My '93 truck was converted to freeze 12 in '99, it has a leak. It'll leak enough to warm the a/c up within a month. Re-filling it is $75, and it's becoming an expensive deal. I bought a 134A retrofit kit from autozone and read everything. 134A is only like 6 bucks a can and I could care less if I leak it out. Afterall, "global warming" is a giant scam anyways. Any tips or tricks?? It's 112* here in AZ. I need some advise quick!

 

why not jus fix it?
What you could do is find an AC shop, have them recycle/evacuate your system, and find your leak, if you cant find it yourself. Then take it home and You fix it, be it a compressor, evap, condenser, hoses, then take it back have them evacuate it again and refill.
Or (an you didnt read this from me) find the leak yourself, get dirty, look for leak and replace the part, screw the environment , then have a shop fill it properly.
On mine, the LOW side hose coming out of the compressor rubbed on a bracket. don't remember exactly where (and too lazy to go look).

 

Since freeze 12 is mostly propane you will eventually find your leak. .Keep a bag a marshmelllows so you'll have something to do while your truck burns to the ground.

 

look for the tell-tale A/C oil leak and just fix it.

 

Next time you fill it up, use a flourescent dye in the setup...i think parts stores sell them in leak detector kits. Once it leaks out, you will be able to hold a black light up to it and figure out where your leak is coming from.

Fix it, and Viola!

 

Freeze12 is not propane its 80% R-134a and 20% R-142B the r-142b is what lets it mix with the old r12 mineral oil. If your going to fully convert over to 134a then you have to get as much mineral oil out of the system as you can, pull vacuum, then charge with poe or ester oil (same thing) and R-134a. Most shops wont take freeze12 because its considered a contaminated refrigerant but some still do.The epa outlawed all freeze12 and it will be banned by 2010. I would highly advise you on finding your leak as R-134a can give you tumors on your nuts, if you dont believe me here. Bottom of page 3 http://www.dynatempintl.com/pdf/msds-dt-r134a.pdf

 

That's reason enough for me.

 

I noticed the OP has a truck. I've seen people chatting that the 4runner condenser is twice as thick as the truck one. Can someone confirm? Is it worth it to get the 4runner one before the OP's AC retrofit?

 

negative on the 4runner condensor being bigger.

 

there is actually alot to be done, to do it properly. like stated above, you really should evacuate the system, get the oil out, replace the filter drier, refill with ester oil, then charge. i'm not familiar with the blends, like freeze 12, i've been slammed before for saying this, but to do a/c work properly requires some expensive tools and equipment, that you cant buy at wal-mart. you can really have a problem if you dont charge your system properly.

 

I just retrofitted my system with 134a, it leaked so bad at one fitting that there is the residue got the o-rings, waiting to have it vacuumed again, then just gonna filler up. If you have the manifold gauges ($30 from Harbor Freight) you can fill properly and evacuate the extra oil/refrid. at the same time. True, the Wally-Kit does'nt have everything you need to convert it properly.

 

just fyi - here's my experience with "the easy way" 134 retrofit. i had a 90 lexus ls400 that had great air when i got it, but a leak developed. a shop wanted to sell me a compressor for $1000, uh no thx.

so i did the "retrofit", which really i just screwed the quick connect adapter fitting on my low side port, which allowed me to use the 134 recharge cans with fill hose available at stores for $12. i refilled about once a month in the summer and that method worked for 2 years. eventually tho, the compressor wouldn't cycle on and i found out that the speed sensor in it failed and the compressor wouldnt stay engaged even with good freon pressure.

i don't know if mixing oils did anything bad or not, but it didn't seem to be a problem. so if you really need to replace all the stuff they're mentioning, you could certainly band aid it as long as possible and replace when the band aid finally ain't enough.

good luck with that bro!

 

Evac the system.You need to change all of the o-rings with the new green ones.Buy an new drier.Change the fittings re-vac,add oil charge,freon and go.By the way I have 4 cases of R-12.
Freeze 12 is a flamable gas!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Don't overlook this but on your AC Dryer, the sightglass on them ontop sometimes will pop off due to being faulty or stress.. I had an AC leak and I took it to a shop, they told me they couldn't find it and I needed a new AC system.. Yeah, Right.. SOOO an hour and a flashlight I looked at my AC dryer and the top had blown off, its on the right hand side of the radiator in between it and the radiator overflow tank, check it out.. thats my two cents..

 

I'm going fishing and play in the sand.

 

when you start retrofitting it will lead to problems.my 92 pickup was retro fitted and now the compressor cant keep up.start from the ground up.replace it all at once or piece by piece youll end up replacing lines evap compressor dryer etc in the future

 

If you over charge the system the compressor will not cool correctly,go down a half a pound on the charge.

 

Damn. That's all reassuring. LOL. I have a buddy that just did it the easy way and vacuumed his system on a 94 4-runner, and recharged with 134A. He had success with this approach. He only had to throw a couple cans in over the summer. Oh, and by the way 854X4, the whole MSDS book is a hunk of SH!+!! It's all EPA California liberal B/S. Besides, who's dumb enough to inhale freon while draining it?? If you do, then you deserve to die of a tumor ridded yam bag. Lol!

 

Its easy, break loose the connections,go get the green o=ring kit with different sizes from your local parts store,get a dryer,vac it down,add 134 with a oil charge,but add a half pound less.

 

lol i did mine like your bud, replaced my hose, bought the cheap gauges and vac device from harbor frieght and put it in a vaccum, an recharged w/134. its definitely working, but not as cool as when it was new/r12

from what i know, you should change orings to do it properly. you shouldnt mix or add all these different over the counter r134 as each one has a different formula to their mix (jus stick to one good brand), which is why allot of professional shops dont accept "dirty" freon.