R134a conversion?

[amalventano1 at tds.net (Allyn)]

On the past 4 cars I've done A/C repairs on, I've simply changed the leaky
component (if there was one), and purchased the ~$40 wal-mart 134a retrofit kit.
The kit comes with 134a containins the necessary fittings, and "conversion oil",
which treats the o-rings, preventing their deterioration.   The system on the
rieger was of questionable status (and empty), but 4 years later it appears to
have been just fine.  A few years back I bought an air driven vacuum pump,
gauges, and some system flush (for the passat A/C repair), but those items are
not absolutely necessary if the system is fairly clean and dry.
HTH
Al
 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jim Jarrett [mailto:jarrett@rpa.net] 
> Sent: Tuesday, April 18, 2006 7:54 AM
> To: Nate Mellom; Scirocco List
> Subject: Re: R134a conversion?
> 
> 
> On Apr 17, 2006, at 11:56 PM, Nate Mellom wrote:
> 
> > My '88 has (I'm assuming) non-functional A/C.  It hasn't been warm  
> > enough to test it, but I've never had a car with A/C that works.   
> > What's involved in the conversion?  Can I just got to my 
> FLAPS and get 
> > some cans of R134a and fill it up, or is it more involved 
> than that? 
> > I'm assuming it is.
> 
> I did it on the '84 and '86 I used to have.  Assuming you've 
> replaced the leaky component (usually the condensor), you 
> should replace the O- rings at the same time.  Apparently old 
> R-12 soaked o-rings break down when exposed to R-134a.
> 
> You'll need a conversion kit to change the adaptors.  It also 
> helps to pull a vacuum onto the system.
> 
> I have the recharge hardware here (adaptors, vacuum gauge, vacuum
> pump) if you want to bring the car up here.  You'll need the 
> R134a conversion kit.  I was told they won't sell them in WI; 
> I ended up bringing one back from me from NY.  Maybe they do 
> in IL, you could zip down there and get one.
> 
> All in all, it's pretty easy.
> 
> LMK.  If you wanted to just bring the car up and we could put 
> a vacuum on the system and see if it holds, we could do that too.
> 
> =================================================================
> | Jim Jarrett,McFarland, WI       94 Passat GLX                 |
> | mailto:jarrett@rpa.net          81 Rabbit Convertible 16v     |
> |                                 88 Scirocco  16V              |
> |    Any problem can be solved with the proper application of   |
> |   Force, Heat, Chemicals, or Money.                           |
> ================================================================
> 
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