Ticeblue

I have had my 609 cert for a while and thought about converting my car to 406a, but then I thought about just getting some r12.

When I bought the car about 6 months ago the compressor would kick on then off,on,off, etc,... now it does nothing. The 70 year old lady(original owner) I got the car from said the car had been sitting for almost 4 years.

I have done everything to the car to make it road worthy again, except the a/c, only because for some reason I am dumb founded by all the different types of refrigerant that are on the market.....

I have opened the low side to see if there is any r12 remaining in the lines and I get nothing, I've read that if the compressor cycles really quickly then it is low on refrigerant. which is what I am thinking is the case, because there is no evidence of the oil leaking out anywhere.

If I was to by some Autofrost(406a) what would I need to do exactly to put it in the system? I have a manifold gauge but its for 134a, I have looked a few places for fittings for r12 with no luck everything has the quick connect style now and not the old r12 threaded.

If I bought the retrofit kit 134a, how would I get the r12 fittings removed from the ac lines?

Could I use those fittings to evap and pull a vacuum, then put the r12 fittings back on and load r12 or 406a?

What o-ring kit should I be looking for as I have read various threads about certain green ones to steer clear of, but arent they all made the same these days?

Any advice would be awesome!

I am going to Autozone tomorrow to rent a vacuum pump.

abray1

Get "freeze 12" it is supposed to be better than R12 and much less expensive. I have it and it works great. There is one called hotshot that I used a long time ago and it was great also.

Ticeblue

Doesnt Freeze 12 use mostly 134 properties? Wouldnt I have to change from mineral oil to something else?

82tarecaro

iTrader: (4)

There are some thread on here about Autofrost, and it seems like a great product. The only reason I don't like it is it is a blend of refrigerants. They work fine while the mix stays the same, but due to their different weights, if you have a small leak, you can lose just 1 of the blend of gases. This changes the properties of the mix and kills performance. If you decide to go the Autofrost route, stay away from the HNBR O rings which are green. There is a compatibility issue with these seals and Autofrost. Unfortunately, these are the seals that most auto parts places stock because they are used in R134A systems.
If you look on Craigslist, you can find people selling R12 cans. With the price of refrigerants going through the roof, you will probably pay the same for R12 as you would for R134A.
IMHO stay away from R134A. You will be disappointed with the performance.
Whatever you do, change your receiver drier and vacuum down your system to remove moisture.
As far as compatible lines, I bought a set of lines last year that have an R12 fitting, and and R134A adapter screws on to the R12 fitting. You can then charge other gases through the R134A fitting. It's not legal, because you are only supposed to use r134a compatible gases once you put those fittings on. But it is a possibility if you don't feel like removing the R134A fittings. I bought new lines, so it wasn't an issue for me.

Fast355

iTrader: (2)

Its over 80% R134a with 20% of a refridgerant thats even warmer than R134a. If anything the Freeze 12 will have even worse performance than R134a.

I am a personal fan of Hydrocarbon blends.

82tarecaro

iTrader: (4)

I have tried hydrocarbon blends also, and they work good. I had my car charged with Duracool last year. It works fairly well. It's a 1988 TBird. It has a small condenser, so it is sensitive to anything that is not as efficient as R12. I still think the R12 was better though. I may go back to it.

Ticeblue

Ok so i just so happen to go to harbor freight and bought a vacuum pump that will pull it down to a -28.9 I think that will be pretty good if i let it run for about an hour.

I also bought the fittings to go from r12 to 134a, seem like they are made cheap but i guess if it works.

So now all I need to do is change out the accumulator, pull a vacuum and see if it holds.

How does the Duracool compare to something like r12 or even autofrost?

82tarecaro

iTrader: (4)

I have never used Duracool in an F body. My only experience is in my TBird, which, IMHO has a condenser that is undersized. The condensers in the F bodies are large enough that people have had decent results with R134A. So I think you should have good results with Duracool.
Keep in mind that you are charging your system with what is essentially propane. It didn't bother me, as R134A is a flammable gas as well, but just felt you should know.

IROCtheRoad

I had 406A / Autofrost in my Camaro. I bought brand new EVERYTHING for the AC system right before I moved to Vegas. The day before I moved I had a local shop charge the system with Autofrost and it blew ice cold.

I trailered my car to Vegas, turned it on, and no AC. Ends up I had a leak somewhere and lost everything. I tried to follow the leak with the dye I had them install but as it would figure they didn't add it and charged me extra.

There wasn't anything I could do since I was 1200 miles away. Point being, for the one day that everything worked Autofrost was great. I recommend it.