I tried recharging yesterday, and it didn't work.

First can went in and the manifold gauges got frosty. Hooked up second can and a bit went in, and nothing else would go in, AC not blowing cold.

At that point, I figured the manifold gauges lended to me are trash at that point. The high side gauge doesn't work and the low side gauge said 30psi with the compressor running but I dont think that is accurate.

Did I probably put too much in?

 

Okay, apon further research, yeah, I added too much. Going to drain some out and see if that works, and if not, just vacuum it out and start over since 22 ounces full capacity is easy.

 

And I let too much out...GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Going to buy a vacuum pump and start over.

 

Thanks Jack...

Got it! Ice cold!

 

 

talked to a customer/friend who had to have a new compressor on his 03 ford sport trak, so we installed r152a and a new filter.. about 5 years ago now.. talked to him a month ago and all is still good

 

So, vacuuming out today. Everything was fine saturday, come monday, not enough charge and air in the system. Tried to just top it off but it's full of air and moisture. I've had the vac pump running for over an hour now and the oil in the sight glass is still boiling so more moisture to come out...Poor vaccuum pump.

I got videos of the process, and I'll post them up later...

Stupid high side adaptor!

 

So I turned the Vacuum off, I am at -35psi and the gauges aren't moving so...

The oil was still boiling so there is probably air in the system and will restart vacuuming it out tonight or tomorrow morning, with recharge happening tomorrow regardless.

 

So I went to the garage this morning, and saw 10 psi. No panic, it's just moisture...

Vacuum has been going again for the last 2 hours and the oil is still boiling, but not like a pot on the stove like before.

Just got to keep sucking it down. I'll update.

EDIT: I just wanted to add, yes, the gauges this morning where at 10 psi. On the gauges, atmospheric pressure is 0, so we aren't leaking, it's just water vapor from the vacuum process.

 

Cam-sorry I missed your call. Sounds like you have a leak. That vacuum shouldn't behave that way. Decent pump pulls down in 5-10 min tops to -29.7 -ish mm of mercury. Let it run for a half hour max for the moisture removal.

Do you have both high and low hoses attached?

 

Couldn't, I cant seem to find a high side adapter that works. The one I have doesn't work, just keeps my high side schrader valve from leaking.

I got mad on wednesday because my low side adapter quit working and so I took the adapters off and went inside. I didnt realize until the next day with new adapters in hand just how bad the R-12 valves where leaking...bad enough the system was basically open to atmosphere all night, oops.

Took forever but I got the moisture out and recharged yesterday, ice cold again. The old high side adapter seemed to be leaking very slowly...so we'll see.

 

Oh the never ending journey!

Recharged yesterday (it leaked out) and "oh my frozen high side valve batman!".

So, I got mad, unscrewed the high side schrader valve and put a r-134a high side adapter in that has its own schrader valve. Sucked it down with vacuum and removed my hoses and the schrader valve in that effing thing started leaking!!!!!!!

I took my pocket screw driver and poked it and it stopped but ahhh!

 

Well, guess ripping out the r-12 schrader valve did the trick. After vacuum last night, I tossed in about 4 ounces of duster can just to see if the system would hold pressure and it sure does! It blows midly cool but obviously is too low of a charge, but it's just for testing purposes...don't want to waste another can.

So tomorrow, if she holds good (which gauges say yes as of today) Monday I will do a proper charge.

Think I finally nailed it.

 

hERE IT IS:

 

Bump

 

Wow! Interesting thread. I was getting ready to convert my 1987 (formerly Turbo, but now V8) to 134a when I stumbled onto this thread. The R12 leaked out 3 or 4 years ago. Just happend to have a few cans of Dust-Off (diflouroethane), so I thought wtf?

Today I pulled the compressor and drained the mineral oil as best I could. Filled with ester oil. Installed a new drier. Attached my R-12 gauges. Started that mother up in 95 degree weather here in Connecticut, and charged with 152a. Far f-ing out! Working great! Only test drove it 3 or 4 miles, but plan to drive 10 - 20 tomorrow which is supposed to be 100 degrees.

 

So it's 100 degrees, humid and sunny here in Connecticut. Drove the car 30 miles today (6 or 7 highway, the rest country and a little city driving). Blowing 38 degrees. I'm stunned how good this is.

I'm going to have to put jackhild59 in my will

 

^This!

