Well, since ya'll are so curious...
- The last 2 times I have had the engine out of the car (last time was 6 years ago I think) the a/c has lost its charge. I figure that laying the compressor back, hanging it off the frame or something with some wire, kinked one of the hoses enough to let some freon escape past an o-ring or something. Just a theory - all I know is once I get the engine back in, it had lost its charge. Happened to me twice.
- That being said, the first time that happened, I had the system charged back up, and it held that charge until I took the engine out again. Shop put some green dye in with some freon, and that green dye never showed up and is still in there (saw evidence of it when put freon in a few weekends ago). Next time I had the engine out, 6 years ago or so, it depressured again, and that time I just didn't mess with it. Till now.
- There was still some pressure in the system. Because of that I am willing to risk that no air got in. If it was completely unpressured, then yeah, that would be a bad assumption. But air usually doesn't flow from low pressure to high...
- Buddy of mine has a 30 lb tank of R-12, and said I am more than welcome to what I need. Offered to pay, but no no, he's just happy to help. What a friend
- So that being the case, then yeah - I decided to try charging the system back up with R-12 and see how it works! If it holds pressure and stays cold, then I am golden. If it leaks down again, I will find the leak, fix it, replace the drier, replace the orifice tube, pull a vacuum and make sure it holds it, and convert the whole thing over to R134a (or something else if something else has come along by then - because I probably won't have the motivation to do all that for several more years).
- It's been a couple of weeks and so far it is still blowing cold. So if it does have a leak, at least it isn't a major one. But I still want to verify the pressures, and put more in (or take some out) if necessary. Compressor makes a funny sound every once in a while... I don't fully trust it.
- The last 2 times I have had the engine out of the car (last time was 6 years ago I think) the a/c has lost its charge. I figure that laying the compressor back, hanging it off the frame or something with some wire, kinked one of the hoses enough to let some freon escape past an o-ring or something. Just a theory - all I know is once I get the engine back in, it had lost its charge. Happened to me twice.
- That being said, the first time that happened, I had the system charged back up, and it held that charge until I took the engine out again. Shop put some green dye in with some freon, and that green dye never showed up and is still in there (saw evidence of it when put freon in a few weekends ago). Next time I had the engine out, 6 years ago or so, it depressured again, and that time I just didn't mess with it. Till now.
- There was still some pressure in the system. Because of that I am willing to risk that no air got in. If it was completely unpressured, then yeah, that would be a bad assumption. But air usually doesn't flow from low pressure to high...
- Buddy of mine has a 30 lb tank of R-12, and said I am more than welcome to what I need. Offered to pay, but no no, he's just happy to help. What a friend
- So that being the case, then yeah - I decided to try charging the system back up with R-12 and see how it works! If it holds pressure and stays cold, then I am golden. If it leaks down again, I will find the leak, fix it, replace the drier, replace the orifice tube, pull a vacuum and make sure it holds it, and convert the whole thing over to R134a (or something else if something else has come along by then - because I probably won't have the motivation to do all that for several more years).
- It's been a couple of weeks and so far it is still blowing cold. So if it does have a leak, at least it isn't a major one. But I still want to verify the pressures, and put more in (or take some out) if necessary. Compressor makes a funny sound every once in a while... I don't fully trust it.