No Air Conditioning

[BlazerLT]

I don't think the boder will allow it.

[MT-2500]

Originally Posted by spano

Can you e-bay the parts for the recharge? Allot of people are selling those R-134a shot cans and adapters. Maybe even have somebody state side hook you up. You probably only need a few ounces as your entire system is a total of 20 oz.
By the way for any intrested parties, when charging a system with 134a, you have to maintain the fan running and RPM's at 1300-1500 to have a true charge. Little info that the book won't tell you is that is the optimal running speed for charging and checking a system also has a fan running at the car to simulate real world conditions.
Also, there are more than 4 differant R-12 replacements. One I have used is called "hot shot" and is compatable to add to R-12 running vehicles. Don't let DuPont know I told you, they still make money from R-12. Liquid gold.

Good grief them Wal Mart R-134 death trap recharge kits are bad enough.
But are you aware that the R-12 blend crap contains butane/propane mixers.
Enough exposive in a can to blow the top and sides and windows out.
Do some research on that crap.
It is not safe to even think about using it.
MT

[spano]

Yeah all refrigerant are inherantly dangerous. Besides frostbite from exposure to the liquid, Phosgene gas will kill you before you know it (when an ignition source hit refrigerant). It does take a bit of knowldge to work with but some people with the right direction can handle it.

[MT-2500]

Originally Posted by spano

Yeah all refrigerant are inherantly dangerous. Besides frostbite from exposure to the liquid, Phosgene gas will kill you before you know it (when an ignition source hit refrigerant). It does take a bit of knowldge to work with but some people with the right direction can handle it.

10-4 ON THE ALL DANGEROUS.
The R-12 blends with the propane /butane mixers at the top of the list.
Then the wal mart recharge death kits with only a low side gauge.
A air cond system can not be safely or proper recharged with out a low and high side. If something is bad on system or if overcharged I have saw 500 lbs or more of pressure in a system.
And that was a good idea on the fan in front of the rad when recharging.
That sure helps keep that high side pressure down.
On the R-12 blends that are dangerous to use because of the butane mixer.
I see no reason why a person would even want to use them now with the R-134 A reto fit kits as cheap as they are.
Why not be safe and just change the old systems over?
MT

[spano]

I am a refrigeration mechanic by trade and I am sometimes hesitant in using the stuff. 134a runs off higher pressures so sometimes (say a 80 camero) if you change over to 134a instead of juicing the 12 blend you could rupture. Plus some garages like to take people to the cleaners because they say words like "E.P.A" and "reclaim" and throw the $25,000 scare tactic for blowing off to the atmosphere. If I had to pay for it by a garage, I wouldn't do it. In South Carolina I used the 60/4/60 technique. 60cfm by 4 windows rolled down at 60 mph kept me cool.

[ZL1power69]

Originally Posted by spano

In South Carolina I used the 60/4/60 technique. 60cfm by 4 windows rolled down at 60 mph kept me cool.

haha thats what i have to do. i got a pretty refrigerant leak under my pass side dash. i recharged it twice and it was gone within 4 days. don't know what's busted. i got access to 2 big tanks of r12 and r134 so recharges have never costed me a thing.

[Zudnick]

Hey,

I have been getting some pretty high estimates just to even look at the air conditioning system...

So, I am just trying to think of everything before I take this thing into a shop and have them overcharge me for something I could have done myself! With that in mind I ask (again) if this could be an electrical problem? What if it has nothing to do with the refrigerant at all? Remember, I said that right now my compressor NEVER turns on – not even in defrost mode.

As I mentioned in the original post, I checked and even swapped the AC Comp fuse – nothing changed… Could it be a relay? Isn’t there a group of three relays up by the firewall that have something to do with the air conditioning? Could one of these have gone bad since last summer? Is there anyway to check that these relays are working properly?

I just want to be sure that I have done everything I can to find this problem before breaking down and spending a load of money at a repair shop.

Thanks again for the help.


Z

[BlazerLT]

Again, if the refrigerant is low, the compressor will not turn on.

[OverBoardProject]

Anything is possible, but there's a 99.99999999999% chance that it's the freon level.

The only other thing that you can do is get a shop manual and double check each and every wire on the system

[blazee]

It's really going to be hard to troubleshoot without access to a set of gauges. You can eliminate the possibility of most of the system being bad pretty quickly though. There is a pressure switch on the side of the accumulator. This is the switch that prevents the compressor from coming on when the pressure is low. Start your engine and turn the a/c on max. Remove the plug from the accumulator's pressure switch, jump the two wires. If the compressor kicks on, it means that you're low on refridgerant or the pressure switch is bad. At that point the most likely problem would be low refridgerant.

Keep in mind that the compressor gets it's lube from the oil circulating in the
refridgerant. Operating one with no refriderant can damage it, so if the compressor kicks on, disconnect the jumper immediately.

[MT-2500]

Originally Posted by spano

I am a refrigeration mechanic by trade and I am sometimes hesitant in using the stuff. 134a runs off higher pressures so sometimes (say a 80 camero) if you change over to 134a instead of juicing the 12 blend you could rupture. Plus some garages like to take people to the cleaners because they say words like "E.P.A" and "reclaim" and throw the $25,000 scare tactic for blowing off to the atmosphere. If I had to pay for it by a garage, I wouldn't do it. In South Carolina I used the 60/4/60 technique. 60cfm by 4 windows rolled down at 60 mph kept me cool.

I would rather have a rupture than a blow up.
And some are outlawed by EPA. And EPA says reclaim R-12
Not that all blends may have propane/butane mixer.
But a lot do. So be carefull out there.
And yes R-134 will build more pressure and some light built systems are a little hard to change over.
I have reto fited many systems with no problems.
A few need the cycling switches and pressure switches change for the R-134.
Here is a air cond forum link with a lot of good info on it.
http://www.autoacforum.com/
The main thing or rule of the thumb is on a change over is to cut your set charge by 10-15% and make sure the condenser has good air flow or cooling.
MT