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Air Conditioning
Posted by David Prantl (more from David Prantl) on Sat, 4 Mar 2000 16:06:29
In Reply to: , Kok Chen, Sat, 17 Dec 1988 12:00:00 

Those are good questions...

1.  The hose connections at the compressor are FLARE-TYPE.  There is no 
o-ring in there sealing them, just 2 precision-machined flared metal 
surfaces.  These flare connections will not benefit from being un-done and 
re-done.  It is generally a little tricky getting flare connections to seal 
in the first place, and once sealed, they do not deteriorate over time and 
are not prone to leakage.  They do however exacerbate the seizing problem !  
Note that every OTHER hose connection in the A/C system is O-RING-TYPE.

2.  It would be nice for the sake of your peace-of-mind to change the 
o-rings at the condenser hose connections and the overpressure-release-valve 
located in the lower condenser hose.  It is generally OK to leave old 
o-rings in connections that have not been disturbed.  In order to change 
these o-rings, the condenser must be essentially pulled from the car.  On 
yours, that means pulling the radiator fan, followed by the 
radiator/intercooler/condenser/condenser-fan combo.  There may not be enough 
room to pull all four of these components at once, which means you need to 
remove at least 3 very tricky/rusty/seized 10mm bolts from the bottom that 
hold these things together.  Draining the coolant, removing radiator hoses 
and intercooler hoses are part of this procedure.  If you go this far, it 
would be highly recommended to replace the 12-year-old condenser with a new 
one (about $120).  These aluminum condensers tend to spring leaks anyway 
after so many years of being battered by high-speed bits of dirt, sand and 
rock-salt during your north-east winters.  Our '88 came from Minnesota, and 
the condenser was toast after 10 years.

3.  Oil selection is based on compatibility with refrigerant.  Do some 
research on the web to be sure, but I believe that both Ester and PAG oils 
are compatible with R134a (and with each other), so it doesn't matter much 
which you choose to use.  Your new compressor may come with PAG inside.  DO 
NOT USE mineral oil, as this is only compatible with R12, NOT R134a.

4.  That flushing procedure should be sufficient.  I would recommend to 
follow Townsend's instructions carefully.  Also, see the attachment on more 
retrofitting tips.

David Prantl.

David Prantl
david_prantlno39sdcx6spamx782hotmail.com
'84 900S, 5-spd, 210kMi, RIP
'86 9000T, 5-spd, 176kMi
'88 9000S, 5-spd, 137kMi
'90 9000S, auto, 133kMi
'89 900, auto, 115kMi
'68 97 Sonett V4, 76kMi, #000467
----Original Message Follows----

Had another question on converting my AC system to R-134A when you have a
couple minutes.  My car's an 88 9000T.  I'm going to go with a Sanden
replacement comp. as you suggested with new receiver drier and exp. valve.
I'm also going to try and keep the existing comp. head (so I don't have to
undo these hose connections.  My questions,

1.      Don't I need to use new type green o-rings at the compressor
connections?
  This would mean that I have to break the comp. head hose connections
anyway, right?
2.      If I'm not replacing the condensor do I still need to undo those
connections to insert the green O-rings?
3.      When do you put in Ester oil in a compressor vs. when do you use
PAG oil? I think Ester oil is supposed to be used when utilizing the
existing R-12 compressor, right?
4.      To flush, do i just pour the mineral spirits in, swoosh it back and
forth, and then blow it out with air compressor, and then run a vacum thru
lines for a while to get moisture out?

Any response to the above would be very much appreciated.
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