Hi Guy's,

I have a 91 RS Vert. The air conditioning is not working. I thought it wouldn't bother me since I have a convertible, but I was wrong the tempratures in Houston hit the mid 80's today and it sucked.

The AC compressor doesn't seem to be cycling although when I turn the ac on the engine revs change. Can I get away with just recharging the system. My mother in laws fiance stocked up on R12 refrigerant a couple of years back and has around 8 cans of the stuff.

Are there any checks I can perform before hand as I don't want to waste the stuff if there is a leak. I know the previous owner had the engine rebuilt,but I don't know if the AC system had been recharged.

Thanks,

Alex

 

if the compressor doesn't come on at all, more than likely the system is empty, which more than likely means a leak.
also, it could have a bad cycling switch, a bad clutch, problems with the control head or wiring.
it would probably be best if you had it checked at a shop as a good leak detector isn't cheap & it will need to be charged up to check it.

the way your talking i take it you haven't spent a summer here in houston yet, it wasn't that hot today,... wait until august when it hits 100+

 

That r12 is not cheap anymore! But what are you going to use it on?

I would throw some in it if you have no other use for it and see what happens.

Also, the conversion kits are like 35 bucks and simple to do. Might be something you would want to look into. Much cheaper to recharge if you do have a small leak.

 

Hi,
Yes this is my first summer in Houston. I immigrated from the UK last November and got married.

I was just going to throw in some of the r12 and see what happens. Short on cash at the moment to take it into a shop.

Alex

 

Well I fixed the AC today. Took it over to friends place. He has a sniffer for freon. We checked all of the connections and there were no leaks. The system still had some charge in it.

We went to hook up the R12 he had and then found out the system had been changed over to R134a. Someone had replaced the compressor by the looks of things.

So off to the local parts store to get a recharging kit. Connected it up and just pumped a little in to see what happened and the compressor started cycling straight away. Put in the rest and the preasure dial showed 40psi running.

I now have a nice cold car.

Alex

 

What did the pressure read when you first connected the gauge to the system? You say you brought it to 40, but never gave a starting point. The reason I ask is I had my 91Z retrofitted exactly one year ago and on the first hot day this year it worked fine, but now the compressor doesn't cycle. I did the trick to see if the compressor is working with the paper clip on the wiring harness and it came right on. When I went to fill the refrrigerant, the gauge was off the charts and I couldn't get any refrigerant into the car. Any ideas as to what is going on here? Am I missing something simple, perhaps? I would hate to have to go back to the shop, but unless you guys have some suggestions, I will have no other choice. Thanks in advance for any input... --John

 

cool camaro, remember that your condenser was designed to run
r12, which doesn't have the higher head pressures that r134 does.
Our cars already have a cooling problem courtesy of GM and the
EPA, which transmits heat to the condenser. Best bet is to get a
later model condenser (serpentine style-much more efficient) and
a good set of fans/lower temp fan swithc/160 or 180 thermostat.
Also, if your system was designed to hold say 2.8 lbs of r12, you
may want to drop your r134 to 2.2 or so to avoid too much pressure.
Hope that helps!