I have a 93 Camry, and I am getting the air conditioner service for the
first time. I was told that it has to retrofitted to now use R134. To do
this would cost about $300. I was also told, haven't check yet, that
AutoZone has a retrofit kit that would work.. Does anyone have any
experience in doing this procedure. Thanks in advance.

What does "serviced" mean? If it still blows cold - other than checking the
drive belt and hoses there is no real service required. If all the freon
leaked out the expansion valve then there is a SSB - special service
campaign (free replaceemnt of the valve, seals, evacuation and R12 refill).
If youu are in the south or hot west think seriously about converting - it
is not as cold and may kill your compressor. In addition to the cheap kit
you should replace the dryer and the expansion valve.

"bdowns" <bdowns (AT) one (DOT) net> wrote

Been there, done that. $300 sounds totally bogus. You can buy the R134a
fittings, replace drier, evacuate and recharge that system for $300 smacks.

Got a 93 Camry, went through same exact AC drill last year. Symptoms: No
AC in 2003 after 10 years of 100% reliability. Went to dealer in northwest
Houston TX who tried everything possible to have me convert from R12 to
134a. For only $200 they would perform thorough diagnostic check. Was told
they had a "pretty good record of conversions, got 134a conversions down
pretty good." Went along, was told I had a leaking compressor top plate,
might need new heat exchanger, blah, blah, blah, changing to 134a would fix
all that. Being a long-standing Republican, "pretty good" doesn't mean
squat. If I didn't know better, cost would have been about $1100-$1200 for
pretty good AC.

Went to an independent garage who did a thorough inspection and pressure
test. Found leaking hoses, leaking expansion valve and checked out
compressor which was fine. Replaced hoses and expansion valve, evacuated
system and refilled with R12 and drove away. $800. I got 36 degrees from
the central vent yesterday.


"bdowns" <bdowns (AT) one (DOT) net> wrote

parts and labor to do your toyota properly is about $200 complete.

much more and they are trying to get you pregnant.

much less they are doing the job completely.

Have people just screwed the r134a fittings on, and charged the ac and not
have problems... yes.... but ya wanna know the truth far more and this the
braggers don't tell ya, they had to get a new compressor (OUCH) fairly quick
afterwards.

Have the oil in the system cahnged and the drier. also fix the leaks, THEN
it is retrofitted.

"bdowns" <bdowns (AT) one (DOT) net> wrote

you should have went with r134 at that time.
you would habe saved a few $100 in gas and still achieved 36'

"Fireant" <fblackgoat (AT) houston (DOT) rr.com> wrote

bdowns wrote:
I'd stick with the R-12 if I could. I have a 93 Corolla and it still blows
cold. I've never needed to have it topped. We have a 95 that does have
R-134 and it's had problems with leaking.

Just be sure to run it now and again to keep the seals lubricated.

Charles in Palatine
93 Corolla
95 Previa

I bought that "Interdynamics" kit last year to retro my '89 Supra.
All the R-12 had leaked so that was a good time to fix it.
The kit cost me $26.00 at Wal-Mart and had all the items.
Since I knew my compressor front seal was bad ( lots of oil
all over the compressor) I figured the new seal, if I could find
one would run in the $20-25+ range and would require a few
special tools to hold the clutch, so I got a used compressor for
$100 locally. I cleaned the exterior with brake cleaner/lacquer
thinner and flushed it with the new oil, then added the correct
amount of oil. Then I installed the compressor and replaced the
receiver/dryer. I bought Acme adapters for my vacuum pump
and drew down the system. Then I borrowed a set of 134 gauges
and added gas till I had about 250 pounds on the high side.
Low side was 15 to almost zero, at around 2500RPM. It took a bit of
1000 RPM revving when I first added gas which was due to the oil in
the
high side moving thru the condenser coil. A few minutes later it was
working fine. I placed a box fan blowing directly into the grill to
keep the
pressures down since I had the hood up. A good bit of airflow from the
fan
dropped the high side to 225, and low side to around 20. I was happy
with the 36 degree cold air in the cabin, so I left the pressures as
is.


"Charles Fregeau" <n5hsr (AT) sprynet (DOT) com> wrote

I had my '92 converted to R134a for around $200. I did not have to have
major parts replaced and its been blowing very cold for 3 years now.

-JCM900

"bdowns" <bdowns (AT) one (DOT) net> wrote

Along with the usual list of AC conversion parts, be sure to determine if
you have any pressure switches for engaging the compressor... most cars do.
If so, be sure to replace them for the 134 vapor pressures. Most quicky
places don't and the resulting conversion isn't as cold as it could be.
However, if you don't have any major leaks yet, don't bother converting.

"bdowns" <bdowns (AT) one (DOT) net> wrote