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Car Forum / Mercedes-Benz Cars / June 2006Converting 190e air conditioning from R12 to R-134a?
Any one have an idea how much it costs to update a 190e air condition system from R12 to R-134a? Any advice on how best to approach it... can one use parts from other sources? Thanks Alex Otttawa Canada Is there any current leak? If yes, then you got to fix this first. If not, then just have a shop do it for you... unless you are handy and familiar with AC system... Basically vacuum it out for 20 minutes or so and use the conversiion kit as instructed. If you want to do the right way, then it is expensive if pro did it for you... or you change all the orings... compressor, drier orings, and drier... expansion valve... etc... takes alot of time. In most cases, simple conversion is just fine. Yeah, it's probably cheaper to do the conversion to R134a in long run as R12 is more and more expensive and more and more scarce. I saw one advertised for $110,— per kilo. Some cars need one to three cans. The federal law also prohibits you from flushing the R12 freon out into the air: that means expensive machine to extract, clean, and recycle R12 before returning it back to the vehicle or storing it in the canister. > Is there any current leak? If yes, then you got to fix this first. > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > In most cases, simple conversion is just fine. Last year I had the old car's A/C "topped-up" and expected difficulty getting R-12. Not a word said, A/C shop simply added some R-12 to its system. When I asked about R-12's cost vs. R134a I was told that R-134a costs had zoomed - to be nearly comparable with R-12! So before converting, I suggest you first compare the R-12 vs. R134a cost in your area for conversion may not be justified. > When I asked about R-12's cost vs. R134a I was told that R-134a costs > had zoomed - to be nearly comparable with R-12! Why would that be the case? With R12 not being produced anymore, the cost is obviously a matter of supply and demand: the garages have the supply, so they can demand whatever they want. But R134A is the refrigerant that's currently being manufactured. Is there some variable here that I'm not aware of? On the subject of air conditioning, when was the switchover from one refrigerant to the other made by the car manufacturers? Would my '91 300D 2.5 use R12 or R134A? (The A/C still works great at 100K miles, as long as I'm not stuck in a traffic jam for prolonged periods.) Geoff  Signature"And how about the American eagle? The eagle is a bird of prey and hence offensive to rodents, a key Democrat constituency." -- Ann Coulter Geoff The varible you are not aware of is that R12 is still being made in other countries and shipped into the USA using NAFTA as a legal way to do it. You can buy all the R12 you want if you know the right people to buy it from. Check EBay. Paul >> When I asked about R-12's cost vs. R134a I was told that R-134a costs >> had zoomed - to be nearly comparable with R-12! [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > > Geoff > Geoff > The varible you are not aware of is that R12 is still being made in other [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] > > and hence offensive to rodents, a key Democrat constituency." > > -- Ann Coulter I guess that explains what;s going on. I had heard that R12 pricing has come way down from what it was a few years ago. I had mine converted, believing it would stay scarce and high. At this point, if I hadn't converted, I'd see what it costs to recharge with R12. Unless it's way high, I'd stay with it. For one thing, you lose some amount of cooling capacity when you do the conversion and in my car, it's noticeable. Ahh! So that's is why prices have been stable... R-12 is also acquired for resale through salvage/scavenging operations (by law) from old cars, air conditioners, refrigerators etc. |
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