My '93 Mazda 626 blew a high pressure A/C line last year. Considering the
cost of having a shop do the work, I decided to repair this myself. Last
autumn I bought a few cans of R134a, a vacuum pump with gauges, A/C line,
dryer, o-rings, and R134a conversion fittings.

I've gone to the trouble of draining the oil out of the compressor, flushing
out the lines (how well, I don't know), replacing the line and the dryer. I
tried to add a can of Ester oil to the system after pulling a vacuum, but it
turns out that my low side R134a fitting leaked and I can't say how much oil
actually went into the system. My second low side fitting doesn't appear to
leak, but doesn't make a good seal with my filling hardware.

At this point I should add Ester oil to the compressor and charge the system
with R134a, but I can't get the system to hold a vacuum. With the vacuum
pump running, I get a draw of 26in/hg. I close the valves on my gauges and
shut down the pump. After about 15 minutes I'm down to 20in/hg.

At this point I'm tired of all the work that I've done and want to find a
reputable shop to take care of this. At least all the body work is off the
car, giving easy access to all the various parts of the system.

Can anyone suggest a reputable A/C shop in NE Calgary?

What should I be asking for?
- Simply tell them to "fix it"?
- Explain what I've done and spell out what I want? i.e. Tell them to fix
the leaks & low fitting, flush the system, add the oil, and charge with
R134a?

Also, I don't want my new dryer contaminated. Is it helpful at all to bring
my old dryer for them to connect while flushing out, or will they just
disconnect the new dryer anyhow?

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