out the seals. I spent some time trying to decide what to do. The old-style compressor was less expensive, but the new-style don't tax the motor as much. Buying a new-style compressor also means having to have hoses custom-built to fit the new-style compressor on one end and the old-style fitting on the other end. Also, R134 doesn't work as well in an old-style condenser. If I could do it again, I'd have bought an after market complete system (Vintage Air, Classic Air, etc) and completely replace my A/C system. In the end, I probably would have spent less and the car would have cooled better.

 

The type of compressor has absolutly nothing to do with the type of Freon in the system.
Look at the compressor, if it is the original York compressor you will find two schrader valves on the head of the compressor (the things the hoses connect to) on the top of those valves you will find a fitting, usually with a plastic cap on them. Unscrew the caps and look at the fittings, if they have threads on the outside and are about 3/8 of an inch, they are R-12 fittings, if they look smooth on the outside,havethreadson the inside, and are aproximatly 1/2 inch, they are R-134 connectors.

 

thanks all, looks like I have the old R12 version from what you've indicated:
see my photo below (I did what you recommended and unscrewed the cap and took a close up):

So I guess I can either try to find somewhere that will fill it with R12 for me (which is expensive from what I understand) or bite the bullet and convert it.
Thoughts???

EDIT: I'm having a hell of a time uploading images on here, but if you click the thumbnail below here it should show the image

[IMG]local://upfiles/101495/8015EFA768124ADF9E3CF2A499D45B1E.jpg[/IMG]

 

Wrong cap, that's the cover for the valve stem. the little black cap on the right of the photo ic the cap I was talking about

 

sorry, here ya go



[IMG]local://upfiles/101495/36B6858C16D64393B1EA6ED6FA639754.jpg[/IMG]

 

That's R-12, your choices are to have some one recharge it with R-12, prices vary from $50 to $80 a pound plus labor.That would be the way to go if you didn't have a leak, and knew it. If there is a leak, then your money ahead to convert it over to R-134. It isn't hard, but there are a couple of special tools, and they can get expensive. Basically you have to get rid of any R-12 left in the system, then you have to open it up and flush out all of the oil that is in the system. Replace the oil with something compatible to R-134. Replace the dryer, seal the system back up, pull a vaccuum to get rid of air and water vapor. If it holds a vaccuum for a couple of hours, you refill with R-134.

 

thanks for the info, I called around locally and no one has any R-12 left. Many of them said they were trying to get their hands on some -lol
I'm guessing that since its been phased out its value has increased exponentially. Anyway, I'm gonna take it to the shop tommorrow and have em gimme an estimate at converting it to use R134. If you have any idea what I should expect to pay or anything I should cofirm with the mechanic let me know

thanks again!