R-12 to R134

[ABMR2]

Aren't retrofit cars supposed to have a sticker placed on them saying what refrigerant is in them? (I assume to avoid the mixing of refrigerants) Those adapter fittings, they're refrigerant specific as well, correct?

That link I posted earlier, it wasn't just for the "proper" way to retrofit, it has info on all the type of oil to use, amount of R134, o-rings you need, and where the not-so-obvious ones go. Even shows how to retrofit your compressor. Thought it'd be good info if you'd never done it before and wanted to prep your car yourself.... you know, save some money and let the shop charge it up for you..

[V6'er]

Indeed, you are correct about the label. Yet one more small detail I forgot about. Of course, this is one of those "legal" things you want to do. (And just darned good common sense.)

[Spike]

I can vouch for Mitch's (V6'er) testimony here. We did my black 91T (Black int and ext combined with SE heat/humidity is tough on AC's) last summer and it's been ice cold ever since. The ES-12 works great and as long as I can get it, I'm not doing 134.

Kevin

[V6'er]

^ Ha, I forgot we even did your car.

I just added a bit to my own car. (Apparently I have a small leak in a custom hose.) Dang it's cold!

[alphonsus]

V6er, When you use the ES stop leak, are you supost to fill the system with the oil and refrigerant too? Or do you want to run the stop leak in the system for sometime, pull a vaccum, and then fill with oil and refrigerant?

[V6'er]

ProSeal lives in the system all the time. It's activated by air and moisture. This is why it's a REALLY good idea to pull a vacuum for a good while. It comes with a refrigerant charge, so if you use a can of it, you'll use less cans of ES-12a.

[ABMR2]

So, post #5 ID's the low pressure port as on the passenger side, and mine indeed fits the quick connects for R134, but.... why does the BGB say the low pressure side is on the drivers side (pg AC-13)

[V6'er]

Originally Posted by ABMR2

So, post #5 ID's the low pressure port as on the passenger side, and mine indeed fits the quick connects for R134, but.... why does the BGB say the low pressure side is on the drivers side (pg AC-13)

Because it's wrong.

[ABMR2]

yeah, I just found that out myself, now I can enjoy frosty cold air... the thing guzzled down 19oz of refrigerant. (~60% empty)

[Spyderdan]

I re-installed my A/C compressor today that had been removed by the previous owner when he did the 2nd gen JDM swap. I decided to fill the system with ES-12a per V6'er recommendation.
I didn't vacuum the system because the envirosafe ES-12a instructions recommend not to add their refrigerant under vacuum. I didn't even change the receiver dryer since envirosafe said that moisture isn't harmful with their refrigerant. That all sounded pretty strange to me but I thought what the heck I'll give it a try, besides I have a spare compressor just in case it didn't work out.
I started the car with A/C set to max and added a can of stop leak followed by a can of oil charged that was included in the kit. With just those first two cans and no refrigerant the low side gauge was already reading 45 PSI! Obviously this wasn't good because I hadn't added any ES-12a yet, so I decided to slowly bleed off pressure with the valve attached to the gauge until the low side was reading 15 PSI. I then proceeded to add 2 cans of ES-12a until the low side was right at 35PSI and I could feel cold air starting to come out of the vents. With the low side reading a
steady 35PSI I decided to go for a short drive to see how cold I could get my thermometer to read.
Outside temperature was 82 degrees and the coldest temperature registered at the vent during a 5 minute drive was just over 40 degrees! Needless to say I'm extremely happy with the results of ES-12a. Many thanks to V6'er this stuff is awesome! I've drove around the rest of the day with the A/C running and so far so good.

Here's the exact kit that I purchased for reference: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Envir...5597QQtcZphoto

[V6'er]

With those two cans only I can't imagine why you had so much pressure, BUT, I would have pulled a vacuum anyway. Because your system was open for so long, you really needed to pull a vacuum for an hour or so to remove any moisture left in there.

There are a few possibilities why things weren't right, I'd have to have been there to see it. If your low side was that high from an overcharge, your high side would have had to been too high as well. It might be that something just had to settle out, like maybe a stuck expansion valve.

[Gebo]

V6'r,

I just want to publicly thank you for all your knowledge and help. I would have made several mistakes had you not been there! You have saved me a bunch of money and time. Thank you so much!

Be Blessed,
Gary

[Hellstorm]

Just wondering.....i have a 91T and i just put a gen3 in it as well. The AC worked fine before and i didnt want to take the chance of getting everything in the car and have my gen3 compressor be bad...and have to change it. So i put my original 91 compressor on the gen3 engine. My AC will still work the same right?...... i mean......its just a diff. engine spinning the pulley thats all correct?

[atgueco]

I have been successful in using this R12 replacement for the last 5 years on my Mercedes 560SL. The cooling is about the same if not cooler. Here is the link
http://www.freeze12.com/. I am actually buying a 91 MR2 Turbo and if the AC needs to be redone I will put Freeze 12.

[black94t]

Nice info! Does anyone know what the cutoff month and year was for R-12? I have an MR2 made in June of 94. I pulled the AC a few months ago, but I think I might want air conditioning afterall. So would I need to convert or can I proceed to re-charge it as is?

Thanks for any info.

[baktasht]

You actually pulled the compressor out? Or did you just disconnect the belt?

[black94t]

I decided to pull the compressor out when I did the intercooler. We talked about this Baktash I put a plastic bag over the hose and zip-tied it to keep crap out of there. Thinking about re-installing. Not sure if the 94 was converted or not....still not sure!

[baktasht]

Ah, ya... haha, me and my great memory. Do you still have the compressor? A part number on it might reveal useful info? Other than that check your FRUNK area, I'm not sure if MR2's are labeled, but MOST cars should have a white label in the front area where the AC high/low pressure lines are that says what type it uses (r12 or r134a).

[ABMR2]

according to the service bulletin I found a while back (http://filebox.vt.edu/j/jagibbs/webp...conversion.pdf),
the models for refit would be 89-93. This would lead me to believe that your '94 would be R134. An easy test would be to go to Autozone and grab one of their recharge bottles with the quick connect and see if it fits on your car (while it is not running). If it fits, you've got R134. BTW, the charging side (low pressure) is on the passenger side in the frunk).

[TomsMR2]

if its a externally threaded fitting, its R12. if its a round smooth fitting, its R134a.

plus the ac label will say R12 or R134