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R-134a conversion: a success!
Hello,
This spring I also had to refill the A/C of my Scirocco
which was still equipped with R12.
The time I drove to the ATU-repairshop in April, they told me that
R12 is forbidden since a few years here in Germany, and for a swap to
the legal R134, they would have to exchange all the seals, put in a new dryer,
a new condensator and they would have to remove the compressor for
making it completly empty.
Total estimated costs : $450
Then I went to the BOSCH service and they told me that this is nonsense,
all I need is R413, a new dryer, new seals, a valve-adapter and a contrast-fluid
to spot possible leaks with an UV lamp.
They told me that they will use R413a ( and NOT R134a )
because R413a can be mixed with remaining R12 without dammaging anything.
They also told me that R413 was specially designed to be used in older AC systems
that are contaminated with R12.
effective costs at the BOSCH service, after I had my car upgraded with R413,
a new dryer, new valves, and leak checkup :
$199
and the A/C works good again !!
It seems like some repair shops here don't tell their customers about R413 to
do the pricey R134a thing instead ?!
is R413 also available in the States ?
friendly Greetings !
Dirk
CORRADO G60 www.Scirocco2.de/my_corrado_1.jpg
Scirocco 16V GT II '92 darkgreen-pearl www.GT-2.de/GT2.htm
Scirocco 16V GTX "CABRIOLET" www.Scirocco2.de/hornstein.htm
http://www.Scirocco2.de
----- Original Message -----
From: "T. Reed" <treed2@u.washington.edu>
To: <scirocco-l@scirocco.org>
Sent: Sunday, July 21, 2002 5:21 AM
Subject: R-134a conversion: a success!
Just thought I'd flaunt my newly working A/C.. charged the system
yesterday and just tested it out in the daytime this afternoon. It cools
well.. I don't have a thermometer to check my vent temps handy but I'll
probably check them eventually. What I can say is that driving around last
night with 60 degree temps outside, my windows were all fogged up and my
ears got numb and turned red. Chilly. Today it got almost as cold but it
took longer (I had it on recirculate). I've never had a car with working
A/C before so this is fun stuff.
Basically, I took the middle road for the conversion - I replaced the
receiver/drier ($22), pulled a vacuum for 20 minutes ($12 Harbor Freight
compressed air driven venturi pump - 4.2 SCFM @ 90 psi) and used a cheap
interdynamics kit ($35 including 2 cans with r134a + oil + leak sealer +
o-ring treatment, a can tap, hose, fittings, label and instructions) to
charge with 24 oz refrigerant and 6 oz ester oil. I didn't drain the oil
or change the o-rings, but it all seems to be working fine so far. We'll
see..
I'm liking this whole cold-air-from-all-four-vents thing, and it seems to
get cold a lot quicker than the heater gets hot .. something like 30
seconds before it starts blowing cold whereas the heater usually takes 60
- 100 seconds. It's pretty neat under the hood too because the hoses for
the low side frost over with ice while the high side gets almost hot
enough to burn you.
Anyway, just thought I'd share my story since there have been some posts
about converting in the past few weeks.
-Toby
--
'87 16v
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