A/C Re-Conditioning

["Ralph Fetsch" <RFetsch@domain.elided>]

Brian wrote:

"The A/C system in my 82 Spider still blows, but the air is only a few 
degrees lower than the ambient temperature. I saw a $35US conversion kit 
for R134a which begins by saying you should have your Freon evacuated. One 
local A/C shop here wanted $30CDN just to diagnose what was not working, 
$15 more to evacuate the system and still more ($200 in total) to convert 
to R134a.

Has anyone made the switch using the Interdynamics retrofit and charging 
kit?  Where are the low and high pressure service ports to attach the new 
adapters? How can you tell if you have any Freon left in the system, and if 
so, how do you get it out?

Brian Pleet
82 Spider"

I just did this to my 91 Spider. The kit I got had the charging hose and a
guage you can attach to it to be sure you don't over charge the system. With
R134a you charge the system to 85% of what you would with R12.

The kit said to put two cans of R134a in first and then put the can with the
oil and conditioner in. (of course after pulling a vacuum). Some problems
with this are that this is more R134a and oil then the system should have in
it total. This is how I done mine and its been running this way now for 4
weeks:

First I had the compressor rebuilt as the clutch went bad and screwed up the
front plate on the compressor so a new clutch wouldn't fit. Second I
installed a new dryer, then pulled a vacuum for an hour and let it set for
30 minutes to make sure there were no leaks, after this added oil and R134a
as follows:

1.	I put in approximately = of the can of oil and conditioner, since
the can holds 8 ounces of oil and 3 ounces of R134a. the system should have
about 4 ounces of oil according to the company that rebuilt my compressor.
2.	I put in 1 whole can of R134a (12 ounces).
3.	I put = of the second can in and started the car and turned on the
AC. The pressure was still to low for the compressor to kick in so I
continued to add Freon until the clutch kicked in. I put a total of around
24 ounces into the system. My finial suction pressure was 45 psig, which
according to the guage that came with the kit says is the maximum suction
pressure you should have.

The system blows good and cold on an average day and in the mornings, here
in the Memphis area. On a hot day 95+ it's okay but not like Freon 12. I
think if I had to do it again I would have gone back with R12. Put that's my
personal opinion. Since I may sell the car next spring I'll stay with 134a.

It's not a hard job, just if at all possible hook up a guage to the
discharge side of the compressor so you don't over fill and blow the seals
in the compressor.

When was the last time you had Freon added to the system? If it's been a
number of years you probable don't have any leaks in the system and can stay
with R12.

Cordova Ralph
Ralph Fetsch
Cordova Tennessee
1991 Spider Veloce w/auto (S)miles
1964 Giulia 1600 Spider

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