Summer is here - what to do about my A/C

[pickupman]

It's 100 degrees out today and this time of year does not make me want to drive my truck, in fact I haven't done so in 2 weeks. I am willing to spend the money to get my A/C fixed, but frankly, when I read the yelp reviews of shops in my area, it scares me out of wanting to do anything about it. I likely just need a A/C recharge, which would be either add more R12 freon or spend the extra money to retrofit it, either option I would be fine with. There aren't any dedicated A/C shops I have found nearby, so that leaves me with one of the big chain shops, a nearby diesel shop or the stealership. There is a diesel shop not to far away that has bad reviews, but I know one of the mechanics there, whom I have dealt with and had a good experience.

What do I do, do I just take a chance somewhere? Does anyone who lives in Socal know a good A/C shop?

 

[Shadetreemechanic]

Do it yourself. http://www.es-refrigerants.com/products/Default.asp?id=14&t=refrigerant&Trying=ON
12a is a drop in replacement for 12 that requires no license and contains no CFCs if there is a leak.

 

[Clb]

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R12 in commiefornia?! Nope! 12 freeze yea, but ya gotta evac the 12

 

[icanfixall]

Caution. When you cross contaminate a freon most shops will never touch your ac system again. If you attempt to remove the freon charge it can or will ruin their recovery systems. that will really **** them off too.. Just a little to let you know spot of information. Propane is an excellent refrigerant too but it scares the hell out of lots o people for no real good reason too.

 

[chris142]

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R12 in commiefornia?! Nope! 12 freeze yea, but ya gotta evac the 12

why not? its not banned like most people think. we get $60\lb for r12.personally id retrofit it to r134a. im in apple valley and it will freeze me out.

 

[pickupman]

I have no problem getting it charged with R12 or getting it retrofitted. Either way works for me. I definitely wouldn't try any of the other "solutions" out there. I guess my main problem is I am hesitant to take my truck to a shop and let people work on it.

 

[Clb]

Try getting r-12 in 9 bay area Counties!! Effing epa
I need to see where its $60/lb

 

[chris142]

id start by seeing if its empty then check the orifice tube for black death. these trucks do well on r134a thanks to the double pass condenser.

 

[chris142]

Try getting r-12 in 9 bay area Counties!! Effing epa
I need to see where its $60/lb

i get $60\lb for r12

 

[tbiagent69]

Look for leaks, replace either the hose or the o-rings that are leaking and check the orifice tube. I put a VOV in mine and was pretty happy with it.

Get one of those vacuum pumps at harbor and pull all the air out. Let it sit over night and make sure it didn't leak, then fill it up with R134a.

I put a more extensive troubleshooting post up on a couple other threads, but that's about the gist of it.

 

[Shadetreemechanic]

Caution. When you cross contaminate a freon most shops will never touch your ac system again. If you attempt to remove the freon charge it can or will ruin their recovery systems. that will really **** them off too.. Just a little to let you know spot of information. Propane is an excellent refrigerant too but it scares the hell out of lots o people for no real good reason too.

The link I posted for 12a....is propane refined as refrigerant. Works great.

 

[firehawk]

Propane is an excellent refrigerant too but it scares the hell out of lots o people for no real good reason too.

There is a good reason NOT to use it: it is dangerous. A/C systems are both in the engine compartment on the other side of the fire wall with all those other flammable fluids, but it also goes inside the passenger compartment. This is can be very bad if you are in a crash, for example. Same reason it is not recommended to have mechanical oil and fuel gauges inside the passenger compartment.

 

[icanfixall]

Any fren in the cab will kill you if it leaks out. Propane is no more dangerous than a tank full of propane under the rig or a tank full of gasolene. People die in car crashes from all kinds of reasons. A propane fire generally is not one of them but it is a possibility to. So is a death from a Boeing Bomb falling from a passenger jet...

 

[laserjock]

Okay Gary, that made me laugh.