AC advice

[emac911]

Heres my story. I bought a 88 911 a few years ago. It has less than 10k miles. In 1999 the AC was converted to 134a and the car was parked shortly after and never used again until I bought it. I got it back running and cleaned up. I had the AC charged with 134 and the AC worked fine for the summer. It isn't working now and I assume it has leaked the charge. I would say the charge lasted about a year.

It doesnt appear to have a major leak as it will hold a vac for hours. From research it appears the lines can leak under pressure. My plan is to replace the lines, dryer, and add a low pressure cutoff with the kit from Griffiths.

I am debating on replacing the evaporator. I think I am going to check the condition of the evaporator when I change the lines. If it looks nasty and corroded (or any signs of dye) then order one. My feeling is that it is ok.

Lets say I just replace the lines. What is the best way to deal with the dryer? Is it ok to hook the entire system up and take it to be charged? Or should I mount the dryer and hook it up right before it goes to the AC shop?

As I said, when the system was charged the AC worked well enough for how I am going to use the car, so I really don't have a desire to go full Griffith I just want it to hold freon for more than a season. Thank you.

[quattro4]

Your problem is likely your barrier hoses. The original hoses struggle with the smaller 134a molecule size.
Go with the Griffiths kit - you wont be disappointed.
love mine - reliability 2 kit.

[GH85Carrera]

Put the new dryer in place last. Then get it charged. Whoever charges it, stress that there are something like 27 feet of hoses, and multiple components. It is not like most cars, and it takes a long time to pull a really good vacuum. And a nitrogen purge and second vacuum are really good ideas. It is physically impossible to get too good of a vacuum.

And contact Charlie Griffiths. Ask his opinions on what you need. He will ask questions, as to what you require of the system. I went with his "Mr. Ice" setup, and I have 4 condensers, his new improved evaporator, and hurricane blower and variable speed fan controller. I can drive for many hours, park my car in 105 degree heat in full sun. Withing minutes oof starting up I have cool air, and in 20 minutes I have to turn the temp up as I am getting cold.

One thing that is very important with his system THE very best instructions you will ever see. Just read them once, the start on the project, and follow his directions, step by step. I did my system back in 2005. Many cross country trips to very hot parts of the country, and the system just blows lots of 37 degree air when it is 107 degrees outside and after 10 hours of driving.

Without reservation I will say the kick butt AC upgrade to my 911 is the single best project I ever did to it after 29 year of projects and maintenance. My wife is happy to ride with me on long trips in the summer. It makes it a car I can drive on the hottest of days and be comfortable. I have over 80,000 miles of cool driving since.

[emac911]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

Put the new dryer in place last. Then get it charged. Whoever charges it, stress that there are something like 27 feet of hoses, and multiple components. It is not like most cars, and it takes a long time to pull a really good vacuum. And a nitrogen purge and second vacuum are really good ideas. It is physically impossible to get too good of a vacuum.

And contact Charlie Griffiths. Ask his opinions on what you need. He will ask questions, as to what you require of the system. I went with his "Mr. Ice" setup, and I have 4 condensers, his new improved evaporator, and hurricane blower and variable speed fan controller. I can drive for many hours, park my car in 105 degree heat in full sun. Withing minutes oof starting up I have cool air, and in 20 minutes I have to turn the temp up as I am getting cold.

One thing that is very important with his system THE very best instructions you will ever see. Just read them once, the start on the project, and follow his directions, step by step. I did my system back in 2005. Many cross country trips to very hot parts of the country, and the system just blows lots of 37 degree air when it is 107 degrees outside and after 10 hours of driving.

Without reservation I will say the kick butt AC upgrade to my 911 is the single best project I ever did to it after 29 year of projects and maintenance. My wife is happy to ride with me on long trips in the summer. It makes it a car I can drive on the hottest of days and be comfortable. I have over 80,000 miles of cool driving since.

Glen, thank you for the great advice. Sounds like you have been pleased with Griffiths system! Charlie must be the Shelby of Porsche AC systems, adding American AC muscle to German cars.

I don't drive this car much, but I really want everything to work reliably. I am going to order the hoses/dryer today. Hopefully, we will get a good rainy weekend that I can get them installed. It is a unique system. Thanks guys.

[pavegeno]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

Put the new dryer in place last. Then get it charged. Whoever charges it, stress that there are something like 27 feet of hoses, and multiple components. It is not like most cars, and it takes a long time to pull a really good vacuum. And a nitrogen purge and second vacuum are really good ideas. It is physically impossible to get too good of a vacuum.

And contact Charlie Griffiths. Ask his opinions on what you need. He will ask questions, as to what you require of the system. I went with his "Mr. Ice" setup, and I have 4 condensers, his new improved evaporator, and hurricane blower and variable speed fan controller. I can drive for many hours, park my car in 105 degree heat in full sun. Withing minutes oof starting up I have cool air, and in 20 minutes I have to turn the temp up as I am getting cold.

One thing that is very important with his system THE very best instructions you will ever see. Just read them once, the start on the project, and follow his directions, step by step. I did my system back in 2005. Many cross country trips to very hot parts of the country, and the system just blows lots of 37 degree air when it is 107 degrees outside and after 10 hours of driving.

