86 MkIII A/C charging help
 

I'm trying to locate the A/C charging port on my 86 MkIII.. Also if anyone knows what type refrigerant I need that would help out a lot too.. Can anyone help me out??? Thanks a lot!! Also I'm looking for spare parts for my car (especially the passenger door outer trim in brown).. Thanks for the help!

I have the same issue with my 88. A refrigeration guy can do it, but I dont know if the dealerships will anymore because of the old coolant (CFC's).

Anyone had to do this on a MKIII yet?

I will post here if I figure it out.

You can refill it from here
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c1...n/a55b16d9.jpg
using freeze 12. Freeze 12 Freon Replacement: EPA Approved!

I looked around as well. Being as I am in Canada, I think retrofitting or retrofitting to use Freeze12 is my only option. Here it will cost me 400-500 to retrofit my 88. Bah! I would do it myself.. but this isnt something I want to dabble in. Looks a little dangerous.

I noticed that there is a connection that looks like a filling cap near the trunk release on the front of the car. It directs to a sight glass so I was wondering if that is the right spot. Can anyone give me any pointers or am I looking in the wrong direction?

Thats the high side port, fill into there and youl explode a refrigerant can in your face... Dont do this unless you are experienced.

So I should do it from the port near the battery then huh? Like on the picture?

I think you shouldn't do it at all without a good knowledge of how the system works and how to diagnose it. A/C work isn't for the inexperienced, you've got to learn it all by the book before you can go out and work on a car, it can be very dangerous. And your car needs R12, a refrigerant you cant even buy without a 609 cert.

So pretty much it would be pointless to get the R-134 conversion kit then huh?

Well.. as said.. if you want to become an expert, go for it.. but first become the expert. Its just a dangerous area to play if your a novice.

Me, personally, Im just having it done. Would rather spend the 500 to have my conversion done properly by a trained person. In the end, its just safer and wont cost me more due to "my mistakes".


Having said that, of course... I dont think its that hard providing you study what your doing prior to doing it, and make sure you have all the tools. The write-ups are pretty self-explanatory and I thought it wouldnt be that hard to do correctly.

However, I still make math mistakes that I am 100% positive they are correct until after I double check. :x:

Converting to R134a is a lot more than putting some fittings on and charging it. R12 uses mineral oil, which r134a doesnt transport very well, its not compatible. You have to get that old oil out before you can add new oil and refrigerant, and to do that you need to take your whole ac apart and flush everything out properly. Its a pretty big job. I reccomend you stick with r12. I did the whole conversion, put it tons of work and im not happy with it, i would have rather stuck with r12, its what the system was designed for.

A/c
 

Did my first AC evac and charge today. Went OK. My Ac is working. Should be interesting to see how long it lasts.

When I took off my compressor it had no oil. It was seized. Should I have assumed that the entire system would be dry or near dry of oil. I put about 4 ozs in the drier and the 4 in the compressor. I didn't want to go more in case there was a few ozs still in the condensor, lines and other parts of the system. Being that the compressor was bone dry should I have gone a full 10 ozs? My $9.99 AC compressor off ebay is working just fine and apparently not leaking.

Sight glass is not clear even after 3 cans of refrigerant. When the clutch disengages I see foam, when it reingages and is running I got a bubble or two about 180 psi on the high side and about 34 on the low side.

I did evacuate it down to -29psi and the vacuum held fine for like an hour and a half before I went forward and charged it. What do you guys think?

I didn't want to flush it. Besides I figured I would do this one and test for leaks. I used the same oil and refrigerant it had in it before I started on it. Put on a new drier, but man getting that thing bolted back in was a pain in the ass!

What were your results? Should I have added more oil or less?

Thanks