A/C conversion

[JV44HeinzBar]

Hi,
It's getting that time of year when the A/C might be needed. My 1990 uses R-12, but I'm thinking of switching it over to R-134a. I know there are conversion kits out there. Some are nothing more than new nipples and refrigerant, where as others, include a dryer canister and o-rings.

This will be my first time doing a conversion on a 964, or any other P-car, to be honest. What are your thoughts?

HB

PS. I just went through the 964 PET and I found the dryer/desiccator, but I don't know the location of it???

[RSTarga]

Flush, new orings, different oil, receiver dryer, probably different hoses, why do you want to do this?

[JV44HeinzBar]

The reason for conversion is the lack of R12 in my area. My mechanic doesn't offer it anymore and I haven't seen it for sale anywhere. I guess I'd like to go green

Do you know the location of the dissecator?

HB

[kuehl]

New Drier, All new o-rings, Ester Oil, R134a charge port adapters .. that is the basic.

If the compressor has high miles, ie. over 100k then consider a new Denso.
Visual inspection of hoses over engine.

Evacuate, charge with 134a, test and check for leaks (sniffing the vents with an electronic leak detector is a must).

If you are thinking of 'flushing the system', expect to spend a full weekend; it's not easy to flush a 964/993 system. I would inspect the compressor oil for signs of contaminants or debris before I would even consider flushing this model.

[Newsboy]

R-12 is available on Amazon/Ebay, if your interested.

[964TargaC2]

Drier is located in the rear of drivers side front wheel well (you need to remove the liner)

Check Craigslist for R12

[aabarth]

I have found that R134 does not cool as well as R12 in the older cars. R12 can be had, just more expensive.

[wwest]

Originally Posted by JV44HeinzBar

Hi,
It's getting that time of year when the A/C might be needed. My 1990 uses R-12, but I'm thinking of switching it over to R-134a. I know there are conversion kits out there. Some are nothing more than new nipples and refrigerant, where as others, include a dryer canister and o-rings.

This will be my first time doing a conversion on a 964, or any other P-car, to be honest. What are your thoughts?

HB

PS. I just went through the 964 PET and I found the dryer/desiccator, but I don't know the location of it???

Many A/C specialists shops will do the conversion for under $200. My 91 & 92 LS400's, 92 Aerostar, and 88 Carrera were done that way years ago.

88 Carrera still tended to leak until I added a trinary pressure control switch, providing more rear lid condenser cooling via the cabin heater module wired into the pressure switch, and a 15 minute TDR to provide "after-run" condenser cooldown capability.

[bazar01]

Originally Posted by JV44HeinzBar

Hi,
It's getting that time of year when the A/C might be needed. My 1990 uses R-12, but I'm thinking of switching it over to R-134a. I know there are conversion kits out there. Some are nothing more than new nipples and refrigerant, where as others, include a dryer canister and o-rings.

This will be my first time doing a conversion on a 964, or any other P-car, to be honest. What are your thoughts?

HB

PS. I just went through the 964 PET and I found the dryer/desiccator, but I don't know the location of it???

Before I do anything, I will pressure test the system first and perform a leak test. If the system still has a little bit of R12, I would pressurize it with nitrogen to 200 psi, let it sit for a few hours and observe for any pressure drop. If there is a pressure drop, then use a leak detector. Once the leak is found, recover, open the system, flush, replace the leaky components, install conversion kit. Change the compressor oil. Then pull a vacuum, put in vacuum for one hour and observe for pressure rise, if vacuum holds, start charging.

[surfdog4]

I've converted my 1990 964 and earlier my 1987 944. In both cases, I replaced the dryer, purged the system with a little R-134, and then charged it up with R-134. In both cases, the system cooled fine and maintained charge (in the 964, that's lasted 3 years now)

Dryers are cheap, bit of a PITA to get to in the 964, but not a hard job at all

[RedCoupe]

Wwest, the 964 doesn't have a rear lid condenser, only one condenser with an electric fan located in the left front fender. No need to worry about switching on the heater fan on a 964 - it won't increase the airflow through the condenser coils at all.

[JV44HeinzBar]

Well, I did the conversion and all is well. I honestly can't tell any difference between r12 & r134 in terms of "real world" cooling. There might be a quantified difference, but for me, the cool feeling is the same.

Thanks for all of the replies gents. Hope yall have a great 4th!

HB

[greg1990964]

Where did you purchase the kit?
Not amused that Griffiths wants $21.13 for shipping, Annoys me out of principle. Should cost $6 bucks to ship it. Also a drier is $15.00 from Vertex or anywhere else vs $69 at Griffiths. Driers don't last long anyways, so I say go cheap on a drier. The guy on the phone when I called Griffiths was trying to sell me on new hoses for $500+ and mine are fine. Wasn't a fan of that tactic.

[kuehl]

Gregory,

Our 964 (early) drier does sell for $69.00. And you can find the price on this drier ranging anywhere from $15.00 to up to $99.00. However, I don’t believe you can pick up the phone and ask a technical AC question about your system with most retailers selling it $15.00, and unlikely with the $99.00 fella either. The online webstore shipping “estimator” is an estimate of shipping costs and most times it overestimates simply because there are only so many weights, box sizes and shipping zones it can calculate. 99% of the time you are charged much less for shipping. And, some on line retailers, such a our host, can negotiate better shipping contracts with the majors. Shipping to a Weston residential address is $9.99 by UPS’s real-time calculator which we’d use to process invoice. Some people shop for price only, some shop for convenience and others shop for service and support.

On the subject of $500 hoses. Yes, we have our Kuehl brand barrier hoses that bolt on for $499.00 (500). If you tried to purchase an OEM set they cost about $900 and, once again no tech support or customer service from OE. Now, about the ‘guy’ who “tried” to sell you a set of hoses? He would not just come out and tell you off the bat that you “needed” a set of hoses. He said “If you got leaks in the system the common leaks are evap, hoses, compressor..... they cost xxx if you need them.” No one twisted your arm, lol.

Sorry we did not meet your expectations.

If you need a drier our host, PP, sells them on line here and shipping is probably less.

[greg1990964]

Ok. I will take the conversion kit. Just to let you know, I do lean/vote republican in reference to your Rennlist post.

[kuehl]

That's Wild Willy's political campaign.
I've already seceded years ago.