Air Conditioning

[wnielsen]

My air conditioning is on the fritz in my 1991-5 WD250. Would it be worth my while to change over to the new freon system?



Does anyone have a recommendation for a reputable shop in the San Jose, CA area?



Can I do some of the installation work myself and just take it in to have it filled with freon?

 

[JHolt]

I switched mine over to R-134 a couple of years ago when I built this truck so that in case I had to refill it, it wouldn't cost so much. And sure enough, it had a leaky connection and soon I'm replacing the core support so I need to depressurize it again. I haven't had any problems so far, the compressor doesn't seem to mind. There were some posts a while back on this and another type of refrigerant, so you might want to search the archives.



As for doing it yourself, shouldn't be a problem, as long as you have a vacuum pump and the right gauges. Need to get the adapters for the fittings (high and low side) and possibly a new expansion valve, and the other things that you would normally replace (filter/drier). When converting, you do want to make sure to purge the system thoroughly because R-134 uses a different kind of oil (and yet a different oil from that if you are converting an older system). I took mine to a shop because I didn't want to mess with it. I mess with everything else on the truck, I figure I can splurge on getting the A/C done in a shop.



Jack