Without reservation I will say the kick butt AC upgrade to my 911 is the single best project I ever did to it after 29 year of projects and maintenance. My wife is happy to ride with me on long trips in the summer. It makes it a car I can drive on the hottest of days and be comfortable. I have over 80,000 miles of cool driving since.

Piling on here. Full four-condenser Griffith's with all new everything in 2008. Still pumping out 32-34 degree vent temps in my 88 Cabriolet in the brutal Alabama heat and humidity.

Don't piecemeal it. Do it all and never think of it again. As previously said, best money I spent on my classic 911. I've put over 100K miles on the car since 2005 and it just keeps cooling!

Talk to Griff, he is honest, reliable, and stands behind his work. He has even answered the phone on a weekend after my a/c stopped working do to a mechanic forgetting to reconnect the high/low pressure switch after doing some maintenance. Griff got me back working in a matter of minutes on a Sunday afternoon before a drive in the Virginia summer heat.

Good luck.

[eastbay]

30 lb can of R134 is $99, 3 lbs per year = 10 year supply.
I know what I would do

[walt]

If you are just wanting to do the minimum, I would start with a leak test. There are several methods available to locate leaks including dye's, ultrasound, gas detection. Don't waste money replacing something if you aren't sure what the problem is.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by walt

If you are just wanting to do the minimum, I would start with a leak test. There are several methods available to locate leaks including dye's, ultrasound, gas detection. Don't waste money replacing something if you aren't sure what the problem is.

The AC hoses right from the factory were noon barrier hoses. R-12 was 99 cents per pound, and Porsche decided to save the exense of barrier hoses, and use cheaper non barrier hoses. I tried for a couple of years to get cold air from teh factory stock system and it is just useless in 90+ temps in the sun. The factory AC is OK at night, or up to 85 degrees.

Replace the hoses, all the rubber AC hoses. They simply leak. Griffith's system is not cheap, but it is the best quality stuff out there. As you follow the instructions, you will say, dang that is a clever way to do that. And wow, this is a nice component.

[Les Paul]

Got the car summer of 85. Euro model 76 under dash unit. Constantly leaked so after 2 years I pulled it out. Fast forward 2022. Moved to SWF. Beastly humid May-Sept. this unit will frost your balls. Kudos Mike Dumont OKC

[emac911]

Ordered a kit from Giffiths today, let the fun begin. Thanks guys.

[pavegeno]

Originally Posted by emac911

Ordered a kit from Giffiths today, let the fun begin. Thanks guys.

You won't regret it.

[emac911]

Started on removing the hoses today. Not too bad. I got sidetracked and decided to finish removing the UNGO box alarm. Hose kit/drier came in today. It looks very nice.

I am flushing the evap, and condensers, draining all the oil from the compressor and hopefully that will get it right.

[emac911]

I got all the hoses installed over the weekend and pulled a vacuum on the system last night for about an hour. and a half I left it overnight and it was holding today. I am going to add PAg oil to the system and get it charged on Friday.

I am very pleased with Griffiths hoses and support. The lines that go to the compressor are made a little longer to give more freedom to move the compressor out of the way during valve adjustments. With that in mind, make sure you move the slack to the rear as you clamp down those lines. Here is what 40ft of old hose looks like:

[Anjizkit]

Pretty cool. Are these hoses the ones that go all the way to the front of the car. How was it to replace. Easy or need tiny hands or humans.


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[emac911]

It wasnt hard just time consuming. I have a lift, so that made it a lot easier. I imagine laying on your back would be tiring. Hoses are well labeled. I just did one at a time, being very careful to note the proper routing.

I removed the compressor to drain it. The compressor has four mounting holes, but only 3 are used. I spent about 30 minutes looking for the nonexistent 4th bolt before realizing their were only 3!! I crack myself up sometimes.

[wazzz]

I went through this route a few years ago. Griffiths kits and instructions are high quality. I found the task quite easy, but chose to replace lines one by one after tying the old line to the new line with a short piece of wire so as to route it the same way.

emac you may want to keep some length of those old lines. You can then slice them to make perfect thick rubber washers or bushings or event silent blocks for all sorts of DIY.

[Mocker]

I always have a little laugh when somebody with an old Porsche with rotten red braided AC hoses says, "the AC on these cars suck!" Well, yeah, I guess they do!

I've been extremely happy with the Griffiths kit in my car. Enjoy!

[emac911]

Finally got the AC charged with the new Griffiths hoses. Ice cold air now. Hopefully it stays this way!

[GH85Carrera]

It will if done right. I go for many years at a time without topping it up. My last time was a leaking compressor that I just replaced. 37 degree air on 107 degree days after a 10 hours cross country drive is easy.

[steve911T]

Did Griffins upgrade 2020. Full upgrade and couldn't be happier. 40 degree differential between cold air and ambient temp. No lift. Get a Freon leak tester off of Amazon. Gives you peace of mind. Griff was great, called him a few times. 89 Targa