A/C questions - quantities, materials, etc..

[jrobie79]

1st question -
I replaced my expansion valve with an r134a valve (only one available) however I will be using r12 as I have a bunch of cans lying around.
I have been reading about being able to possibly adjust it to compensate for the different refrigerant densities....my question is is this necessary?
Is the drop in efficiency noticeable (I also upgraded to a PF condenser)

2nd question -
What kind of foam is recommended for re-wrapping the expansion valve? The stuff that was on there disintegrated as soon as I touched it.
Does the whole valve get wrapped including that little copper wire bent into a semi-circle on the side?

3rd question -
What are the quantities of refrigerant and oil needed for the system. I no longer have the sticker under my hood.
The car is a 318is m42 with the denso 10PA17C compressor.
Will this number change due to the fact that I swapped out the condenser?
How much oil should be added to the compressor before I hook up all the lines, then how much should be added to the system after the compressor gets its fill?

Thanks

[varg]

1st question -
I replaced my expansion valve with an r134a valve (only one available) however I will be using r12 as I have a bunch of cans lying around.
I have been reading about being able to possibly adjust it to compensate for the different refrigerant densities....my question is is this necessary?
Is the drop in efficiency noticeable (I also upgraded to a PF condenser)

The expansion valve should work fine with R12 as is. If you're concerned about it, you can clean your R12 valve out with acetone and compressed air. I also have a known good (as in - had cold AC with R134A with this valve installed) R12 valve.

2nd question -
What kind of foam is recommended for re-wrapping the expansion valve? The stuff that was on there disintegrated as soon as I touched it.
Does the whole valve get wrapped including that little copper wire bent into a semi-circle on the side?

The little wire thing is a sensing tube, it is filled with refrigerant, and adjusts the valve based on the pressure inside, which is influenced by the temperature. You'll want to cover this part of the expansion valve tightly in cork tape - that nasty tar-like stuff you took off of the old one, and the body of it can be covered in foam if you have it, but it won't be a big deal if you don't. Good luck finding cork tape locally, AC shops tend to only sell to those in the trade, I had to go to Grainger and now I'll never run out of the stuff because I have a 30' roll!

3rd question -
What are the quantities of refrigerant and oil needed for the system. I no longer have the sticker under my hood.
The car is a 318is m42 with the denso 10PA17C compressor.
Will this number change due to the fact that I swapped out the condenser?
How much oil should be added to the compressor before I hook up all the lines, then how much should be added to the system after the compressor gets its fill?

Thanks

Answered this one in the thread you have on M42club :D

Good luck! Cold AC is a great thing to have.

[808ETA]

1st question -
I replaced my expansion valve with an r134a valve (only one available) however I will be using r12 as I have a bunch of cans lying around.
I have been reading about being able to possibly adjust it to compensate for the different refrigerant densities....my question is is this necessary?
Is the drop in efficiency noticeable (I also upgraded to a PF condenser)

2nd question -
What kind of foam is recommended for re-wrapping the expansion valve? The stuff that was on there disintegrated as soon as I touched it.
Does the whole valve get wrapped including that little copper wire bent into a semi-circle on the side?

3rd question -
What are the quantities of refrigerant and oil needed for the system. I no longer have the sticker under my hood.
The car is a 318is m42 with the denso 10PA17C compressor.
Will this number change due to the fact that I swapped out the condenser?
How much oil should be added to the compressor before I hook up all the lines, then how much should be added to the system after the compressor gets its fill?

Thanks

How did your 134A expansion valve work with the r12? I'm changing my evaporator, expansion valve and getting a PF condenser. Still on the fence about r12, r12A or a134A. Are you still blowing cold?

[jrobie79]

How did your 134A expansion valve work with the r12? I'm changing my evaporator, expansion valve and getting a PF condenser. Still on the fence about r12, r12A or a134A. Are you still blowing cold?

havent even made the switch yet. I've only driven my car a handful of times since I posted that. Found rust and spent the past year going through the whole thing

[808ETA]

havent even made the switch yet. I've only driven my car a handful of times since I posted that. Found rust and spent the past year going through the whole thing

Oh man! I hope you get the rust taken care of so you can enjoy your car.