I did a total restoration of my FC's AC 2 years ago and have been running it on duster gas since then. Performance with the R152A is just as good as it was with R12, which is to say it will freeze your nuts off driving around in hot & humid MD! My old compressor seized up, which is what prompted me to restore the system. So I picked up a rebuilt Denso compressor, a new receiver/dryer, a new expansion valve and an HBNR (green) O-ring assortment from these guys: AC Compressor | Evaporator Core | Fuel Pump | Condenser | Water Pump | Clutch || TechChoice Parts

Took the entire system apart, flushed out all the reused parts (condenser, evap. core, hard lines & hoses) with a specialized AC system solvent and a flush tool I picked up on Amazon. The flush tool connects to your air compressor, has an aluminum tank for the solvent, and a valve, hose & rubber blow tip nozzle that you use to flush the part. After doing all that, I bench flushed any remaining assembly lube out of the new/rebuilt compressor, lubed it with the Ester lube (capacity per FSM), assembled the system with all new O-rings and did the evacuation & charging with R152A per Jackchild59's instructions here.

The only issue I've found with mine is that it seems to slowly leak some R152A between seasons, so I have to evacuate & refill the system with R152A at the beginning of each AC season. It's not a leak issue, because the system holds a 30" vacuum overnight after I evacuate it -- I think what's going on is while my car is stored during the winter, the R152A is slowly permeating out of the 30 year old rubber AC lines that were originally made for R12 (i.e., non-barrier type hose that is not designed for refrigerants like R134A or R152A)

Which brings me to a question - does anyone know of a source for new AC hoses (i.e., compatible with R134a/R152a) for an FC, or a AC hose shop that can take our existing hose fittings & crimp new hoses on them?

 

It's very possible that you have pinhole leaks in the coils. As cheap as duster is it's almost not worth the trouble. Now getting new rubber lines would be nice. Hell Advance now makes hyd hoses for you. Have to check AIRCO and see if any commercial HVAC hoses carry over.

 

^You think so? I suppose it's a possibility on the condenser, since it's out front and exposed to the elements and road crud while driving. I would have thought a leak like that would bleed out gas quicker and not pass an overnight vacuum test. It's weird that it holds a vacuum overnight, and when I need to evac & charge at the beginning of the season, there's still a decent amount of refrigerant in there - system cools, just not as good as it was. Basically the vent temps will be ~50F instead of the ~37F it would be otherwise. And the pressures (H & L side) are lower than what is normal for the R152A when it's working good.

So far I found one online shop that can take your old AC hoses and rebuild them for you just like OEM as long as old fittings are good:

https://coldhose.com/
.
Maybe I'll send them my hoses when the car goes down for winter hibernation

 

The external atmospheric pressure from a vacuum is fairly low compared to the working pressures of a running a/c system.

Why not throw in some fluorescent leak dye, grab a cheap flashlight and glasses? Any pinholes will show up very readily.

 

^That does make sense, 1 atmosphere @ sea level is only ~ 14.7 psi, high side pressures running are typically over 120psi. The ester lube I used in the system has the fluorescent leak detector dye in it, checked for leaks with that before with no luck.

 

Take a peak at the evaporator? Do you have the IR flashlight? I’ve found the light makes a huge difference

 

For the fluorescent dye you need a UV (black light) source, not IR. I'm using a UV/black light bulb in a regular shop drop light which does the job. Tested the bulb out by just spilling a little of the ester oil & dye on my workbench, wiping most of it off with just a paper towel and using the light to look for the trace amounts remaining - shows up nice & clear.

Not sure how one would inspect the evaporator for leaks without removing it, seems you would need to snake some sort of fiber optic inspection camera into the evaporator case, and find a means to illuminate the inside of the case with UV/black light. I think it's easier to just do the annual evacuate & charge with R152A once per season.

 

You’re right on it being UV.
I tried using a 2’ shop light with a black light tube to look for a condensor leak once. Even in the dark, it didn’t do much. Buying a cheap flashlight with the accompanying glasses spotted it right away.
i’ll try to do a picture tomorrow.

As for simply evacuating and recharging, i’m all for it. You seemed fixed on replacing the hoses without even knowing if they were the problem. I was just trying to save you some money.... cash is better spent on family, vacations, and beer than “well, this *might* fix it”. If you are losing refrigerant, its going somewhere, and the dye should tell you.

Evap leaks are rare, but not impossible. Maybe pull it and inspect? At the very least, its worth cleaning and degreasing after 30 years.