E30 Air Con Recharge

[Deano1968 37]

Hi.

Just bought an E30 which is fitted with air con but it doesn't work.  The last owner never used it.  I'm assuming that at the very least the gas has leaked out.  I have spoken to a few car air conditioning businesses and they tell me the only option is to upgrade the system to run R134a.  Can someone tell me if this is my only option?  I found the following article which suggests something different.

http://www.rtsauto.com/how-to-recharge-the-ac-in-your-car-eg-used-will-be-e30-and-how-to-use-ac-manifold-gauges-and-pull-vacuum/

Cheers.

Dean.

[nick496 268]

Hi Dean

Originally E30s used r12, which as the article states is quite hard to aquire these days since it's been replaced with R134a for some time. 

If you are unable to track down a company that still has r12 in Stock, R134a is your only option 

[Deano1968 37]

Thanks Nick.

[actletpone 43]

Interesting article, wonder if anyone sells r12a in nz?

[C-130 Hercules 571]

Here is an article about it: http://www.coolcar.co.nz/all-about-air-conditioning/facts-about-your-vehicle-ac/

R12a won’t be available easily unless you find old stock. Possible to import r12 recharge kits but I am not sure how NZ Customs would feel about it. Suggest you check with them  

 

[Olaf 3321]

if it's not working it's probably leaking somewhere... going to the trouble of R12 only to release it into the atmosphere?  Not environmentally sound really.  R134a is the go.

[hotwire 352]

Have done plenty of R12 - R134 retrofits.

All i have ever done is evacuate the system, fit R134 retrofit adaptor ports (they screw on to the old R12 ports), pressure test, if good then replace the receiver/drier & attached o rings (not all the rest) vac down & regas with R134.  Simple!

May be cheating somewhat but it works fine.