usedmaximaparts

I'm gonna post this 1 more time and then let it be.
Removing R12 or R134 is very easy because of their extremely low boilng point. The hard part is removing the oil, which you'll never do unless ssytem is professionally flushed. R12 and R134 oils are incompatible!

Other non-CFC retrofits are practical AND environmentally responsible(read EPA compliant).
Not replacing the receiver drier is downright retarded.

No mechanic in his right mind recommends the Castrol kit, myself included.

We DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS TO OUR CUSTOMERS!
A proper retrofit requires a larger condenser for proper cooling and safety; the pressures and temps w/ R134 are much higher than w/ R12. The higher pressures mandate that a HI pressure cutoff be added to avoid venting R134 when it boils (and it will if you don't retrofit properly). All responsible professionals are obligated to do this per EPA regs! Incompliance MAY threaten the environment but certainly threatens our freedom as more regs are enacted to curb it. The efficiency of the conversion will vary dramatically from climate to climate, hot and humid yields are poor. You also have to flush the system thoroughly, which is not a DIY job unless you have really clean and abundant shop air, or dry nitrogen (which we use). THE BIGGEST PROBLEM IS THE OIL- a PAG type compatible w/ R12 and R134 is required b/c you'll never get all the R12 oil out. We have seen a BUNCH of compressor seizures w/ PAG. These 2nd gen Hitachi compressors do much better w/ stabilized mineral oil. I am a licensed A/C tech and encourage you to visit the BBS at aircondition.com (no affiliation) -the guys have great advice. Those Wal Mart and Interdynamics kits have caused a ton of grief...

Best of Luck,

Dan

Dan Heard
Manager
usedmaximaparts.com
P.O. Box 2207
Newnan, GA 30264
678-378-4694
Fax 775-599-1906

Greg 88 Floater

make R12 or a new AC system available for $35-40 and your advice would be taken. I'll gladly pay $35 to retrofit my system and have cold blasting AC for the hot summer months and have my compressor go bad because of it than shell out $150+ that I can't afford for an R12 charge or a new system. It blows cold, its running fine when I need it most, and when the system goes, it goes. If you're so concerned, supply me a new ac system for $35. The retrofit has already been done. I agree that there needs to be no more posting on this subject.

Greg

usedmaximaparts

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atekk_920

Background.... 88 maxima - standard w/3.0L 177,000 miles but is in pristine condition. I got it from a woman who was the original owner and had service records for just about everything. I have driven the HELL out of this thing for about 2 years now and I love it..its very reliable, I recently had a family emergency and had to do ALOT of traveling (5000 miles in about 2.5 months) The only repairs i have made are an alternator, brakes (of course) and new tires and now the AC. But overall this thing runs great.

OK so recently my AC compressor went out and it now makes this REALLY awful whining noise as I drive. A new one w\clutch will only cost about 200 bucks and i get free labor. Then the retro kit is like another 50 so here are my questions....

with a brand new AC compressor what is the likely hood of a retrofit kit working properly? is there other parts needed? or will the kit and the compressor w/clutch do the trick (plus a recharge of course)?

if other parts are needed what are they and how much more expenses am I looking at? based on the history of this vehicle (what ive shared above) is it worth fixing the AC ?

If its not worth investing the cash is there a way tore route the belt off of the AC compressor so at least it sounds normal again?

I love this car and would prefer to keep it, but i dont want it to become a money pit either. So the ultimate question is this....fix it cheaply and sell it for what i can get out of it? or invest in the AC and drive my old bucket for another 2 years or so

Matt93SE

iTrader: (44)

First.. where do you live? Do you want/need air conditioning?

If you live up north and don't really need it, then I'd say simply pull the belt off and live without it.
If you're in the south where it's 105 all summer long, then yeah I'd fix it.

If you use a NEW compressor, you can have the system flushed out by an A/C guy and get it up and running on R134 fairly easily. You'll still need to buy a new dryer (about $100) and pay the labor for the flush, evac, and fill..

The compressor itself my be $200, but you're going to spend closer to $500 by the time you're done putting it back together.

so the question is, is it worth $500 TO YOU to have air conditioning again?


Also.... On the 3 gens, The A/C belt is separate from everything else. You can simply remove the belt and stop the compressor on them. I'm not sure if the 2gen cars are the same way though.

atekk_920

I'm going for it... i talked to a guy today (a friend of my pastor) he will do all parts (compressor, clutch, drier/receiver, flush, retro and refill with R134) plus the labor for only $350!!...apparently he owed my pastor a favor, and it looks like I'm the favor

its worth it to me..the car is in VERY good shape besides that and was well cared for prior to me. I love my little car so i figure why not invest...besides, down here in sunny SoCal AC is a must...especially while sitting in traffic jams.

Thanks for the input..it was much appreciated

Matt93SE

iTrader: (44)

Sounds like a good deal. Be sure to return the favor to someone else and keep that circle going.

HowlerMonkey

I made huge money and satisfied many a customer changing failed R134 retrofits back to R12 at lexus of orlando.

Sadly, you need the certs. to buy the stuff.

atekk_920

ok so turns out the deal i was gonna get was too good to be true...as soon as i went to drop the car off the guy bumped the price from 340 up to 400...so i said nevermind and took my annoyingly loud car right back home.

now the question at hand is this...how do i get that annoying noise to stop? from time to time ill smell what reminds me of a vacuum cleaner when the belt jams, which means (to me) that the compressor is going to seize soon which could be bad news for me.

is there a way to bypass the condenser on these engines? it looks like it is also turning the alternator as well. or can i just replace the pulley? or perhaps add some freeze 12 (claims to be compatible with R12 oil) to see if that helps out.

any ideas? im all ears

DanNY

iTrader: (14)

don't use freeze 12.
first thing is to pick up a compressor.
IF the compressor has R12 oil running in it (used) then go w/ R12.
if it's R134a then go with R134a.
you still need to flush the system, replace the drier, and find the leak that caused all the R12 to leak out in the first place.