A friend of mine put R-134 in his 1993 SE. Is that possible? I thought it would damage the system.

 

It will be fine,IIRC 93 and 94 3rd gens are factory r-134 systems.

 

My 94 ve.

 

My 93 VE and 94 GXE both run R-134a

 

R134 can be installed in any r12 system once the 12 is out.

 

some places here still sell 12

 

Most all a/c repair shops still have r12 on hand for older a/c systems.

 

or something called Freeze 12

 

Save myself some money by paying $36 and installing it myself,took me about a half of an hour.Kit included three cans of r134 refridgerant and the valve.

 

so basically, i'm screwed on my 1990. i wanted to put in more coolant, but i heard you have to have a license to remove refrigerant. meaning, in order to put in 134, you have to remove ALL the 12. right?

 

Any a/c repair shop can remove the r-12 refrigerant for you.

 

Or just have them put in the freeze 12.... it can be added to the R12 no problem.

Or you can have them suck out all the R12 and refill with R134...

 

R134 sucks. I'm going to drain my r12 this winter, fix any possible leaks and fill it with freeze 12.

Nissan changed to R134 in the 92-93 years, best bet is to check the compressor for a tag or on the bottom of the hood if you need a recharge.

~Alex

 

R12 goes for like $500 for a small tank. It's crazy expensive! I'd say just do a conversion to save yourself some cash and hardly noticable decrease in coldness. Plus, then you can just recharge the system from those cheap cans at an auto store instead of searching everywhere for an R12 refill when it slowly leaks out over winter.

 

Thats works but the proper way it to do a full evacuation to get all the moisture out of your system, THEN put the refrigerant in.

Alex, r134 doesnt suck...its just that people overrate r12. I get 45 degree air out of my AC and thats with r134a. If you arent getting similar then I think something is wrong with your car so stop blaming the poor refrigerant cuz it didnt do anything to you!


Is it Freeze 12 or fr12? could've sworn the F stood for Fake but I might be wrong.

Hey Capedcadaver, yes you either have to refill with r12 or recycle the r12 in there and recharge with r134a. but you should know that you most likely have a leak cuz the refrigerant doesnt get used up, it escapes.

Yes I now work for an A/C-heating car shop drove a porche today

 

well r-12 is still colder than r-134a but not by much? Wat can happen if u mix these two together? I did it once on my car and it was fine for about 2months til i sold it(stil lworked when sold). And its porsche by the way just saying.

 

will they charge me for it or since it's of value, will they just take it?

 

if you're lucky, the place will pay you for the R12.. but most likely they'll just "take it off your hands"

Guys, also keep in mind that R12 uses a different type of oil than R134a. one is ether based and one is glycol based- or something like that. you need to use a different compressor oil in the system when switching types of refrigerant.

The system may "work" with the different refrigerant in there and the improper oil, but it's not going to work terribly long before you ruin the compressor and wind up having to completely overhaul the system.

 

the way to tell if your vehicle has been upgraded to R-134a is to look at the fittings on both the high and low pressure side of your system.

(Edit: content removed....thanks for the correction Matt.)


So just check the fittings to tell which system it is....unless of course someone drained it themselves and refilled it without replacing the fittings....but that takes alot of time/refrigerant.....


hell, if you don't wanna take the chance, go to a competent mechanic, and have someone test the system and tell you what refrigerant it is.....most likely they would do it free, in hopes of you having R12 and paying for the conversion.


edit: i'm beginning to feel a little confused here.....i know that for r-12 systems you need an adapter for the fitting, and i can almost swear the fittings are so completely different, that it's obvious, but i'm feeling a little less confident than before, and need some backing here.

 

From Wiki:

 

Yes, you're confused.
R-12 used threaded fittings. look like large schrader (tire) valves.
R-134a uses push-on fittings similar to air compressor hose fittings.

 

thank you matt... i knew there was a difference, but after typing all that i wasn't sure i had it right.....saved me from a bashing, i'm sure

 

FTW: R134a will also be phased out sometime in the near future, as it has supposedly been determined to cause atmospheric problems such as ozone depletion, greenhouse effects, and acid rain....