s13 240sx AC quesiton

[Fenvy]

today I went to autozone because my AC will stall, engage, stall again then repeat.

I thought maybe i's low on freon.

so anyways they have r134 and the guy said I need r12 for my car

is this true?

[fuzion]

Mine is R134a (1993), check on the driver side firewall.. I think it says it there o_O

Mine says it right there anyways

[240Knightrider]

Your compressor is going. get a new one. They got performance ones out now so look for those.

He saids you need R-12 cause he wants you to pay him. You gotta refill it with freon when you get a new compressor though. But thats just a guess on the compressor.

[Fenvy]

he said like 1993 and up use r134

and can I give it a shot on refilling freon? it was working fine before...

[fuzion]

lolim sordriunk

eejhejive had 67 srewdiers

[240Knightrider]

go to walmart they have a kit you can buy for $20 and it comes with a bottle but buy about 2 more. Take it home READ the directions and refill it that way. My friend did that and it worked great for him. They are White can like bottles. where the oil and stuff is at.

[SHIFTrl240]

thats not r12....

[240Knightrider]

oops, forgot about that detail.

[nissandrift]

theres a retrofit kit to turn the r12 to r134. Advanced auto has them for like 20 and that has like 4 bottles. theres no need to get r12 in it again, it's illegal to buy w/out a license.

[fuzion]

have the r12 completely removed, then convert it (different fittings and seals), then fill it up with r134a

[Fenvy]

I remember reading that r12 is poisonous to the atmosphere, it'll eat away the ozone layer or something

is there a law saying that AC places have to process my r12 for free?

[fuzion]

R12 has to be professionally taken care of.. thats why it's not used anymore because it's not CFC free; I don't know if its free, but if you do it yourself the EPA will come kill you

[[Zero-S]]

Hehe oops. Better watch out, that nice purge of r12 from my maxima a few years back might attract some attention. Oooooh nooooeeessss.

[rousie13]

I'm pretty sure you have to pay to have the R12 removed, but not positive.

[Fenvy]

oh darn, now I need to pay and I don't want that stuff to go into the air

[9095240SXDUCK]

That was what my A/C was doing. Check the temp sensor on the air box behind the grove box. its the left one.

[Dattebayo]

speaking as a guy who works on home air conditioners, all types of freon are bad for the atmosphere. Venting anykind of freon is punishable by fine via the EPA. My company got caught doing this afew years back and got fined 50K and suspended thier business licence. If is says R12, let a shop deal with it.

[Fenvy]

That was what my A/C was doing. Check the temp sensor on the air box behind the grove box. its the left one.

can you tell me more about this? how did you fix it? what was the exact sympton? did your AC LED go on... off... on... off?

[fuzion]

Mine started doing that again today loveless.. seems to be the heat o_O

[xxtrizz]

i think hes either talking about the sensor itself which looks liek a MAF or a cheese grater on the black evap box behind the glove compartment. Or the electronic wiring to sense the temp. Which ever it is I would check both. As it seems from his post he fixed his by messing with it.

[Fenvy]

yeah, the ***** was working fine for like a month after I got the car and then it did that ****, today I got sun burn due to no ac

[9095240SXDUCK]

Is kinda hard to say exact sympton! BUt I will try my best. My LED will light up and off. Even when the LED is on the A/C would not cut on. How I fix it was I went to the junk yard and pick one up from also a 90 240SX. But the 91-94 is diffent so you got to get one from a 91-up. another way you can try is bypass the relay and see would it work. If you turn on the A/C, but it does not come on, and you bypass the relay that mean it is the temp sensor. ( I know it sound more like the relay) is kinda hard to tell you how to do it with words.

I just PM you with my numer so I can tell you better on the phone!

[yellow_jacket]

The a/c will cycle if there is a low refrigerant charge(turn on then, off etc etc). You can check for this problem by checking the pressure on the low side line. If you don't have gauges for r12, then find someone who does. The other thing you can do is check for power at the compressor, then trace it back til you get to the a/c switch on the dash. This will tell you where you are losing power, and thus, what part may or may not be faulty.

Personally, I hate r134a conversions. They are a pain in the butt to do correctly and they never blow as cold as R-12. R12 is just a much better refrigerant than R134a.

[Fenvy]

thanks guys for the swift response

I tried again this morning and it's working

I think I noticed that: it works when the weather is cold and it has problem when it's hot...

[fuzion]

My R134a is ice cold

[9095240SXDUCK]

thanks guys for the swift response

I tried again this morning and it's working

I think I noticed that: it works when the weather is cold and it has problem when it's hot...

Yup it sound like your Temp Sensor.

Oh by the way I just notic my computer cut off before it PM you so if you want to know how to bypass it call me at 678-907-2381!

[Asleep Altima]

there is a replacement for r12 called freeze 12, some places require a cert for it, others dont, and at only 8 bucks/can its almost as cheap as r134a. its non cfc and will get you the same low temps as r12 will. r134a is not as good as they thought it would be as it contains harmful ozone by-products as well. the conversion from r12 to r134a is very easy, but i personally dont like the stuff. btw, i have a 93 and its an r12 system.

[rousie13]

When I removed my AC last summer, the guy at the garage said if the air isn't cold, there isn't any R12 left in the system, so you could change it over if it's the coolant. Just an idea.

[Asleep Altima]

thats not entirely true though. you could have plenty of refrigerant and if either the high or low pressure switches are bad, or if the expansion valve is bad or the compressor clutch is bad, you wont get cold air. theres a lot of variables, just not coolant amount. in that kind of situation, you need someone with gauges to hook up to your system and tell you whats going on in both the high and low sides of the system.

[rousie13]

thats not entirely true though. you could have plenty of refrigerant and if either the high or low pressure switches are bad, or if the expansion valve is bad or the compressor clutch is bad, you wont get cold air. theres a lot of variables, just not coolant amount. in that kind of situation, you need someone with gauges to hook up to your system and tell you whats going on in both the high and low sides of the system.

I went to the garage and asked him to drain my coolant because I was removing the AC. He goes is it blowing cold air and I said no. He told me to just push in the release valves to release the small amount of pressure, and if a lot came out, come back. Some garage, ehhh??? It was empty, but still.