Who is using r12? Who is using R134a?

[CyFi6]

OK, well, before i moved here, i had r12 in my system, i think it was the stock charge, and it was low, and instead of paying up to recharge with r12 i tried some hydrocarbon refrigerant, which was a bad idea and didn't really work well. After this i decided to go all out and convert my system to r134a. I removed all the ac components and flushed them all to get all the oil out, replaced all the seals and the expansion valve, and put it all back together. I put the required amount of oil in and then charged it with 134a. My pressures were weird, my low side was a little too low and high side too high, which i would think would indicate a restriction in the system, but i just flushed the whole thing and it was all fine.

Thing was, it was cooling good, so i left it at that, it was consitently blowing 43-50 degrees at the vent. I drove teh car to AZ from Ca, and the whole way i had the ac on, no problems, blew 45 when i got here in the 100+ weather. Now when i go on short drives of a few miles long or a little more, im not getting good cooling, i get 50-60 degree temps which is hardly cold in my opinion.

I think the problem is the condenser doesn't cool enough for the r134a, but im not sure. Im wondering if you guys have converted and if your performance is good, or if i should switch back over to r12. The ac is one think i don't want to skimp on, and i just want it to work.

Thanks for any help.

 

[GrimJack]

Use R134a here, works awesome. The car was retrofitted by the previous owner, and I've had it for a long time since then.

 

[SilverSupraT]

I just did the conversion without changing/flushing anything and it's blowing 42-43 consistantly. Who knows how long it will last but it's doing fine for now. It does take a bit longer to get cold than R12 if I remember back to when it had R12...

 

[Fuzz420]

My friend converted me over to r134a about 2 years ago. I love it.

 

[lagged]

r134a here, i think i need more pressure but otherwise it works well.

if its above 95 degree though its useless.

 

[dumbo]

my ac-r12 didn't work when i got the car, pressure low, purged system(just gas,no oil), put 2 bottles of tek12a, 50$ canadian tire. blows 18degrees celsius, as cold as the climate control goes!?!?, wich is like 65farenheit. how are you guys going into the 40's?? my climate control turns the fan down. 32 is freezing??

 

[suprabad]

r134a here, i think i need more pressure but otherwise it works well.

if its above 95 degree though its useless.

Wrong. With r134 you only fill to 80% of what you would r12.

If your a/c isn't getting cold when temps rise above 95 degrees than you should troubleshoot your system, because it's not the r134.

I'm in Southern California and my a/c blows ice cold in 100+ degree weather. The only down side I see with r134 is that initially it takes a little longer to get cold. Also, since the r134 molecule is smaller it's best to do as I did, and buy all the "upgraded" seals and compressor from Toyota. I had a/c issues when I swapped to r134 so I just replaced the whole system. It was a little pricey, but well worth it.

 

[super.secret.supra.club]

is there some kind of write up that was for this specific conversion? its hot as hell in SD lately and i want some ac. i hate driving around with no ac.

ed.d.

 

[figgie]

r134a since 1997. lived in humid Miami, Florida and never an issue.

 

[dumbo]

how cold does your guys climate control go!?!?!

 

[figgie]

how cold does your guys climate control go!?!?!

65 degrees farenheight.

 

[CyFi6]

65 just means its at max cold, it doesn't mean it is limited to 65 degrees. If you set your climate control to 65 degrees and turn it all onto auto, it will put out the coldest temp possible (which is about 35-45 depending on the car(lowest it can go without freezing)) and keep doing that until your cabin temp is at 65. Just the same as if you put your climate on 85, its going to blow much hotter than 85.

 

[lagged]

Wrong. With r134 you only fill to 80% of what you would r12.

If your a/c isn't getting cold when temps rise above 95 degrees than you should troubleshoot your system, because it's not the r134.

I'm in Southern California and my a/c blows ice cold in 100+ degree weather. The only down side I see with r134 is that initially it takes a little longer to get cold. Also, since the r134 molecule is smaller it's best to do as I did, and buy all the "upgraded" seals and compressor from Toyota. I had a/c issues when I swapped to r134 so I just replaced the whole system. It was a little pricey, but well worth it.

eh...whats wrong with what i said? i mean that i dont think my friend added enough refrigerant.

im no expert in AC systems so i dont really know what the problem is, i havent spent much time worrying about it yet.

 

[figgie]

Wrong. With r134 you only fill to 80% of what you would r12.

just for clarification.

Toyota's tsrb for retrofitting to r134a in the Toyota Supa is exactly 650 grams of r134a.

 

[CyFi6]

I dont know what to trust. That tsrm also says you dont need to flush the system and that you can leave the full quantity of the mineral oil in the system nd just add *pag* oil.

 

[figgie]

I dont know what to trust. That tsrm also says you dont need to flush the system and that you can leave the full quantity of the mineral oil in the system nd just add ester oil.

no no no. Not TSRM. TSRB, techical service, repair bulletin. and no it does not.

 

[suprarx7nut]

Just got mine redone a few weeks ago. R-12 and it blows at 40F at the vents when it's 95F outside at idle sitting still.

 

[NeatOman]

R12 will last longer and be colder... and it turns out that it is not bad for the environment but r134a is and causes cancer. The whole thing about r12 and the Ozone was a farce. I should know... i worked in Heating and Air for 2 years, and heard everything.

The thing is that DuPont had a patent on r12 and when the patent was running out they just paid a bunch of douche lobbyist to say it was EVIL!! j/k... and guess what was replacing r12. There new patented product that was coming out right at the same time there patent for r12 was running out! o O OOOO you guessed it.... r134a. So now as before manufactures have to pay a licensing fee to DuPont.

 

[CyFi6]

no no no. Not TSRM. TSRB, techical service, repair bulletin. and no it does not.

I meant TSB, and yes, it says what i wrote, i have the document up on my screen right now. I quote: "There is no need to remove or flush R–12 mineral oil from the system. Simply
charge the system with the specified type and amount* of PAG oil to provide
proper lubrication"

"Mineral based R–12 oil remains and circulates in the A/C system and does not
dissolve in R134a refrigerant. This results in a cloudy appearance at the sight
glass making it impossible to judge the refrigerant charge amount by using the
sight glass method. To prevent misdiagnosis on retrofit vehicles, apply black
paint to the sight glass on block–joint (FF) type receiver/dryers."

 

[chedderknight]

Car still has r12 components, buts been dry since who knows when, how much do you guys figure it be to replace everything to r134a?