AC isnt cold

My 83 caprice has always had ac issues. It is always warm and this isnt really in my ffield of knowledge, but what i "think" i do know is that there are two types of AC. Im takinga good guess that since my car is an 83 that it has the old type and i think this is the more dangerous one. But anyway, does anyone know how i could recharge my AC or whatever you do to make it cold again?

All cars came with the old style refrigerant (R12) before 1996, if your system is still setup for R12 than only service shops can recharge it for you as that type is not available to the general public and is more expensive as well. mine was converted to the new type R134a which can be purchased in stores and done yourself. if its just warm its most likey a leak, mine needed a new compresser. an easy way to tell if your system is converted is to see if theres a blue cap on the accumulator (the round silver thing under the hood on the pass. side) also if you do need to convert all the old R12 must be drained and flushed from the system completely before R134a can be put in.

Actually, R134a started becoming standard equipment in the '91-'92 era, not '96. The 1996 date was when R12 manufacture was banned.

To do the switchover right, you need to have the A/C system evacuated to remove as much of the old oil as possible. The 'conversion oil', ester oil, is compatible with both R12 and R134a, but it isn't that compatible with the old oil.

Thought it was somewhere around there, wikipedia says 1994 was when it was starting to phase out. honestly i cant tell the difference between the two though, being as how im in southern FL as long as its cold and working properly i dont really mind whats in it. R12 was discontinued because it was supposedly bad for the ozone.

next question of course is how much would it cost to either recharge my system or convert it?

If i recall corectly, R12 is about $60 a pound but dont quote me, it may depend but i know its not cheap. there are conversion retrofit kits sold at auto parts stores, ive even seen them at walmart, i dont remember though exactly how much those were.

Expect to spend about $40 at a service station to get the system evacuated. A conversion is going to run you about $70 not counting the evac. Make sure you put the proper amount of oil in the system, and don't overcharge. It's best to use a manifold gauge that connects to both the pressure and suction sides - the general rule of thumb for the charge is 2.5a:1b where a is pressure in PSI and b is outside temperature. In other words, pressure on the pressure side should be 250 psi if it is 100 degrees outside.

The best thing to do on the conversion is to replace all of the O-ring seals to prevent future leaks. The good o-rings are green.

It would also be good to remove the acumulator, drain it or replace it, replace the orifice tube and screen assembly (if the system doesn't have a TEV), flushing the system, replacing the hoses with barrier type hoses, and recharging oil and refrigerant as directed.