took my Z'd to a local air con specialist today, left it with them. 2 hours later i got a call telling me that firstly the car uses R12 (which is correct) and that in order to fill it with the latest stuff they would need to make major modifications costing £200 so that there equipment would fit in order to test the system...holy S**T. I said no thanks so my air con is still blowing warm air.

 

I think the system is empty and that it could either be due to a leak or its never been serviced and the gas has escaped over its lifetime.

 

I need to get it sorted cause its hot as hell in the cockpit!

I had car converted last year - cost me £125

It was the first conversion the guy did - used me as willing guinea pig.

Sucked old gas out, ran oil through to ensure no leaks from new gas and ok with pump/compressor. Put in new gas.

Took about four hours. Allowing 30 per hour labour - thought i got a good deal.

I have read in other forums that there is a "drop-in" gas available now...

replaces old illegal stuff with new legal stuff AND won't leak out and ok for old compressors. Ask specialist about it.

Quote from AirCon Man on the pajero owners club -

Hi all,

Hope you don't mind me clearing up a couple of things. If the system still has threaded type connections the chances are that its still R12 in the system. This is not always the case though as the system could of already had RS24 'droped in' or it could of had R134a used by charging through the old style connections. If there are no stickers around to say what is in the system there is only one sure fire way to tell and that is to connect a gas analyser to the system.

When a R12 system is retro-fitted to run on R134a the compressor seals do not need to be changed. The most important item when doing this task is to change the oil in the system. R12 runs with a mineral oil such as 5GS and R134a runs with a synthetic oil ( polyalkeline glycol of differing grades ), the two do not mix well and to do so could result in compressor siezure. The system filter should also be changed and the system flushed through with a refrigerant solvent. The old threaded connections can easily be converted to the bayonet type by removing the valve from the old and screwing the correct new fitting over the old. Remember that the high and low connections are different sizes and must be fitted on the correct port. A retro-fit sticker should be placed under the hood.

**** As R134a runs at higher pressures than R12 then only 70 - 60% of the origanal capacity should be charged.

If the system is to have RS24 added (my personal choice and all of my customers agree ) then no system alterations are required as it runs on mineral oil. RS24 must be charged by the liquid method though as it is a blend and if its vapour charged you end up with more of one component of the blend than others. The origanal capacity of the system should be reduced by 10% when re-charging with RS24.

Again, after charging ensure a sticker is placed saying what refrigerant is in the system.

Sorry if anyone feels I've trod on their toes and for the length of this post.

Hope this helps all involved

Airconman

Zed Aircon FAQ : http://www.300zx.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=33691

I'm impressed and now confused but i will print this info out and give it to the chap whos going to do my car on Monday.

 

Thanks!

Mines still got R12 in and runs perfectly cold.