Posted on 05/03/2002 9:32:31 AM PDT by Tall_Texan
I live in Texas where air conditioning is not optional during the summer months. My 1993 pickup truck was built with an an air conditioning system that needs the old and no-longer-produced R12 refrigerant which was banned from further production by the 1996 Federal Clean Air Act passed by a Republican congress and signed by Bill Clinton. The R12 allegedly harms the ozone. What's left of the refrigerant that is still on the market has risen in price considerably.
Newer vehicles use an R134a cooling system which is less efficient (doesn't cool as well) and has a track record of damaging the compressor much more frequently than the R12 system.
My AC had no troubles for the decade I've owned it but it lately has had trouble cooling so I took it to be serviced. The service people identified a leak, wanted to replace the compressor and a few other parts and gave me an estimate close to $1000. I'm not sure if the resale value of the truck, itself, is $1000. Anyway, that's a significant cost which I *could* afford but would rather not if there's a way around it.
My AC apparently has just 1/3rd of the coolant still in it. I'd really like it to work as I'm accustomed to this summer but I'd like to know if any in our vast knowledge base on FR have some better ideas.
Outside of driving to Mexico and letting someone outside the U.S. fix this vehicle (which I bet they could do for darn little expense if I could speak the language and trust their skill), what other options are there?
I've been told about the R134a retrofit onto R12s but I've also heard a new compressor and some other changes would be needed to do this and, even with an entirely new system, the R134a is less effective in warmer climates.
My fan blows just fine and I still get cool air at times, just not cool enough. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance for your help.
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