Trying to get ac going.... Not going well. Need help

[havand]

Ok, so I decided I wanted ac in my s50 swap. Unfortunately the lines to the compressor were just hanging open. So, I disassembled most of the system, flushed and reassembled. Replaced the dryer.

I ordered up some compressor fittings for my denso compressor from docsblocks.com. Ok, well the high side input was too big. I shaved it down with a dremel. Got that taken care of.... But then found the low side had an output of size #10, but the car line was a #12. So, I ordered up an adapter sae orb fitting. Well, the inputnon that from the line was too small. So, I drilledit out so the car line could completely insert and let the oring sit flush. Used some Teflon tape and #554 loctite to seal the threads between the adapter and the compressor fitting. Let the loctite dry for 24 hrs... Honestly stollnseemed a littlebwet, but that is the stated drying time.

I pulled a vacuum. Hard to tell how much, maybe 27-29 inches of mercury. It held this for over an hour. Ok, I thought. I'm amazed I had no issues the first time, but let's rock. I had already added 5-6oz pag oil when i reassembled the system. So, I turn the car on, compressor clicks, and I hookup my r134a to the system. The can gets cold, but doesn't loose much weight. I rev the engine a bit and after a while nothing seems to be happening. I was messing with some other stuff in the mean time and started the car up 2 or 3 times etc. Then I revved it a little to see if it would take any more of the can. PoP, hiss. Steam shooting out from the compressor area. It seems of the compressor fittings blew. Shot freon and oilmall over the exhaust manifold.

My question is... Have any of you tried to recharge an empty system and had it not pull the freon in? Mine barely took half a can. I don't get it. Did I do something wrong? Should the car not have been running? Any advice would be appreciated.

[havand]

Ok, so found one of the o-rings on the compressor fitting was over compressed. I replaced it. Added more oil. Pulled a new vacuum. It held no problem. Figured out I had the high side and low side reversed. Now I understand why it wouldn't take the refrigerant.

I was able to put in 1 12oz can. Maybe 1/3 to 1/2 through the next can the ac blew out again in spectacular fashion. Low side Was at maybe 50psi. Seemed a little high, but the car had barely taken 18 oz of r134a. Vents were starting to blow cold. Not icy, but the car was idling. I can't tell you what the high side psi was because thenfittign was too close to the hood shock and I figured I would get 2 cans in tonight then take the shock off and check it omorrow before adding any more.

I am getting frustrated. I think the actual high side rubber hose blew out. It looked bulged in a way i don't remember. It was dark, everything was covered in oil and I was frustrated so left it for the night.

[havand]

It seems to be something with the engine bay being saturated with heat. It works (well "works") as long as you are moving, etc. The moment I let it idle for a while in the driveway while screwing around with it, it let's go.

[EduardoGomez]

The way I did my A/C is I rewelded the lines at the compressor, used E34 compressor line fittings , cut them and just welded the E30 lines to them. I flushed the system. Drained out all of the PAG oil from compressor, Added Ester oil 7oz to compressor. Vaccum the system then added two cans of real Freon R12 340g each. System calls for 0.96kg but that is too much for my area where temps are 110F all summer long.

In your case you are using 134a so you must use PAG46 oil now, too much oil in the system will make the pressure shoot up blow up the pressure valve, have you drained all of the oil from the compressor before putting any new?

Are you sure you did not mix the pressure lines at the compressor?

If you get any water in the system you must use vacum pump for one hour to get the water out. Replace the expantion valve to 134a valve(it opens more than R12)

If the line is popping that means compressor is working, you are just not doing things the right way, you can't do this as a "guess work" you got to know what you are doing. You got to have the "high side" hooked up the the gauge so you know if it goes above 300psi, you are doing something wrong, or you will be popping more of the hoses and get your nice S50 steamed in nice PAG46 oil.

You can see how I did it here: http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=207657

[havand]

Well, I have a gauge set and monitored the pressures. Flushed everything but the evaporator. Flushed compressor and added new oil. Changed expansion valve. Replaced drier.

The highside seemed a little high at ~250, but it seems to keep climbing as the car sits there ( saw it spike to 325-350 once or twice). Unfortunately, everytime it has blown, the gauge set has not been hooked up. I can't tell you exactly what the pressure what before it blew.

It had been running between 35 and 50 low side and 200-300 high side. If I sprayed water on the condenser, the high side pressure dropped. This indicating to me I have poor condenser cooling at idle. When I rev it, the low side dropped down to 28-32 for a few moments, then creeps back up.

I couldn't seem to get the full charge in it without the pressure shooting up. I am wondering if I added too much oil. When it lets go, it sprays oil EVERYWHERE and leaks it all over the ground under the compressor. I have added more oil as I went to try to compensate... I am wondering if I added too much and that along with some moisture is causing my poor cooling. Vent temps only got down to 65 or so on a 92-95 degree day at idle :/ Crusing on the highway wasn't much better. It was 'cool', but not going to freeze me out.

As far as having the lines setup correctly, they are. The high side line leading from the dryer to the expansion valve gets quite hot. Uncomfortable to keep your finger on for more than a few seconds hot. The low side gets cool and starts to sweat, but doesn't freeze. It seems to work to a degree.

The strange part is the way it is failing. It is almost like it is loosening up the fitting and releasing pressure.

As I just typed that I recalled the fittings seemed loose last time I undid them after a blowout. I wasn't using lockwashers with the M8 bolts I bought. I did use blue loctite on the bolt threads though. I wonder If I need a lock washer to keep the vibration from undoing them. Is the stock bolt serrated on the bottom to keep it from loosening?