Coverting R12 to R134, who's happy?

[THE FEZMAN]

stick with r 12 or freeze 12

[xphiledan]

I just converted to R134, and I'm very happy with it.

[gearheadE30]

Is there a good source for an R12 substitute online? I'm having problems finding it. If only I could find a shop that could evac my system and save the R12 while I modify the lines...

[PУCCKAЯ_e30ka]

what if you have new comprs/drier/switch/evap?
I would think r134 would be as good as r12?

[nrubenstein]

The issue is that the condenser is not physically large enough to handle R134a really well. I've dramatically increased the airflow through mine, which makes it work a lot better, but the root of the problem is that the E30 had a sketchy condenser for R12, and it's pretty overworked with R134a.

[91 318is]

Is there a good source for an R12 substitute online? I'm having problems finding it. If only I could find a shop that could evac my system and save the R12 while I modify the lines...

http://www.freeze12.com/

Guess I'll be sticking with R12, I like my A/C ice cold.

[Eric Giles]

Even though I recommend sticking with r12 if possible, I do have to mention one issue-all of the new expansion valves that are available are listed as r134a/r12 compatible. No one makes an r12 specific expansion valve any longer. Now the r134a valve will work, however-the r134a valve has (from what I was told from a member on E30tech) a physically smaller valve opening that is optimized for r134a use. Because of this, at idle even r12 will no longer cool that well until you are driving. This was explained to the E30tech member by an a/c tech that supposedly knows his stuff.

i have personally experienced it in the last two E30's that I have performed a/c work on which used the r134a valve. Now my '88 M3 has an r12 specific valve that was still available back in '06 when I reworked it's a/c system and it works perfectly at all speeds-even idle. I was never able to understand why the other E30's didn't perform optimally at idle compared to the M3 until I read about the expansion valve issue.

My advice if you are going to stick with r12 is to clean and re-use your original r12 expansion valve. There is a writeup on E30tech.com that explains how to properly 'refurbish' your original valve-and I wish I had known about all this before I threw my last original r12 valve away.

[91 318is]

Even though I recommend sticking with r12 if possible, I do have to mention one issue-all of the new expansion valves that are available are listed as r134a/r12 compatible. No one makes an r12 specific expansion valve any longer. Now the r134a valve will work, however-the r134a valve has (from what I was told from a member on E30tech) a physically smaller valve opening that is optimized for r134a use. Because of this, at idle even r12 will no longer cool that well until you are driving. This was explained to the E30tech member by an a/c tech that supposedly knows his stuff.

i have personally experienced it in the last two E30's that I have performed a/c work on which used the r134a valve. Now my '88 M3 has an r12 specific valve that was still available back in '06 when I reworked it's a/c system and it works perfectly at all speeds-even idle. I was never able to understand why the other E30's didn't perform optimally at idle compared to the M3 until I read about the expansion valve issue.

My advice if you are going to stick with r12 is to clean and re-use your original r12 expansion valve. There is a writeup on E30tech.com that explains how to properly 'refurbish' your original valve-and I wish I had known about all this before I threw my last original r12 valve away.

Good info right here. Since I was sticking with R12, I was just gonna service the system and let it go. Should I completely evacuate it and clean the expansion valve?

[Eric Giles]

Good info right here. Since I was sticking with R12, I was just gonna service the system and let it go. Should I completely evacuate it and clean the expansion valve?

Since you don't think you have any leaks and the system is still somewhat operating, I would just have a shop fill it with the proper amount of r12 for now and see how it works. No o-ring replacement or evacuation-just recharge and see what happens.

[fliplap]

I just converted to R134, and I'm very happy with it.

I too converted to r134a, 3 years ago. It was 113F out the other day and I was perfectly cool.

[619E30]

Mine runs on r12 and I just recharge it with freeze 12, way easier

[91 318is]

Does anyone know what the recommended head pressures are suppose to be for R12? I know R134A is gonna be higher then R12. I searched google and got nothing.

I'm gonna try and charge it today and see what happens.

[///M42 sport]

mine works fine. I have bothh R12 and R134 in my system

[movementality]

might be bit of a noob question, but how can I tell if my car has been converted or not?
It's had 2 previous owners that took good care of the car for the most part.
Any help is appreciated, thanks

[91 318is]

might be bit of a noob question, but how can I tell if my car has been converted or not?
It's had 2 previous owners that took good care of the car for the most part.
Any help is appreciated, thanks

The service fittings are different on each. R12 has screw on service fittings and R134A has quick disconnect fittings.

I ended up servicing the system with R12, I couldn't find a pressure chart and I didn't want to completely evacuate the system. I ended up getting 40 on low & 250 on high. When I first hooked up, I had 30 on low and 180 on high.

Still doesnt blow that cold.

I may just evacuate the system and convert it over unless someone has a better option.