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45 Posts
Ok, my first warning: people in auto parts stores who say they know what they're talking about, obviously don't.
That said, I tried doing my own R134a conversion, after I had a hose replaced that had a rather large hole in it. I picked up the kit, and asked the guy how much R134a gas to put in, he told me to load the can of oil mix first (about 4 ounces oil, 8 ounces R134a), then load the next 2 cans of R134a (24 ounces total) and to load about half of the third R134a can in the kit, bringing my grand total to 38 ounces of gas. I had him DOUBLE CHECK, and he said that was the correct amount. Well, I loaded it in with no problem, drove off thrilled to have icy a/c... then it happened.
I saw large amounts of smoke coming out of my hood. The left side of my compressor (the belt -clutch- side) was glowing RED hot. So, I turned the A/C off, and took it to an A/C repair shop and had them check my system pressure, he said it was above 85 psi. No wonder my compressor is now FUBAR, combining the fact that R134a naturally has a higher operating pressure than R12, and that (*[email protected])([email protected]*(@*!! idiot told me to put in about DOUBLE the gas I needed to, I'm sure I need to at LEAST replace the compressor clutch (little black shreds of the clutch are all over my engine bay), maybe the whole compressor itself.
So I went back to talk to the guy where I bought the conversion kit, and he told me neither he or his company is going to pay for any damages caused by my conversion, even though I did exactly as he told me to do, and his manager basically echoed the same speech back to me.
So that leaves me where I'm at now, does anyone know what I can do or what my legal rights are as far as compensation is involved? I didn't see any written policy anywhere in the store, that said, "Don't trust the guy at the counter, if you do, we wont fix anything that goes wrong."...or anything to that effect.
Anyone have a good compressor they want to sell? I think I'm in the market now.
Oh, one more thing... if it happens to be just the clutch that's bad, how hard is it to replace the compressor clutch? I can handle moderately difficult repairs, I just want to know if this is something better left to the true professionals or if I can whack it into place somehow.
That said, I tried doing my own R134a conversion, after I had a hose replaced that had a rather large hole in it. I picked up the kit, and asked the guy how much R134a gas to put in, he told me to load the can of oil mix first (about 4 ounces oil, 8 ounces R134a), then load the next 2 cans of R134a (24 ounces total) and to load about half of the third R134a can in the kit, bringing my grand total to 38 ounces of gas. I had him DOUBLE CHECK, and he said that was the correct amount. Well, I loaded it in with no problem, drove off thrilled to have icy a/c... then it happened.
I saw large amounts of smoke coming out of my hood. The left side of my compressor (the belt -clutch- side) was glowing RED hot. So, I turned the A/C off, and took it to an A/C repair shop and had them check my system pressure, he said it was above 85 psi. No wonder my compressor is now FUBAR, combining the fact that R134a naturally has a higher operating pressure than R12, and that (*[email protected])([email protected]*(@*!! idiot told me to put in about DOUBLE the gas I needed to, I'm sure I need to at LEAST replace the compressor clutch (little black shreds of the clutch are all over my engine bay), maybe the whole compressor itself.
So I went back to talk to the guy where I bought the conversion kit, and he told me neither he or his company is going to pay for any damages caused by my conversion, even though I did exactly as he told me to do, and his manager basically echoed the same speech back to me.
So that leaves me where I'm at now, does anyone know what I can do or what my legal rights are as far as compensation is involved? I didn't see any written policy anywhere in the store, that said, "Don't trust the guy at the counter, if you do, we wont fix anything that goes wrong."...or anything to that effect.
Anyone have a good compressor they want to sell? I think I'm in the market now.
Oh, one more thing... if it happens to be just the clutch that's bad, how hard is it to replace the compressor clutch? I can handle moderately difficult repairs, I just want to know if this is something better left to the true professionals or if I can whack it into place somehow.
