A/C is fixed, weird thing happened though

[Snakeyes_Tx]

It's nice having air conditioning again. I missed it after the line blew about 3 weeks ago. Anyway, I replaced the 11/32" high pressure line with 1/2" line. My friend Dick Hollinger of Katy Tx4x4 made it up for me. It went in without a hitch. I shot compressed air into the lines to clear any obstructions and an orangeish colored somewhat gritty wet material came out. I had already decided to change the drier to completely convert my system for the 134 swap, something I ignored the first time.

We came to find out the dessicant deteriorated and was the "gritty" stuff. Here's the weird part. The drier looked kinda old, kinda rusty, kinda nasty. When I took it out and flipped it over there was sticker on the back that said "For use with R12 and R134 systems" !!! ?!!

Did they have 134 way back in 83, or was this thing changed out? Could the truck sitting for almost 2 years have caused the drier to deteriorate and when the PO charged it and I converted it could have finished it off?

[bchesley]

I had mine converted and have had poor results. I changed my dryer out along with a new compressor. I cant get better than 60 degrees during the heat of the day. Any suggestions!!

[Ralph]

The dessicant material in the filter/drier absorbs water, so it would work in both R12 and R134a systems. It also absorbs the lubricant that flows through an AC system, and lubricants themselves absorb some refrigerant; so the filter/drier should definitely be replaced when converting refrigerant types.

If the dessicant material was that far gone, SnakeEyes, you should get under your dash and remove the expansion valve to dump out anything trapped in the tube. It's likely that dessicant material will have passed through and become stuck in the expansion valve, which will cause a host of other problems.

R134a was not used until auto makers were compelled to by law, generally in 1993-94 and newer vehicles. I can understand wanting to convert to R134a for sake of being a able to obtain refrigerant without a license, but it is much less efficient than R12 and I would want to continue using R12 if at all possible. You can buy Freeze-12 that will work without having to change any of the fittings and system lubricant, as you would for a conversion to R134a, but it's still inferior to actual R12.

BTW, I obtained a license to buy R12 by purchasing a study guide and examination through MACS Worldwide (http://www.macsw.org). It was a take-home test and not difficult at all. For any IFSJA member who needs assistance, I'll be happy to help them "pass" the test.

[ August 20, 2001: Message edited by: Ralph ]