R12 recharge -- $400????!

[rileydawgg]

There's an AC/radiator shop right down the street from me that will recharge my R12... but he said the cost of R12 is super high nowadays and will cost me $400 to recharge it. Yikes. He said, as I've read a lot in searches, that the R12 does cool a lot better in these cars than the R134 and recommended staying with the R12 rather than converting.

I've seen those little R134 conversion kits at Autozone for like $40, after of course you flush out all the R12. Am I asking for trouble with those? $400 just seems like a lot...

 

[TR Custom Parts]

try some Freeze 12 stuff, been using it for a couple years now and it works fine. freeze 12 r12,FREEZE12 COMPATIBLE R12 REPLACEMENT A/C REFRIGERANT

 

[charlief1]

DO NOT USE FREEZE 12!!! I did and it starved my compressor for oil. There is a thread already started on A/C conversions. Check it out. And since your closer to Mexico take a trip and get it done there. It's available there and it's cheaper too.

 

[Jmccustoms]

Yes Stay away from freeze 12, I roasted a good compressor that way too.. I have 134 in mine now and it cools wonderful, make sure you change the orifice tube with one out of 98-99 lumina or similar (it is for 134 and helps on cooling). other than that it is cheaper than r12. I have some 12 in my garage but I didnt want to waste it because I need to change the lines out next year so I didnt use it.

 

["Turbo-T"]

Wow. Sounds too me like one of those guys who brags he has something no one else has but he'll let you have it for a buku amount of cash.

 

[carlsbadGN]

R12 was running about $15.00 a can earlier this year at a local car show. A quick look on ebay today shows a bunch of cans for the "buy now" price of $25.00 per can. Unless you have a big hole in the AC system, a couple cans will probably work for you.

 

[Nick Micale]

The local price for a can of R-12 is ~$30 wholesale!

Gotta love those LA bandits, even though I agree R-12 is the best refrigerant!

 

[Alky V6]

We've been doing R134 conversions for quite some time now. No one has insisted on using R12 once they found out about the price. Not one customer has come back complaining about the R134 not being cold enough.

 

[Nick Micale]

..... Not one customer has come back complaining about the R134 not being cold enough.

Been 110+ deg, here all week, not comfortable for a GN converted to 134a.

 

[Alky V6]

Been 110+ deg, here all week, not comfortable for a GN converted to 134a.

Yeah. You zonies have a unique situation. Feel for ya, man.

 

[TR Custom Parts]

Yes Stay away from freeze 12, I roasted a good compressor that way too.. I have 134 in mine now and it cools wonderful, make sure you change the orifice tube with one out of 98-99 lumina or similar (it is for 134 and helps on cooling). other than that it is cheaper than r12. I have some 12 in my garage but I didnt want to waste it because I need to change the lines out next year so I didnt use it.

Just posting my experience with it, no problems with it but my GN only has 28K on it. How can you prove that the Freeze 12 actually did the compressor in??

 

[Black Car]

I have had Freeze 12 in my Silver T for over 9 years with no problem and the compressor is the original one with over 330,000 miles on it.
Just my experience in one of the many cars that I have used Freeze 12 in over the last 9 years.
Gary

 

[charlief1]

Just posting my experience with it, no problems with it but my GN only has 28K on it. How can you prove that the Freeze 12 actually did the compressor in??

R-12 and the mineral oil used in the system mix together to lubricate the system. Freeze 12 is a blend of R-134, R-12, R-502, and doesn't hold the oil in suspension like R-12. The blend will not allow for proper lubrication of the compressor and componants. It's mostly R-134 with small amounts of the others in it so it can be sold as a replacement and under federal law must have a unique fitting for service ports, just like a R-134 conversion. This goes back to the first "substitute" known as OS-12 which was mostly propane and I've had a nasty experience with that one. My leak detector found the leak and lit it up, litteraly. Nasty suprise because the customer hadn't told us he had used it. I was VERY pissed at having an accumulator go off in my face and it was "our fault". Converting to R-134 isn't as bad as it seems if you do the work yourself but it MUST be done meticulously. Cleaning the lines and (at least) the evap and condensor are required but is wisest to replace all ruber lines because the new goodyear galaxy rubber lines will keep R-134 from leaking through the porous rubber originals. The R-134 molecule is about 1/2 the physical size of the R-12 molecule and will leak out easier. If you want to keep the R-12 system go for it but you will probibly get a better price going "across the border". When the ban went in R-12 replaced drug traffic as the most smuggled substance into the US and it is still made down south.

 

[Adam Connell]

Are there any links or threads yall know of that explain how to re charge a system on these cars? I'll be honest... only being 20, I have yet to work on an A/C unit so this is all a mystery to me! Also living in Houston is killer on A/Cs down here, and I just want to make sure mine is alive and healthy so I dont wind up shelling out the big bucks down the road for a new system!

 

[sand1]

have a friend lookin to sell a cylinder of R12

 

[charlief1]

If your friend doesn't have a handlers license it can get pricy. It's a restricted item and selling it or buying it without one can get you a 10k fine per cylinder.

 

[GNTIM]

We charged probably a couple hundred cars with Freeze-12 when I had my shop with not a single problem, that I can remember. All types of cars. My 92 Bonneville SSEI has had it for maybe 6 years now with no problems. I don't think it cools as well as r-12, but close. I do still have a stash of R-12 for the GN only

 

[87natl]

Recently did the conversion to R134 in my GN. Seems cold enough to me, and look were I live. I lived for years with a slow leak on the old system, and would throw a can or 2 of R12 in there each spring, but it was getting harder and harder to get my hands on. I bit the bullet and don't regret it. If youve got a leak at the compressor as I did, and you're goin to be needing to change it out anyway, might as well go ahead and make the change to R134.

 

["Turbo-T"]

I wished I could compare an R12 equipped car to a converted R134a car, to a factory R134a car. I want to see just how much of a difference there really is. It sounds as if on older cars with R12 you had ice cubes blowing out the vents.

Another thing I've wondered is on the TR's.....it looks as if they have a specially made manifold/line kit. I am guessing most of them have a leak where the lines are crimped on? If so i can only guess this is probably a hard to find part.....?????

 

[krom]

If your friend doesn't have a handlers license it can get pricy. It's a restricted item and selling it or buying it without one can get you a 10k fine per cylinder.

15 bucks will get you a license.
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